Yellow Jackets

Tdog · Jul 17, 2004

Well, it finally happened to me. I mowed over a yellow jacket nest this morning. They were on me in no time. I was cutting around some roots at the base of a tree & did not have a lot of operating room. I knew immediately what happened, not that that means I was thinking clearly. I was running a pretty high rpm, & of course I stomped the peddle to get away, trying to steer with one hand & knock them off with the other. Almost ran into my barn. I was waving & swatting without much success. I managed to knock off my hat & my Worktunes & I spilled my mug of coffee. Luckily, I was only about 150 feet of the pasture gate to the yard, so I did not have far to go. When I got to the gate, I found that, yes, I was wearing the seatbelt. Almost never got it off, as they are still knawing at me. Altogether hey got me about 10-12 times, including on my bald head. It’s strange, - - I see all these red whelps all over, but only 4 or 5 of them bother me, & they really hurt. Those feel like I’ve been hit with something hard, like I’d been on the losing end of a rock fight. The worst was the sting on my lip- - my whole lower lip & jowl puffed up, although they are almost back to normal now.
While the stings are still bothering me quite a bit, the by product of all this was I somehow hurt my back swatting at the nasty critters, or maybe it happened when I tried to dismount. Whatever, I’m out of action for the next few days. Got a lot more mowing to do too. Guess it can wait.

SPIKER · Jul 17, 2004

tdog: it's now NIGHT TIME and time to get even!!!!

I just finished FRYING two hornets nests, one IN my barn, and one in my WOOD PILE> these were small satilite nests built on the ground one in the barn was under an pile of OLD drywall, and the wood pile ones were under an old morter pan. I took my 20 lb propane tank and brush burner, works the best, had my brother and his son helping me, move drywall was scarry part as these are drops form a building job. scrap siizes, had to move them by hand, and the buzzing was getting louder and louder! lol worst thing was verry little light in there! lol. playing in the dark with bzzing hornets don't make a lot of since, I was spraying with wasp spray, (made them madded is all.) didn't want to use the propane in the barn too much flammables next to wood wall.

anyhow the propane worked really well in the wood pile/morter pan one only 1 tried to excape! was a little fire ball in about 1/100 of a second! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

Mark

Tdog · Jul 17, 2004

You hit it on the head, Spiker. I went out to take care of business right after posting. For yellow jackets all you need to do is find the opening to their hole & pour some gas in there. The fumes do the rest. You do not need to light it, although I was tempted. Just like with wasps, you should wait till it is dark & they are all at home.

alvanko · Jul 18, 2004

I use sevin dust . Put some in a can and sprinkle around and in the entrance hole. They walk through it , carry it into the nest . In a day or 2 they are all gone. I even used this in the soffits of the house. Made a little "gun" out of 3/4" pvc and an old sand blast gun . Pour power in the end like a muzzle loader and hook to the portable air tank. Poof..... No chemicals running down the side of the house . Rinses off when it rains . Bees all gone.

PineRidge · Jul 18, 2004

Tdog if you want to use something a bit safer than propane or gasoline use a dry chemical called Apicide. It comes in a small plastic squeeze bottle. You just shake it up to aerate the powder invert the bottle and stick the tip of it in the hole after dark and squeeeeeze. The powder saturates the whole underground nest and they are kaput!

This stuff is available at most hardware stores and also takes care of Bees, wasps, hornets, carpenter bees, as well as yellow jackets. I like it because its safe (non-flammable) won't explode or burn your home down and it doesn't stain if it hits the house.

I leave the gasoline in my push-mower. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

mahlers · Jul 19, 2004

For whatever reason, the hornets have been terrible this year. I've gotten into two nests so far, and have the welts to show for it. Most of the wasp sprays don't work very well at all - but the Ortho foaming stuff seems to really do a good job. You can spray a mound of foam over the nest hole in the ground, and they're gone the next day. My neighbor pours gas down the nests, but that only works if you can see the hole. Most of mine are under about a foot of brush, and the foaming stuff works great in that case. The spray also lets you hit them from about twenty feet away.

Since you have some stings that are really painful and some that are not, you probably got a few stings where the stinger stayed in you for a while. They keep pumping venom until you get the stinger out, and with more than ten stings at one time, it's likely that a few of them got a good piece of you.

YanmarFever · Jul 19, 2004

Tdog
Benadryl spray works great on them (the welts ) not the bees!
Ernie

_RaT_ · Jul 19, 2004

Congratulations. I ran over one just last week while mowing. It's been about my 5th one now in 3 years. I am always aware that such an event can take place. I looked behind and saw the flurry of yellow jackets buzzing around my head. My first instinct is to take my hat off and flail it behind my head, the other was to stop (remove left foot from hydro pedal) and jump off running. The whole tractor shuts down when the seat is empty and PTO engaged. I found the hole they were flying out of, got my fire extinguisher that is filled with liquid sevin in it (I fill it my self and pressurize it myself) In 5 seconds or so from 25', out comes about 2.5 gallons into their hole. It's one thing I don't mess with anymore, I get them in the middle of the day or any other time. This was the first time I did not get bit or stung. I have two traps up, one has been emptied already. We usually don't see them this active until about August. They are mean little bastards.

familyman · Jul 19, 2004

When I was 12, I was standing in the woods with a bunch of teens with my hand over my heart swearing a powerful oath never to reveal the location of their top-secret fort and illegal stash of Playboy magazines /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif. When the ceremony was over I took a step and released a horde of evil demons (yellow jackets) who chased us for @ 1/8 mile and gave us each at least 20 stings for being so dumb. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif
Baking soda, wetted to make a paste, glopped onto a sting and left to dry, will extract some of the venom and relieve much of the pain. Mud made with spit works in a pinch. In either case it should be applied asap.

Charley

herdfan · Jul 19, 2004

I got nailed just above the right eyebrow this weekend! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
Why do they go for the face anyway? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

I couldn't find the baking soda and the meat tenderizer was all gone, so I did a quick web search and found that aluminum-based antiperspirant will help neutralize the venom as well. I just felt kinda dumb rubbing deoderant over my eye, but it helped. Also loaded up on some motrin and benadryl and then sought my revenge! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Richard · Jul 19, 2004

The boogers are fast too.

I once mowed over a nest and out they came. Once I realized what was happening, I pushed in clutch (facing downhill) and rolled away faster.

I was probably being dangerous bouncing in the seat as I rolled down the hill, but with this clunker machine we have, I felt that was more safe than trying to dismount with it in gear, me being attacked and the rear blade churning.

As I too was watching behind me & swatting at them, I noticed one in particular that was maybe 5 feet or so behind me travelling at my same speed.

I grew a sigh of relief that I had gained enough rolling speed to have matched their flying speed and I knew he'd soon turn back.

I kept watching him (all of this was really over in a matter of 3 moments) and he kept floating behind me, then, omg, he was like a bolt of lightning and kicked in his afterburners. He simply ZUNG from near 5' away and in a blink of an eye zipped right up to me, nailed me above my eye and he left.

I was utterly amazed at the reserve he had and how quickly he was able to use it. I may as well been standing still for as fast/easy he was able to get me.

Yes, that night, I slowly crept back to the scene of the crime.

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

28RedHorses · Jul 19, 2004

Real men hit their nests with a Weedeater! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

It happened to me two summers ago. Weedeating the side of the front hill (too steep for a tractor) and I thought I ran into a thorned bush. The problem was there were no bushes where I was weedeating. I took me allof two seconds to realize what was happening. I threw the gas powered weedeater and ran like h#ll. They got up in my coveralls. By the time I ran back to the house I was down to my BVDs and had 30 stings. The kicker was the weedeater was still running and I was afraid it would catch the grass on fire. Running down hill for a snach and grab cost me five more stings.

Sevin worked well on the nest.

Thanks for digging up painful memories! (just kidding)

28Red /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

riptides · Jul 19, 2004

Ouch...

I have had more equipment (older stuff) stuck on top of beehives than I care to remember. Thank goodness the newer technology has the "operator presence" kill switches.

Night time is your friend....

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

stuart · Jul 19, 2004

I was trimming hedges and stepped into the ground nest. They were on me before I could drop the trimmer to the ground. Then I ran into the house by the back door. One of them followed me right into the kitchen. I could see him 5 feet from my face and I swatted at him as he approached. He went right around my hands and stung me in the forhead. The ones in my legs were one thing but that one in the head hurt like (expletive deleted). Night time was PAYBACK time.

Tdog · Jul 19, 2004

Well, troups, hearing everyone else's stories ALMOST makes it OK. And, I can almost laugh about it. It's two days later, & most of the stings only itch now, if I know they are there at all. Saturday, however, they HURT - - felt like little bruises. FYI I jumped into the tub with as much baking soda as I could find - - half a box, maybe. And, I took two benedryls & I used the oinment on the stings. I think those measures helped the immediate problem. However, my back is still healing - - but it is better now than Saturday or Sunday. Cannot imagine sitting on a tractor seat just yet.
When I said 'it finally happened to me' - - - I've been lucky enough to see 3 y-j nests while mowing in the previous 11 years I've lived here. Obviously, I steered clear till I got a chance to gas them.
Thanks for all the other insecticide tips - - I'll check them out.

rlee6 · Jul 20, 2004

I am going to clear several acres of brush which is about the waist height. Is there a way to spot them before too late? Does using insect repellant minimize the risk? Are they less active in winter? Any tips would be appreciated.

herdfan · Jul 20, 2004

( I am going to clear several acres of brush which is about the waist height. Is there a way to spot them before too late? )

With that much brush, I doubt you'd have time to avoid them even if you did see them. Maybe get a tractor with an enclosed cab for the day and do the job with A/C and block out the bugs?

( Does using insect repellant minimize the risk? )

I was coated with Off spray and got nailed right above my eye by that lil booger (albeit a dead booger now, though /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif)

( Are they less active in winter? )

In central Florida, I'll bet they're active pretty much all year except for the occasional chilly winter morn. I know in WV I don't worry about them when there's a foot of snow on the ground.

_RaT_ · Jul 20, 2004

I should think that they are far less active to not active at all in winter, even in a relatively mild climate. We typically don't see them until mid July to August and by October their activity is almost gone. Despite still having 80 degree days. We rarely if ever freeze where I am at and yet you never see another one until July even though Spring brings 80 and even 90 degree days.

The Yellowjacket always seems to understand where your head is and that is the prime target. They can either bite or sting. Both hurt. The sting also carries poison whereas the bite removes a chunk of skin. They truly are nuisance and one I don't mind destroying.

SPIKER · Jul 20, 2004

RAT: they usually BITE TO HOLD ON WHILE STINGING YOU at least that has been my reaction to them nasty buggers. the hornets nests we cleared this past weekend, still have them flying around!? think the ones we hit were small satilite nests to keep the colony from being totally wipped out by a single attack...??? Usually the white faced hornets make big pear shpped nests, these were small and right on/in the ground with lots of larva and no honey comb structures to keep the larva in? maybe they were some other bee? sure are identical looking to the standard hornets though..

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif