Shop Invaders

[bmac]

Some people call them hornets, some people call them yellow jackets, I call them a pain the A.. when they invade your shop to the point you can't work in it. They built a nest in the insulation in the ceiling of the shop. Had to do some fancy dance moves while using 3 can of wasp spray before I got it to where I could get to the nest and pull it out.

Bobby
Louisiana

 

[Roger Wilco]

Yellow Jackets. I hate 'em. They bite AND they sting. When I was a kid, my dad would BBQ T-Bone steaks in the summer and we'd eat outside. These things (my wife called them Meat Bees when she was little) would come over and start pestering us during our meal. One time, instead of smashing them we let them go after the leftovers. They'd land on the plate and carefully cut a small section and then fly away with it. Kinda fascinating to watch 'em do it...but I still hate 'em.

 

[tomas]

We call them paper wasps because the hives feel like they are made from layers of thin paper.

Tomas

 

[TellicoTurning]

I think there are more than one variety of them... we have one that burrows into the ground and another that makes the paper nests that look a little like a ball smashed against the wall... I ran a lawn mower over a ground nest and at first thought I had thrown a rock up and hit my leg... next pass two of them hit me and when I slapped my leg I had trapped both in my gloved hand.... a half gallon of gasoline later, I had not problem with them.... then I had two of the paper nests... on under the eave of a small lean-to shed at the end of my porch right next to the path I take to the shop... they didn't like me walking by... got zapped on the arm going and coming before I saw the nest... the other nest was against the wall of my shop, inside a barbed wire decorative cactus I have hung on the wall, right over my wood pile. I waited for dark and used up a full can of wasp spray on those two, then took a high pressure water hose to the nest.
I get red wasps in my shop all the time... they've built inside the wall between the press board and outer metal shell. They don't bother me too much... mostly just buzz around looking for a way out.

 

[bmac]

Tellico, I usually have two or three of the ones in the ground around our house every year, they like my yard for some reason. The bees on this nest looked just like the ground ones, only, this is the first time I have seen them build a nest that wasn't in the ground. I just hope they stay out of my shop!!

Bobby
Louisiana

 

[J_B]

Oh man, glad you are ok. Yeah Tomas & Chuck are correct. The evil pieces of crap you have are paper wasps. The ones Chuck is speaking of are yellow jackets and only burrow in the ground. They are terrible because yes, they can repeatedly sting as they do not lose their stingers an die on the first hit as bees do. Just glad you didnt have a reaction as I did when I had my lawn service co. working my way through college. I did the same exact thing and ran my small mower right over the main opening and next thing I knew I was hit 5 times in the back. I had to leave my mower sitting there running over the entrance unbeknownst to they always have a backdoor to their ground nest and got nailed on the legs. I got in my old '72 bundy mobile and drove to my primary Dr. office and the room was spinning and I collapsed. Couple of epy pens later I finally woke up in the hospital ahhh Please always be careful with these scourges of the earth. Yellow jacket make nest inground as it allows them to survive the winters.

 

[wolf creek knives]

I hate these critters. A lot of years ago I tried to kill a nest of them using a can of hairspray and a match. All I'll say is I learned my lesson, didn't turn out well at all.

 

[Brotherdale]

I hate those things! Last time I got stung by one my had swelled up and looked like I was wearing a red ski glove.

 

[leehljp]

Bobby,
Something I learned several years ago that works excellently - and I am surprised it hasn't caught on very much. Get a pump spray bottle that will squirt water 10 to 15 feet (further is better). Put about 2 tablespoons of dishwashing detergent into a gallon of water and mix (don't make it sudsy). Spray them with long streams; as soon as it hits them, they fall dead. No other chemicals needed.

I grew up using chemical and even gas (on our farm) but it sure is nice to use something that is, except for detergent, chemical fumes free, and it works WELL.

 

[Curly]

Hank probably knows about them but the Murder Hornets have shown up along the west coast of the US and Canada. They are devastating to honey bee hives and they can kill people with their sting. Look them up and all the stuff we grew up are nothing in comparison.

 

[bmac]

Bobby,
Something I learned several years ago that works excellently - and I am surprised it hasn't caught on very much. Get a pump spray bottle that will squirt water 10 to 15 feet (further is better). Put about 2 tablespoons of dishwashing detergent into a gallon of water and mix (don't make it sudsy). Spray them with long streams; as soon as it hits them, they fall dead. No other chemicals needed.

I grew up using chemical and even gas (on our farm) but it sure is nice to use something that is, except for detergent, chemical fumes free, and it works WELL.

Lee, I had a neighbor tell me about that several years ago. The next time I had a nest of them in the wife's flower bed, I gave it a try. I had a sprayer that attached to the water hose, filled it up with Dawn dishwashing liquid. I was probably 20 to 25 feet from the entrance of their nest, plenty far enough to be safe....wrong.... those suckers tracked me down and before I knew it, I got popped about 5 times.

Bobby
Louisiana

 

[tomtedesco]

Can you cast yellow jackets in PR?

 

[leehljp]

those suckers tracked me down and before I knew it, I got popped about 5 times.

I have done this many times and have not had a problem. And my daughters have used it too - to protect my grandkids.

I feel for you though. They can hurt!

A nest of them gave me 5 painful stings, a busted lip and a busted knee. . . . I was about 10 or 11, lived on a farm, had fruit trees and we used clothes lines instead of clothes dryers.

I climbed up into a pear tree to get a few nice looking large pears up kinda high. I did not see the nest, I got stung 3 times immediately and jumped out of the tree from about 7 - 8 feet off the ground. As I hit the ground A few were swarming around my head so I covered my eyes with my hands to keep from getting stung there and took off running full speed ahead. WHAM, within the first 10 feet I hit a clothes line post; busted my lip wide open but I still heard or felt a yellow jacket next to my ear. (It did not sting at this point - at least I didn't feel it). My next move was to take off running full speed ahead again - one hand over my eyes and one over my busted lip. WHAM again. I hit the other clothes line post and busted my knee that required stitches, but I was at least out of range of the yellow jackets by that time. True story - Life goes on!

 

[mmayo]

My solution - flies be gone bait trap. This is the trap after about a week, just 50' from my shop. They can't bite, mate or smell meat anymore.

 

[CHARLES STOPCZYNSKI]

Our home was invaded by the Paper Nest Hornets last year, the nasties with the white faces or white lines on faces. Ours located their nest partly on side of internet / TV junction box on side of house. Put the lawn sprinkler on, thoroughly watered the roses, lawn, and their nest. They relocated before nest was completely destroyed. Scrubbed all traces of it off of box and siding, they have not returned. Still have bad memories from my youth from receiving over 20 yellow jacket stings in a single attack.

 

[tomtedesco]

I have done this many times and have not had a problem. And my daughters have used it too - to protect my grandkids.

I feel for you though. They can hurt!

A nest of them gave me 5 painful stings, a busted lip and a busted knee. . . . I was about 10 or 11, lived on a farm, had fruit trees and we used clothes lines instead of clothes dryers.

I climbed up into a pear tree to get a few nice looking large pears up kinda high. I did not see the nest, I got stung 3 times immediately and jumped out of the tree from about 7 - 8 feet off the ground. As I hit the ground A few were swarming around my head so I covered my eyes with my hands to keep from getting stung there and took off running full speed ahead. WHAM, within the first 10 feet I hit a clothes line post; busted my lip wide open but I still heard or felt a yellow jacket next to my ear. (It did not sting at this point - at least I didn't feel it). My next move was to take off running full speed ahead again - one hand over my eyes and one over my busted lip. WHAM again. I hit the other clothes line post and busted my knee that required stitches, but I was at least out of range of the yellow jackets by that time. True story - Life goes on!

Please forgive me but I laughed. Glad you can talk about it and everything is fine.

 

[TellicoTurning]

I climbed up into a pear tree to get a few nice looking large pears up kinda high. I did not see the nest, I got stung 3 times immediately and jumped out of the tree from about 7 - 8 feet off the ground. As I hit the ground A few were swarming around my head so I covered my eyes with my hands to keep from getting stung there and took off running full speed ahead. WHAM, within the first 10 feet I hit a clothes line post; busted my lip wide open but I still heard or felt a yellow jacket next to my ear. (It did not sting at this point - at least I didn't feel it). My next move was to take off running full speed ahead again - one hand over my eyes and one over my busted lip. WHAM again. I hit the other clothes line post and busted my knee that required stitches, but I was at least out of range of the yellow jackets by that time. True story - Life goes on!

Lee, I think I've been stung by about anything that can sting... talking about the busted lip and knee, reminded me of my encounter with red wasps.... I didn't get any cuts or bruises out of it, but when I was about 4 or 5 we lived in a farm house in Freestone County, Texas... we had a red wasp nest about the size of a dinner plate up near the eave of the house. My older sister, just 2 years older, and I were heading out the front door to go to the garden where Mom was tending the veggies... as we went out, two or three wasps dropped out of the nest and one or two went down my shirt... my sister was trying to get them out when one hit her between the eyes... she swelled to the point she was almost blind and stayed swelled like that for a couple of day..... I got stung several times on the chest and stomach as the wasps went down my shirt and before my sister could get them out. I've never gotten sick from any of the stings (yet).

I went out to a friends house as a teenager... he kept bee as his 4H project. He wanted to show me his hives and invited me to one that he lifted the top off of... I declined to visit the hive and stayed in the roadway about 20 yards from the hive... He pulled the top of the hive, bees swarmed all around him and I got stung - 20 yards away.... they ignored him.

Seems like the demons all like to poke my hide.

 

[Roger Wilco]

When my brother was a teen he worked on my uncle's farm in up state New York. He said he was in the hay loft, and as he pulled a bail of hay it tore a white-faced hornets nest in half. They swarmed out and he panicked. Jumped off the hay loft and ran as fast as he could out of the barn. I think he got away with only one sting, but he said it felt like someone was punching a nail through his skin. I still don't know how he survived the fall with no broken bones!

YES! I had forgotten that yellow jackets live in the ground and then it reminded me of this story: when I was a teenager I used to throw rocks at a cliff near our house. It was sandstone, and sometimes you could find fossils (I only found shells) in the little landslides I could create. One time I was Fossil Hunting with a buddy and we irritated a yellow jacket's nest. We were happily lobbing stones at it, safe in the knowledge we were far enough away that they wouldn't know who to sting/bite.

WRONG!

I looked at my friend, grinning at how fun this was when I saw a small swarm of them circling above his head. "RUN! They're all over the place!", I screamed. We ran. It was effortless for them. They probably didn't even need to beat their nasty, little wings and were just carried along by our draw. They flew down my buddy's shirt and stung him at least five times. I don't know how I survived unscathed, but I did. We were pissed off, though. So I grabbed some of my dad's PVC pipes...a ten-foot section, and jammed it into the entrance of their nest. Then we sprayed RAID down the pipe. Why didn't we get stung again? I don't know. We emptied almost a full can.

Good times.

 

[sbwertz]

I think there are more than one variety of them... we have one that burrows into the ground and another that makes the paper nests that look a little like a ball smashed against the wall... I ran a lawn mower over a ground nest and at first thought I had thrown a rock up and hit my leg... next pass two of them hit me and when I slapped my leg I had trapped both in my gloved hand.... a half gallon of gasoline later, I had not problem with them.... then I had two of the paper nests... on under the eave of a small lean-to shed at the end of my porch right next to the path I take to the shop... they didn't like me walking by... got zapped on the arm going and coming before I saw the nest... the other nest was against the wall of my shop, inside a barbed wire decorative cactus I have hung on the wall, right over my wood pile. I waited for dark and used up a full can of wasp spray on those two, then took a high pressure water hose to the nest.
I get red wasps in my shop all the time... they've built inside the wall between the press board and outer metal shell. They don't bother me too much... mostly just buzz around looking for a way out.

Some types of yellow jackets are ground nesters. I had a nest of them under my shed one year. Bumble bees are also ground nesters.

 

[sorcerertd]

Dang, that's a good sized nest, too. We have more of the underground nesting yellow jackets around here. I just saw one of them within the last hour crawling across a window dragging a spider that was twice his size along with him. For what it's worth, I discovered that skunks will dig up the ground nests and eat them while they are inactive overnight. I guess they do have some purpose besides stinking things up.

As far as stings go, I can say that a saddleback stinging caterpillar hurts way more than the yellow jacket sting. I'd say stay away from those suckers, but you really only find out they are there when you accidentally brush against them. Then again, I usually find the yellow jacket nests by pissing them off while I'm mowing the lawn if the skunks don't get to them first.

 

[TellicoTurning]

As far as stings go, I can say that a saddleback stinging caterpillar hurts way more than the yellow jacket sting. I'd say stay away from those suckers, but you really only find out they are there when you accidentally brush against them. Then again, I usually find the yellow jacket nests by pissing them off while I'm mowing the lawn if the skunks don't get to them first.

Have only seen one of those suckers, but you are right... seems like the sting just doesn't go away.... a wasp or hornet will pop you and it will burn for a bit, but what we called "asps" when I was a kid, seems to just keep on stinging.... got across one as a little kid...75 years later I'm still thinking I can feel the sting and still watch out for them...

 

[sbwertz]

A wasp, unlike a honey bee, can sting more than once, however. I had one tag me about three times.

 

[pshrynk]

I'm waiting for our Ozzie friends to regale us with tales of the human-sized wasps with foot long stingers that are bound to inhabit the great Land Down Under With the Wildlife That Wants to Kill You.

 

[Roger Wilco]

They have bird eating spiders down there. I am NOT kidding. It's just SO WRONG I can't begin to describe it. Look around on The Google if you dare.

 

[wolf creek knives]

My solution - flies be gone bait trap. This is the trap after about a week, just 50' from my shop. They can't bite, mate or smell meat anymore.

I tried these one time but they brought in any bear in my area. Walked outside the front door one early morning, in my undies, and there not 5' away was a black bear half way up a tree getting at the trap. I yelled a lot, he or she, dropped from the tree, turned and looked at me and I'm pretty sure it laughed out loud, after all I was in my undies. It ran off and my wife walked out and she laughed like the bear did. I don't use those traps anymore.

 

[mmayo]

I tried these one time but they brought in any bear in my area. Walked outside the front door one early morning, in my undies, and there not 5' away was a black bear half way up a tree getting at the trap. I yelled a lot, he or she, dropped from the tree, turned and looked at me and I'm pretty sure it laughed out loud, after all I was in my undies. It ran off and my wife walked out and she laughed like the bear did. I don't use those traps anymore.

Sorry. We have Bear and so far the don't like the traps. They like trash cans as a neighbor can attest.

 

[sbwertz]

My solution - flies be gone bait trap. This is the trap after about a week, just 50' from my shop. They can't bite, mate or smell meat anymore.

But don't they smell just WONDERFUL. I used them for years around the stable, but the attractant you put in them is eye watering.