Please all FHC brothers and sisters....be extra careful when you are in the woods and also when your cutting down partially rotten trees. Bees can be very dangerous and aggressive! 5,000 Bees Kill Two Dogs, Sting Ex-Police Officer 40 Times: 'There Was Nothing I Could Do' (msn.com)
That had to be terrible. I do wonder who counted the bees... FWIW, if you are ever attacked, the best thing you can do is to remove your shirt (scary) and then swing it round and around your head and shoulders. I've been in that situation more than once; it is not fun but once I learned the trick (quite by accident), I now know what to do. The last time I had it happen we don't know how many stings I had except that it was a lot. Also some bees got in one ear and I had a terrible time getting them out. No, it is not fun nor funny.
I got into some bald-faced hornets last week fence repairing. The second time I poked their nest with my long handled rake one slammed into my face and stuck me. The venom made a spot on my jaw half the size of a golf ball that took three days to go away. Needless to say I drained a good half a big can of hornet spray into their lovely little home quite shortly thereafter.
At this time of year it’s a a roll of the dice whether or not you get too close to a Yellow Jacket nest. My wife got stung last week from a nest in a flower pot. On Sunday I was chopping pokeweed and blackberry on a hillside and just knew my luck was going to run out. Fortunately I did not find them, but I know those evil effers are out there waiting to ambush.
I stepped in a yellow jacket nest last year clearing a blowdown after a tornado that went through and it was not good to say the least. I've been stung before but never like this , I had no idea until they were all over me. Stung multiple times ( easily a dozen plus ) mostly on the neck , face and head since that was the only exposed skin , I I wasn't covered with clothes it would have been worse ; no doubt. Face and neck swelled up to the point I could barely swallow. The funny part is when it happened the neighbors were having there driveway paved and here I come ; running from the backyard with my arms flailing out of control and there were a half dozen guys just looking at me like WTF is wrong with that guy?? Be careful out there guys you never know. I now have an epi-pen for that just in case moment if it should happen again.
Two nest hidden in the leaves around a pine tree in our yard this past Friday. Suckers got me twice before I could get away, hurt like crazy that whole day. I nuked their nests tho
Sad stories, that would be a very rough way to go. As for yellowjackets, those little guys sure can hurt. A friend of mine ran over some hornets with a riding mower and he got hit a bunch. He was aghast at how fast they were. I went to his house and somehow (I forget) I caught one to get it ID'd per his request. He was right, it was the fastest flying bug I have ever seen, it was just crazy how fast they would disappear flying away from the nest in the ground. The expert ID'd it as some type of hornet I had never heard of and neither had my friend. I forget the name. It was between the size of a yellowjacket and honeybee. I recall it was black with a little white on it. About all you see around here is yellowjackets, honeybees, paper hornets, wasps, bumblebees.
The ones that stung my friend were not white-faced hornets, it was a species I've never heard of. They were smaller. Had a bit of white but not on the head. I think it might have been a single patch of dull white on the back. It was ground nesting. Its abdomen was not pointy, it was rounder. I recall it being ID'd as a hornet but it might have been a bee. A lengthy google search this morning didn't provide any insight.
I hit a yellow jacket nest with push mower last week. Luckily didn't get stung. I took a break and when I went to the mower, they had were swarming all around/on it. Left mower out overnight. Same the next day. Seemed to be mostly at the chute. I was able to open it and a couple hours they were gone. Not sure if I had the queen or parts of her in there or what.
Yep yellow jackets. I got into a nest of them this morning while clearing some brush and debris at the base of a tree. One got me on the hand before I even saw them. My dad and two year old were standing right next to me and managed to get away thankfully. I marked where their hole was and I'm going to nuke the bastards tonight.
Looks more like a paper wasp than a YJ either way I hate the damm things. We end up having one or the other build a nest around the house or in the yard every year. I spray all the eves and siding joints etc twice a year now with Termidor, Demon Max, or Talstar P and it seems to help.
