@&*$%#)! Yellow Jackets

One of the guys at work was mowing an easement with the sidearm mower, he had it vertical to trim back trees and brush...hit a hornets nest in a tree, really pizzed 'em off! The worst part was he had to go back past that spot to get out! He was lucky he only got nailed a few times, but he said it still felt like being injected with fire!

 

So there was enclosed no cab?

 

Nope...cheapskate boss said he wasn't paying for cab/ac for these jokers...he did let us steal the canopy roof off the old tractor though!

 

Our (former) cheapskate boss/owner SPECIAL ordered a Case backhoe without a/c. What an azzhat! It was like sitting in a greenhouse.

 

Yup, I know just what you mean, we had an old one that didn't have AC...I was not sad when the frame cracked in the fuel storage area and it got traded in...we then got a hand me down hoe with half the hours and AC

 

As luck would have it I found a yellow jacket nest in the yard.

 

Yes, bald faced hornets make yellow jackets feel like honey bee stings

 

Them buggers post sentries 24/7. hornets and wasps don't lose stinger they just keep nailing you. Diesel does a great job on ants and yellow jackets, with ants it wipes out their scent trails.

 

I hadn't checked the % level of the LP tanks in awhile. One evening this week, I carefully raised the first lid to take a reading and sure enough, there were 2 nests just starting under that lid! Slowly walked away without any incident and dispatched the squatters.

 

I nailed one with the string trimmer the other day. Luckily I just ran out of line about a second after I hit it so I shut down the trimmer, looked down to see about a dozen clinging to my pants. I booked it outta there with no stings. I would have been hurting if I kept going because I didn’t even notice. My dad had a friend killed in Texas by hornets in the 80’s. Was clearing land with a dozer and disturbed a huge nest. He had nowhere to go and there was no one else around and no cell phones. Be careful and pay attention!

 

Oh boy, the horrors of it all, I was cutting wood on a side hill one time. Felt one “burn”, then 2 ,3, I was standing on a side hill in a bald face hornets nest. Thought it was black berry vines, nope! Was able to grab my gas can, ripped the top off, threw some mix into the nest! Good thing, I was stung about 6-8 times. Before I was done, but sorta got my “revenge”!

 

While I was Mule deer hunting in Eastern Washington State, I was traversing an extremely steep timbered spine between two large draws. They were aptly named Big Hornet and Little Hornet draws. I was on a narrow 2ft wide path where it was so steep I could almost touch the uphill side ground and the closest trees on the downhill side were anchored 20 ft below me but the trunks were only six or seven feet away horizontally. It was a slightly frosty late Indian summer morning. While I stood listening I kept hearing a low, desultory, kind of buzz that I couldn't identify. I turned my gaze out over the downhill side and in the branches about 6ft away from my head was the largest Yellow Hornet nest I had ever seen! There were dozens of hornets coating the outside surface around the opening and a few trying to shake off the cold and fly. I felt like they were all glaring at me. I moved slowly down the trail and away. I shudder to think what would have happened if I had been trapped on that confined trail forty five minutes later when the late autumn sun had filtered through the trees and the hornets had shook off the cold. Two weeks later and the hive was cold killed and the nest smashed open by wind and sleet.

 

Bad,bad situation! Me,if one yellow jacket stung me I’d consider jumpin, posssible death by bees , would not be a option

 

I know of a bow hunter in the PNW who fell out of his stand, they found him 2 days later,hanging upside down by a foot, literally, it took several hours to get him down. But, not before they stabilized him with a bp suit, most of the blood had settled in his extremities and his head!

 

I was just finishing with a food plot a little bit ago and got hammered at least 15 times. Dog got it too. Hands are all swollen and itch like crazy. I'll go back up and get the tractor tonight.

 

Cleaning up mulch/landscaping of weeds this morning and stumbled on a hornets nest. Got it twice and they even chased me. They no longer have a nest now but they've tried to reestablish twice now. My arm and stomach still hurts.

 

We're into August so from here on out its the season for them and time to be extra vigilant. Been lucky this year so far. Got to move and cut a decent sized log pile with the FIL today and hopefully we dont find any.

 

I recently was up in the attic blowing some insulation in when I got attacked. They had built a pretty good nest at one of the gable end of the house. Had to climb out and get some spray. Absolutely hate those suckers.

 

I'm planning to use my weed wacker this week. I was sizing up this forsythia when I spotted....



It's active. Looked like white face hornets.

I'll have to see if I have any of that "death from 20ft away" spray and hit them after sundown.