So last night it was cooler so I did some yard work. All the trimming of shrubs etc. I go to move the long extension cord to get access to shrubs on east side of the house when my left ankle starts to burn like crazy. Wasn't sure at first, but looked down and seen wasps hovering around. My sandel went flying and I ran as I had no idea how many there were.

Turns out the yellow jackets built a hive under the patio deck, underneath a corner. I guess the weed-eater set them off and I happened to be there. Apparently lawn mowers will do the same. My ankle didn't swell to much. Two years ago at our other house it was black faced bald wasps on my wrist. I would say the yellows hurt more.

I got out some RAID and sprayed the hive. Then killed as many as I could. Then got my little torch and burned the hive and any flying wasps on the ground. Many more came back over time and I spent the time killing them. Glad I caught it now, would have been hundred more if the larvae hatched.

I read up on the yellow jackets. They can be aggressive. Don't squish them, apparently they have scent that attracts others to attack. Likewise they can transfer a scent to an enemy so other wasps know who to attach. Crazy!

Had a headache most of today, so took it easy. Get back to things next week.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Pedro



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2014 01:04AM by pedrog.

Hey - yes Sir! Hot time Saturday night ... Just finished milling the cavities of a bullet mold. I'm a wild thing!

Sorry you got stung up.

Now Pedro ... You knew someone was gonna ask .... Did you mention "weed eater" and "sandals" together?

Hey - you got off lucky with bee stings. Whacking off your toenails would be worse! See ... I've learned to see the bright side!!!

Gary

Hi Gary,

Yes, sandals and a weed-eater. I know not the best mix but it has a large guard on it. Next time I will wear shoes

Sounds like you have been very busy day!

Pedro

Ouch!

We had a bunch of them build a nest INSIDE the outer fiberglass shell of a hot tub we had at our last house. They started to get pissy about letting us share it with them, so they had to go. Problem was, we didn't want to douse the hot tub with poison..what to do?

Long story short, I strapped a portable electric yard vacuum/leaf blower to a stand and parked the intake nozzle right outside the little opening they were getting in through. Plugged it in from a safe distance, and let it run for a while. Every time a bunch would come back to the nest and start getting agitated, I'd plug it back in for a spell. About an hour later all the ones that could fly were reduced to mist, and it was safe to remove the side panels to get at the remainder. The nest, the immature workers, the larvae, the queen...everything went through the yard vac with no problem. Sealed up the opening with a dab of silicone and they never came back. I did have some cleanup to do with the sticky bits that came out through the blowers output port, but there wasn't much left considering.