Yellowjacket equinox

Yellow jackets haven't been much of an issue at my place. Last year I set up a shop vac right at their entrance of their nest and easily sucked up a few hundred, each with a satisfying "fump" as it passed the event horizon.

Paper wasps get a free ride around my place. Docile and beneficial. No harm no foul.

End of last summer I was walking the mutt and made the mistake of passing to close by a bald faced hornets nets. F@#ker popped me right in the back of the head. I could have sworn someone shot me. God that hurt. All I could do for an hour was lay down with an ice pack writhing.
 
I was helping a friend look for his lost golf ball. I was stung by bald faced hornets 3 times on my ankle. I thought I was shot or stabbed. It swelled up and down for a few days and the holes itched for about a month.
 
dirty dog said:
I used to work in the woods cutting timber, man I hated yellow jackets.
They nest in the ground and it all looks the same until you stepped into a hollow spot and the bastards came out to kill ya.
Trap'em all, kill'em all
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As a forester, I share your feelings.

I went to my doctor for a physical and she said we need to focus on things that will kill you.

My answer was " that would be yellow jackets".

I came close to dying twice due to yellow jackets. Once working in the woods, and the second time on the deck of my second home.

I don't have a "shock" response to a sting, but I swell. So for years, I just tolerated the swelling.

One time in the middle of a critical project I got stung on the head and my left eye swollen shut. I hiked 8 miles down and found the town doctor at the golf course and he gave me a shot in the butt, and I hiked 8 miles back to camp to work the next day.

I never thought the swelling was an issue until my co-worker got stung 20 times on the head, five miles from the nearest trail, another eight miles from the nearest road, and another 50 miles to the nearest paved road and doctor. If that were me, I would be dead.

Years later I was so pissed off at a office work meeting, I left and went to my second home to have lunch with a sandwich and beer. I don't normally drink beer, but the yellow jacket made its way into the bottle and when I drank it, he bit my tongue. A swollen tongue means you cannot breathe. Three epi shots had no affect, but the IV drip with Benedry, kicked in as the EMT in the ambulance was taking out his pen to do a emergency tracheotomy.

I always travel with a epi pen and Benadry.
 
We had a YJ nest in our front steps, in a crack in the concrete. I took one of those single-use water bottles, dried it out, and put some sevin dust in it. I put the opening up to the entrance and stomped on it, spraying dust into the entrance. Workers tracked it in and killed the whole nest in short order.

The worst is carking and trimming tuna in the back yard. YJs everywhere, but surprisingly docile. They stay on the trim pile or buzz around the trash, and I don't put them in the vac sealer. I should probably do the cat food trick next time though.
 
After a while, stings that in the past didn't cause a major reaction will cause issues for you if you've had any systemic allergic reaction to a sting (like hives or breathing problems), then there's a much higher chance of a more severe reaction with future stings.
Don't ask me how I know this, but I know this.
😁
Personal best is 17 on the yellowjackets, and 21 on the hornets, both times ground swarms that got in my pants leg and under my shirt.
Good times to be sure...
Rarely a year goes by when I don't agitate some form of insect, and wind up stung.
The last good one was an eyelid sting (multiples) at my home while fucking around before work in the flower garden...one of those big fuzzy (not so humbelus bumbelus) bumblebees was sleeping in a flower and I woke him up deadheading.
😅
 
dirty dog said:
I used to work in the woods cutting timber, man I hated yellow jackets.
They nest in the ground and it all looks the same until you stepped into a hollow spot and the bastards came out to kill ya.
Trap'em all, kill'em all
Click to expand...
I am still scarred and afraid of them ever since backpacking with my uncle in Vermont when I stepped into a ground nest...they stung me inside my mouth, eyelids, up my pants legs, everywhere...I was 18 at the time...I thought I was going to die.
 
Spiders...they love to bite me.
There's also these guys, but I had never seen one unitl we moved across town into a new place.
Any thoughts as to what they are?
They get bigger as the days pass too.
They are able to fly as they get bigger.
Those look like antennas but they have stingers at the end.
IMG_7789.jpeg
They leave these marks after a couple of days of itchiness.
IMG_7817.jpeg
 
Well, it's that time of years again when the yellow jackets have hatched out and the hungry bastards are out hunting for food.
keeping the puppy kennel clean is dangerous and the water bowls jacket free is a full time job.
Seems like there are more this year than years passed.
Stay safe out there fishing and hiking.
 
Mrs. Salmo just pointed out to me a yellowjacket nest entrance at the top of a front porch post that she observed yesterday (while I was away fishing). There must be some hollow space behind there. My YJ trap is on the deck on the back of my house. Guess I'll move it and see if it attracts some clients.
 
Not sure if it works on yellow jackets and paper wasps, but my folks in TX were having issues w/ dirt dobbers getting into the central AC housing and under the outboard motor housing when it sat without use for exteneded periods. A neighbor told them to hang a cow tag (ear tag) in each place they were building a nest. They haven't had an issue with them since. Just put a fresh tag in the confined space annually.
 
downriver79 said:
Not sure if it works on yellow jackets and paper wasps, but my folks in TX were having issues w/ dirt dobbers getting into the central AC housing and under the outboard motor housing when it sat without use for exteneded periods. A neighbor told them to hang a cow tag (ear tag) in each place they were building a nest. They haven't had an issue with them since. Just put a fresh tag in the confined space annually.
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Interesting…
Curious to find out more about this.
What does a cow tag specifically that thwarts the prickly bastards?
 
FinLuver said:
What does a cow tag specifically that thwarts the prickly bastards?
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I would assume the Op was referencing "insectide" ear tags.
 
Has anyone used the approach where you put some flea drops in a can of cat food, and let them take the poison back to the nest?
 
PhilR said:
Has anyone used the approach where you put some flea drops in a can of cat food, and let them take the poison back to the nest?
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@Evan B - Isn't this a reference to Shad Chunks™? (I used Walleye Chunks™ last year but given I traped 30 plus queens and am capturing perhpas 100 of the worker yellowjackets, I think I need Shad Chunks™ versus Walleye Chunks™.)
 
Buzzy said:
@Evan B - Isn't this a reference to Shad Chunks™? (I used Walleye Chunks™ last year but given I traped 30 plus queens and am capturing perhpas 100 of the worker yellowjackets, I think I need Shad Chunks™ versus Walleye Chunks™.)
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Yes sir! Find some flea drops with the active ingredient "Fipronil," and mix it with your smelly protein of choice. I'm overdue for this myself.
 
Update....

My ground yellowjacket nest is still going despite the double glass bowl covers. A few workers are escaping now, but most buzz inside the bowls in futility. The hive seems weaker today. I'm deploying my shop vac this afternoon to suck up the smart ones and further diminish the colony. Tonight I will use a pick axe to infiltrate the nest with insecticide and kill the queen.



 
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DimeBrite said:
Update....

My ground yellowjacket nest is still going despite the double glass bowl covers. A few workers are escaping now, but most buzz inside the bowls in futility. The hive seems weaker today. I'm deploying my shop vac this afternoon to suck up the smart ones and further diminish the colony. Tonight I will use a pick axe to infiltrate the nest with insecticide and kill the queen.



Click to expand...

Sounds like someone hasn't tried laced Shad Chunks™
 
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