Yellowjackets....

[Member 5605]

I attend Calvary Chapel in Corvallis. Every summer we have outdoor bbq after service.

This year they have had to cancel the BBQ's due to bees. It takes a LOT but they are absolutely terrible everywhere.

Weekend before last we were up at Diamond Lake and you couldn't sit down and eat without being swarmed. I tried to "decoy" trick and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING worked!!!

Blame it on a mild winter last year. Not enough hives were killed and not enough hibernating queens were killed.

I did kill a nest in ground at our new place a couple weeks after moving in.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

I would too ROFLMAO

lets just say every elk from hebo to tillamook heard me screamin and runnin. ya,that evening hunt was over. looking back it was pretty funny in the sense on how f'd up is it that not only do i run into yellow jackets, get into elk, get alarm barked, trip over a log into a hornet nest, lose an arrow and a bugle and run like hell only to cross paths with my buddy who has no idea... pretty funny looking back.

 

[jbett98]

I know I have beaten the world speed record for the 100 meter dash after accidentally knocking down a bald face hornets nest while cutting down an alder tree in the woods.
The worst part was having to go back and get the running chainsaw, then going back again to get the running tractor and finally go back and retrieve my truck, which of course had all the windows open.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

long story short... run like hell to avoid bees.

 

[U201491]

lets just say every elk from hebo to tillamook heard me screamin and runnin. ya,that evening hunt was over. looking back it was pretty funny in the sense on how f'd up is it that not only do i run into yellow jackets, get into elk, get alarm barked, trip over a log into a hornet nest, lose an arrow and a bugle and run like hell only to cross paths with my buddy who has no idea... pretty funny looking back.

Maybe the only thing worse is being too good at calling in an elk and having a big bull come charging in at you in a rut frenzy mad as hell out of the brush and no trees big enough to get behind....................

 

[Member 5605]

There was this ONE TIME when I was a kid..

somehow I stumbled onto those black and white devils nest. I got a way (I'm a redhead so I was picked on and learned to run fast for long periods of time) but realized that my achilles tendon hurt for quite a while after.

Turns out the last 10 minutes there was one of those buggers humping my tendon. I'm sure she dumped a gallon of sauce into my body. My ankle swelled up so bad I couldn't tie my shoe. Lucky. I got lucky.

 

[U201491]

I know I have beaten the world speed record for the 100 meter dash after accidentally knocking down a bald face hornets nest while cutting down an alder tree in the woods.
The worst part was having to go back and get the running chainsaw, then going back again to get the running tractor and finally go back and retrieve my truck, which of course had all the windows open.

Yeah I used to do field and brush mowing with a Rears Flail through some super heavy scotch broom and blackberry patches. I can see it all too clearly. I wore a bee suit in late summer and fall all the time, but that does not stop a bald face hornet attack. It just holds back the yellowjackets. I have left my tractor running and ran like hell a few times too. They attack the tractor mower and the exhaust stack. When they slow down I get back on and finish. Bald face hornets, I sit in the truck and go back after dark.

 

[v0lcom13sn0w]

Yeah I used to do field and brush mowing with a Rears Flail through some super heavy scotch broom and blackberry patches. I can see it all too clearly. I wore a bee suit in late summer and fall all the time, but that does not stop a bald face hornet attack. It just holds back the yellowjackets. I have left my tractor running and ran like hell a few times too. They attack the tractor mower and the exhaust stack. When they slow down I get back on and finish. Bald face hornets, I sit in the truck and go back after dark.

because bees dont sting in the dark. right??!

 

[U201491]

There was this ONE TIME when I was a kid..

somehow I stumbled onto those black and white devils nest. I got a way (I'm a redhead so I was picked on and learned to run fast for long periods of time) but realized that my achilles tendon hurt for quite a while after.

Turns out the last 10 minutes there was one of those buggers humping my tendon. I'm sure she dumped a gallon of sauce into my body. My ankle swelled up so bad I couldn't tie my shoe. Lucky. I got lucky.

That looks more like a hornet nest than a yellowjacket nest. Most yellowjackets are in the ground or holes in old stumps, but the majority are in the ground under brush or in areas that don't get disturbed a lot. That is a paper nest. ??? Never seen anything quite like that one LOL.

 

[U201491]

long story short... run like hell to avoid bees.

You can't out run them. Get to cover or into the water if you can.

 

[Member 5605]

That looks more like a hornet nest than a yellowjacket nest. Most yellowjackets are in the ground or holes in old stumps, but the majority are in the ground under brush or in areas that don't get disturbed a lot. That is a paper nest. ??? Never seen anything quite like that one LOL.

it probably really depends where you are in the country.

The bees that are able to live year after year and devote the time to paper hives vs the ones here in the PNW that need a hard hive location to survive winters..

Consider this one:

yellowjacket as well.

I've excavated paper hives from those yellow demons.

 

[U201491]

because bees dont sting in the dark. right??!

They will sting you anytime but they generally don't fly in the dark and go back to their nest.
If you go pester them they will still get ya.

 

[Member 5605]

Question:

Anyone else have phantom pains reading this thread and keep checking your legs and arms thinking there is one on you?

 

[clearconscience]

You guys are scaring me half to death.
Only time I ran into yellow jackets (other than my shed) was when I was in high school. Went camping with a friend and we were practicing throwing a knife into a down tree and we got swarmed from a nest inside. We both got stung but only once each and we ran like our backside was on fire.

I've had a couple small nests in my shed, one right above the door walked by it a couple times before I saw it ( lucky on the one) but I just hosed them down from a distance and closed the doors.

 

[U201491]

it probably really depends where you are in the country.

The bees that are able to live year after year and devote the time to paper hives vs the ones here in the PNW that need a hard hive location to survive winters..

Consider this one:

yellowjacket as well.

I've excavated paper hives from those yellow demons.

I have almost 70 years of bees nests that II encountered and have never seen anything quite like that. That is one I hope to never see in my lifetime. Except from the Scope inside a tank flame thrower.

 

[DuneHopper]

Hahahahaha. for some reason that reminds me of my halo2 days drivin the warthog.

Miss that game was fun, but yea lol it sure does.

 

[U201491]

I attend Calvary Chapel in Corvallis. Every summer we have outdoor bbq after service.

This year they have had to cancel the BBQ's due to bees. It takes a LOT but they are absolutely terrible everywhere.

Weekend before last we were up at Diamond Lake and you couldn't sit down and eat without being swarmed. I tried to "decoy" trick and NOTHING, I mean NOTHING worked!!!

Blame it on a mild winter last year. Not enough hives were killed and not enough hibernating queens were killed.

I did kill a nest in ground at our new place a couple weeks after moving in.

I have a hunch this fall will be one hell of a bad bee year.

 

[DuneHopper]

The only real bad time was one on the ground that was in a dip in the ground and had been covered by leaves. I was trimming a hedge and stepped right on the edge of the nest. I thought the crunch I felt was leaves until I felt the stings. I was wearing shorts and looked down as the same time pain was registering and they were all over my legs and heading for the family jewels. I jumped up and ran must have moved like Bruce Lee on caffeine I managed to get to my truck and kill the rest in my cab that were still on my leg. Lucky the windows were up. I am not allergic but had 42 stings on my legs. I grabbed my first aid kit and downed 4 Benaydrl, cause I knew that many there would be some sorta reaction. I had a trailer on my truck and said ok going to leave and come back when they calm down. I start driving down this country dirt road and I unknown must have wrapped a hitchhiker in my sock guess I must have shoved down when brushing them off. So picture driving a full sized truck, with a trailer down a windy dirt road why MR. Hornet is stinging me every 2.5 seconds in the ankle.
I finely got down the end of the road and got out the truck why he was still stinging me, I could have just crushed the little SOB, but I unfolded my sock and let him go, naw not some nature freak, but figured he earned getting out of it for teaching me a valuable lesson to watch where I am stepping.

My leg never swelled by wow did my ankle hurt for two days. The rest of the stings were bad but went away also in a few days. My only blessing was they never got to the Family Jewels so guess the story does have a happy ending.

 

[mjbskwim]

Boy there is some huge nests in the other vids.
When I was a kid we lived in Shelton and me and my cousins would go tromping thru the woods,climb on a stump and wake up a hive.
I have been stung probably 40 times in one assault.
Now they don't bother me much and my cousin needs to carry a kit with him at all times

 

[etrain16]

I have almost 70 years of bees nests that II encountered and have never seen anything quite like that. That is one I hope to never see in my lifetime. Except from the Scope inside a tank flame thrower.

Maybe we could send that chair as a gift to Bloomberg or Pelosi or....