Suspected some squatters living in my fire wood stack this summer.
It's been so dry here that I bet I only mowed the yard a half a dozen times if even that. So i had no real reason to be out by the wood pile until recently.
So many yellowjackets buzzing around that thing, it's insane!
I went out with a flashlight one night and look between a couple logs and was greeted with a pair of guards looking back at me. :doh2:
One glimpse of the flashlight and they took flight.....so did I! :sad3:
I went out Friday night again and drug the canvas tarp of the top as fast as I could. left it lay next to the stack and ran back to the house.
Today I sent the drone out there and hovered about a few feet away as I slowly glided down along side each row looking in between for a hive. Found nothing but pissed off swarming yellowjackets.
Then I got above the stack and dropped down to about a foot above it and started combing back and forth looking between the rows and spotted it. :shock2:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/Screenshot_20230924_135308_Gallery.jpg)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/Screenshot_20230924_135540_Gallery.jpg)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/Screenshot_20230924_173758_Gallery.jpg)
Ya think everything in there will die off as the weather cools to where I can get at that wood?
I dont know if I'm going to be able to wait that long.
I also need to start bringing in wood and splitting and stacking for next year and these things wont let me near the stack lol
That looks plum hazardous! Our wasps/yellow jackets are not as fierce as yours I don't think, but we have had to kill them out of attics and roof eaves. I bought some of that long distance wasp killer spray in a can from I think it was Home Depot. The stuff shoots a tight stream a good 25 or 30 feet. I went out at night and sprayed the nest while holding a flaslight on it to see them come out. I stayed back 20 or 25 feet. I kept the spray stream on the entrance and tried to wet each one as it emerged, though when they were swarming out I may have missed some. Also tried to soak the paper nest with the liquid. Piles of dead wasps the next day. A lot of them fell right after coming out of the entrance. Not sure whether that was from having their wings wet or if the poison worked that fast.
Them things are vicious! Throw some gasoline on them and let it rip :innocentwhistle: :biggrin:
That's nice sized too. Put the tarp over and fog it out!!
Dry ice
I cant really get high enough to spray anything on it. The wood pile is 5 foot tall and that thing is in the middle. I absolutely am not even going to climb up on top if it with them in there. :nono:
I did think about foggin em, but I dont think there's anything that could fog intensely enough to do any good. Especially being outside and the canvas only covers the top portion.
drop a quarter stick down in the middle and relocate them. LOL honestly I got zapped through a leather glove by one of those bastages. Id try to get some hornet spray into them somehow. Find some young teenager and pay him a cpl bucks if you have to. or pull the old man approach and bet him he cant do it. build it up like its some sort of right of passage.
Have you thought of starting a fire in the pile? 😉
Quote from: Hawks Feather on September 26, 2023, 06:19:47 AMHave you thought of starting a fire in the pile? 😉
I have actually lol. But I'd prefer to do it a few splits at a time over the winter instead of all at once in the yard :laf:
Eh, just wait them out until cold weather.
Shoot them....22 rat shot, don't waste a good wing shooting opportunity! :biggrin:
https://youtu.be/2R-LirLnvOQ?si=eP_xB5ADEPQCRVFZ
If you can, go out at night and cover the nest with Sevin dust. It shouldn't stir them up much and will get rid of them in a day or two.
Nasty that look fun but incredibly expensive.Especially since I'm reading there could be up to 3000 bees in this thing. :madd:
Quote from: msmith on September 28, 2023, 05:28:47 PMIf you can, go out at night and cover the nest with Sevin dust. It shouldn't stir them up much and will get rid of them in a day or two.
THATS EXACTLY what I did last night Mike. :eyebrownod:
I've been reading articles about how well it works. I had to try it but didnt want to go near the nest to do it. I taped a jug of Sevin Dust to a 10ft 1x2 last night and I'm not gonna lie...It took me a while to get siked up enough to go out there and approach them. And the whole process out there rattled me pretty good. :sad3:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/20230928_202310.jpg)
It's rained here for three days straight. And since I already took the canvas off the pile to expose this hive I was hoping the rain did some damage to it. And to my surprise it did beat it up pretty good. The drone video shows it all rough and gouged up and porous now with many flapping pieces etc. Hopefully this gives the Sevin Dust an added advantage.
This pic is a screen shot of the hive after the three days rain and a couple hours right before I dumped the Sevin dust on it.
(http://nasty%20that%20look%20fun%20but%20incredibly%20expensive.especially%20since%20i'm%20reading%20there%20could%20be%20up%20to%203000%20bees%20in%20this%20thing.%20:madd: %20%20%5Bquote%20author=msmith%20link=msg=240519%20date=1695940127%5D%20If%20you%20can,%20go%20out%20at%20night%20and%20cover%20the%20nest%20with%20Sevin%20dust.%20It%20shouldn't%20stir%20them%20up%20much%20and%20will%20get%20rid%20of%20them%20in%20a%20day%20or%20two.%20%5B/quote%5D %20THATS%20EXACTLY%20what%20I%20did%20last%20night%20Mike. %20:eyebrownod: %20I've%20been%20reading%20articles%20about%20how%20well%20it%20works.%20I%20had%20to%20try%20it%20but%20didnt%20want%20to%20go%20near%20the%20nest%20to%20do%20it.%20I%20taped%20a%20jug%20of%20Sevin%20Dust%20to%20a%2010ft%201x2%20last%20night%20and%20I'm%20not%20gonna%20lie...It%20took%20me%20a%20while%20to%20get%20siked%20up%20enough%20to%20go%20out%20there%20and%20approach%20them.%20And%20the%20whole%20process%20out%20there%20rattled%20me%20pretty%20good.%20:sad3: %20%20%5Bimg%5Dhttps://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/20230928_202310.jpg)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/Screenshot_20230928_203219_Gallery.jpg)
Here's a short clip from the drone of the rain drenched hive a couple hours before I dumped the seven dust on it.
https://vimeo.com/869384576
I seen clips where drones are attacked by wasps and the blades just chop them up. But 3,000 might be a bit much for one drone.
Well, it's been 5 days since the Sevin Dust Apocalypse. There's still some pretty good activity around there during the day.
The is the first chance I had to shoot the drone over there and check it since. Not much going in the vid, but there was maybe a hand full of agitated bees show up to investigate the commotion. Didnt realize until I downloaded the footage that I stopped recording too early. :doh2:
There's a chance for rain tomorrow. IF WE do get any I wonder what the impact will be on the Sevin Dust. Hopefully it milks it down through the tattered hive
https://vimeo.com/870496707
Some cool mornings are coming later this week. Wait until early morning and use some Brakleen. Kills them on contact and eliminates the problem. It's much better than wasp and hornet killer.
https://thebusinessjournal.com/state-regulators-take-aim-at-popular-pesticide/#:~:text=The%20chemical%20was%20introduced%20in,to%20properly%20dispose%20of%20it.
That article was from California 4 yrs ago, Nasty.
Isnt EVERYTHING illegal in Commie Cali? :laf:
The ban must only effect those wierdos cause I bought mine a week ago.
I'm thinking about getting more and sprinkling it out on the ground where I'm going to start stacking up next years splits to dry. I read on a Hearth forum where a guy has been doing it for years and he says he doesnt even get spiders, let alone bees, in his wood stack. :confused:
Try whispering to them, it works on horses.... :biggrin:
Jim when I first saw that contraption, I said "That's Looney Toon hammer straight from ACME!" Then I read it. :alscalls:
So, have you finished off your problem or have they finished you off?
Well...I definitely did not finish them off. Unless there are a lot of stragglers and guards running loose yet.
We finally got rain after a 5 month drought which forced me to mow and they did not like me out there mowing around the wood stack.
I never got stung but they definitely let me know they were there. Zooming out of the cracks and gaps in the stack as I went by.
I read that flailing around wildly and frantic swatting etc, turns you into a threat or culprit so I drive by on the mower as calmly and slowly as I can. And I am telling you its nerve racking as hell cause the whole side of the stack comes to life with each pass.
I now stay several feet away. Let that shit grow next to the wood stack, I dont care.
We got rain a few days after I loaded the hive with Sevin Dust, and the rain forced me to pull the tarp back up over the stack. Which I did around 9:00 one night in the dark lol
But now the hive is protected from the weather again....IF there is anything in it.
I've been hauling, cutting and stacking the last few weeks to refill the opposite side with next years wood.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/10-18wood.jpg)
....but I've been doing it after supper when the sun is going down and the temps are dropping. They seem to be a lot more tolerant.
I have 4x4's layed out on the ground as you can see to keep the firewood off the ground as it dries etc. I'm pulling those up and sprinkling Sevin Dust down and putting them back before I start stacking each row this year. Hopefully that helps to prevent this again.
Last weekend I had the wood splitter down on the empty side of the stack and I was splitting and stacking next years wood and the bees were one notch from OVERWHELMING. I mean they were coming out of the stacked wood in clouds. They crawled on my sweatshirt like flies, they were up under my glasses. It was insane. I never got stung but it was more then I wanted to deal with. I doused my hat and shirt with DEET, but it never phased them.
In all honesty, they seemed to have dwindled in numbers. I mean there is still MANY of them owning that stack but not compared to what it was like.
I'm kind of wondering if the Sevin Dust did it's job and whats bothering me out there now are stragglers or worker bees that were hatched after the Dusting. I dont know.
I DO know that I cant wait to see that hive up close when I get to that section of wood this winter. I hope it's 40 below when I do get there though. Cause I want to tear it apart and see what makes it tick. I'm being told it should be empty by then. Lets freakin hope so. :holdon:
It's all interesting. I wonder how they survive a winter that gets -40?
I got stung by a wasp or hornet on Sunday afternoon, through my fleece glove as I walked through the woods after a deer calling stand. It really HURT, and kept hurting. Today, Wednesday, it still has a dull ach over my whole thumb and hand, and itches more than hurts. There was a trace of swelling the next day but nothing visible indicating exactly where he stung me. I swatted him off as I felt the pain rising on my thumb and looked down. It was a fairly small yellow and black banded wasp looking thing, about the size of a honey bee and similar build rather than one of the skinny waisted type.
Quote from: Okanagan on October 18, 2023, 11:27:27 PMIt's all interesting. I wonder how they survive a winter that gets -40?
I'm no expert.....yet..lol. But I always thought (in those temps) the guards just set on their post until they freeze by going into a deep stage of hibernation. I say that because I HAVE brought wood in the house over the years that had a bee or two tucked into a crevice. If I see them I simply enjoy the extra BTU's. If I dont see them, I find him fluttering in the window behind the blinds when I get home.
But with that said, The experts say that the workers die off after being exposed to cold temps for 5 to 7 days straight. The queen burrows down into the ground and emerges in the spring. But they dont reuse old nests.
I can say they definitely will not be reusing THIS nest anyway :laf:
Thanks for the update. I like most bees, but those flying SOB (son of bees) yellow jackets are the ones that I can not stand. It doesn't help that I am allergic to them and rather than moving slow I tend to start moving faster which I know is wrong. Usually there are only a couple of them that stop to visit while I am washing the car or truck and I get my (no longer charged) bug swatter and play tennis with them. Usually when I kill one I find the body and just wait because any others will show up there pretty quickly.
Good luck with the wood stack and hopefully you will have a rip-roaring fire when you toss the nest in. 🐝 🔥
Well I got to the tail end of the first row yesterday and I found this peaking through the next row. :huh:
Sumbitch is bigger then I originally thought because THIS isnt even the corporate headquarters. This is like the South Wing.
Headquarters is behind the row this thing is peaking through.
Dead (or frozen) bees everywhere.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/20231125_120738.jpg)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/v54/RiverBoy/20231125_120744.jpg)
I wonder if there's a wood split encapsulated in the middle of that bitch. I shoulda checked. I cant imagine a empty space that big in the stack but :shrug:
I never touched it cause I want to try and preserve it's structure as I get closer to the corporate headquarters so I can see/show it's over all size.
Finally reached the Yellow Jacket empire this weekend. :huh:
I feel like this was the main part. There's still corridors of nest running through the splits.
:yoyo: Looks like you have some great starter material. Just take the inside and let it get warm and see if anything comes out to say Hello! 🐝
Wow! That is a HUGE and extensive yellow jacket nest. I've never seen wasps or yellow jackets build anything near that big. Honey bee hives can get huge as they extend through big old hollow trees over many years, but you must have some kind of uber yellow jackets in your country!
Quote from: Hawks Feather on December 11, 2023, 07:28:00 AM:yoyo: Looks like you have some great starter material. Just take the inside and let it get warm and see if anything comes out to say Hello! 🐝
Hard pass right there Jerry :nono:
Quote from: Okanagan on December 11, 2023, 07:03:42 PMWow! That is a HUGE and extensive yellow jacket nest. I've never seen wasps or yellow jackets build anything near that big. Honey bee hives can get huge as they extend through big old hollow trees over many years, but you must have some kind of uber yellow jackets in your country!
They owned that wood stack most of the summer :whew:
WOW! That definitely wasn't coming out of there until winter.
They was dug in there like a bunch of illegal aliens in a free New York City hotel room :biggrin:
So did ya get stung?
I was pushing straw around in a large cattle shelter with a little open air tractor at around -6F. I hit the wall and be dambed if a whole host of honey bees came out looking for a fight.
Old man had us take down the wall and remove them as well as the honey. Well we got a slab of cone 5' x 6' that we put on a sheet of plywood. Dad had us place it on 2 barrels in the shop. Man you wouldn't believe how much of a mess that made. :alscalls: :alscalls:
I didnt get stung..but I left them well alone until we had freezing temps.
You actually had bees moving at -6? I'm assuming Celsius? So 21 degrees fahrenheit?
Good god...They shoulda been like little M&M's at that temp.