Yellow Jackets #$#$#@()$#U$

[horsetech21]

I haven't been stung since a child...UNTIL this summer

Last month, I had an encounter walking the dog...got stung twice...made a b line for home. Dog was okay (more worried about the dog since they can't tell you how many or if they have stings)

Two weeks ago, I was walking the newly mowed trails at the barn with my dogs...saw my other dog squat, realized she had a yellow jacket/hornet on her...then I felt POW on my thight...we made a b line for the pond...I ran her in the pond and was still beating them off of me. Got four stings.

Today, walking on a barn path that I frequent regularly...same damn scenerio...this time I got one sting on my arm.

My friend got stung putting her hand in her purse in the tack room.

I think all the farm bushhogging has driven them out in force. I'm guessing I'm done with my nice walks until cold weather kills the bastards.

Is there any hornet repellents for humans and dogs...or are we just screwed for now.

Anyone else having this problem? We didn't have a bee problem last year...but this one has been wetter and muggier.

Going to nurse my wounds now.

[twofatponies]

They are the worst! I avoid overgrown areas, hedgerows, field edges and other places like that this time of year. But mowed areas are usually safe! You probably have to find the nest(s) and call in a pest controller. :(

[horsetech21]

It sucks because they just seem to be EVERYWHERE....I've never encountered this before. I'm assuming the bushhogging (there were some large overgrown areas) pissed off some hornets/yellow jackets and now they are EVERYWHERE.

[SarahandSam]

Ick, I hate them... I desperately need to prune the butterfly bush in my backyard; while it attracts an occasional butterfly, it mostly attracts yellow jackets. But I can't prune it because there are too many of them. Bah. ):

[JanM]

When hornets or yellow jackets get displaced they relocate to what ever location they can find-I bet there's a new nest that is responsible for all of the stings-they got evicted and they're mad.

[Puddin Pie]

I got the paniced call while at the barn riding (that makes it horse related) that my 6 year old was in the school office covered with hives, head to toe, could they give her benadryl. By the time I got the message (15 min later) the headmaster made the decision to take her to the urgent care-she got a shot of benadryl and steroids. We thought initially it was just from touching the maple tree bark (weird, but she did not think she was stung), the teachers checked and did not find anything-then the next day they found the nest!! I bet she was stung, but only slightly. We have pulled blood for allergy testing and are waiting the results. We are now the proud owners of 2 epi pens! I drove to the doctor's office still in half chaps and boots. At least I got my helmet off. DD is fine now, but that was scary!!!

[poltroon]

I've been nailed twice this month. The colony is in one of my planters, right outside the front door. I'd be fine with live and let live, but twice is too many. Chemical warfare from a distance has not been successful... I don't think it's getting down in far enough. I'm going to have to dig it up in the dark of night and hope for the best.

[nappingonthejob]

The other day I was walking through my paddock and noticed a hole that looked like it had been stepped in by a horse. I put my foot in it to see how deep it went and the bees started swarming! :eek: I got away quickly enough, but stupid me forgot where it was on the way back through and got stung twice. Those ground bees are aggressive little mofos!

I waited until night and put a bucket over the hole to keep the horses out of the hole until I got some spray. I killed them all I think, but still need to fill in the hole. I want my bucket back!

[JSwan]

It's been a bad summer here, too. I can't wait for winter.

The latest sting was last Friday - had the misfortune of moving a calf hutch with a large nest in it. They swarmed me and I was stung on my right side and my back right above the waist line. I think 4 or 5 really got me good. Those are the most swollen and itchy ones.

Mostly they've just been getting me in the neck and arms. I've managed not to step on ground bees but the summer isn't over yet. :mad: Only a matter of time.

[Rebe]

If the yellow jackets, hornets, wasps, whatever, are out and about, be very very careful about cans of soda left sitting.

Many years ago, Mr. Rebe was working on a forest fire cleanup crew. One gal on his team took a swig of soda from a can and SWALLOWED a yellow jacket. It stung her throat, which of course reacted and swelled shut. She suffocated before they even knew what was wrong. :cry:

Moral of the story: Do NOT leave soda cans sitting around to attract the beasties with stingers. Always check before you drink.

[BoysNightOut]

Oh god...my house has a nest somewhere in the window where I can't see, but I see those bastards fly into the shutters and disappear.

I work from home, and everyday, I kill at least 5-6 of them that get into the house.

I've gone through 3 cans of RAID Hornet/Wasp/Yellow Jacket Killer just spraying them dead...but still have yet to find the nest. BTW, those traps with liquid in them...don't work at all.

For scary viewing pleasure....here's a few pictures of my Hornet graveyard I add to daily:

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5928_515825165980_90900349_30570059_8368071_n.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_515825175960_90900349_30570061_4390692_n.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_515825180950_90900349_30570062_381191_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_516042500440_90900349_30580818_3109640_n.jpg

[Foxtrot's]

Don't you have that foam that squirts through a long straw? Wait until evening when they have all gone bye-bye shuteye and squirt the foam into the hole they are entering and exiting?

We have a very large paper wasp nest in a tree close by. It is the source of some wasps but they are pretty benign and we are living and letting live for now. It would be a shame to have them go to all that work and then kill them. We will have to see, but it has curtailed our deck suppers somewhat. We are going to put some fish guts way the other side of the nest and hope to distract them in that direction. Only September to go anyway

That is sure a scarey storey about the pop can.

[WombatCA]

I'm no help at all, but I had to laugh...

B-line--- Bee-line!!!

I love a good pun!:lol::lol::lol:

[TheJenners]

I hate them, and please please please be careful of ground nests!!!

When I was 11 or 12, a group consisting of my Mom on her mare, a friend of hers trying a horse out, that woman's dog, a rider from the barn she was trying the horse from on her horse, and myself with a friend doubled were trail riding. The horse and rider combo from the resident barn went through a ground nest, got some stings and took off running. I was next in line and it was god-awful. Aisha spun me off, I hit the ground next to the nest and saw them pouring out of the ground, jumped up and snatched my friend out of the saddle and we took off running and screaming. My mare turned around and crashed into my Mom's horse, who was knocked to the ground with the force, and Aisha then crawled over them both. Both those two took off running through the woods, and they were screaming, it was the worst sound in the world. My Mom's friend was last in line, and she dismounted and turned her mount, who was unfamiliar to her, loose before she got hurt.

To truncate the nightmare a little bit, the yellow jackets chased my friend and I over a quarter-mile before we ran into some stranger's house who had been out BBQing. He even got stung by some of the more tenacious ones. The other rider and her horse made it safely to the barn. The trial horse made it safely back. My friend went to the ER in hysterics, but was fine...not really ever my friend again though. My Mom was stung 20-something times, as was I. The vet estimated Aisha was stung hundreds of times, she coliced and nearly died. My Mom's mare tore off her shoes and spent the next year regrowing hoof wall. The dog with us was either run over by a horse or hit by a car, but her pelvis was shattered and she never walked right again.

They are mean, nasty creatures and they are serious about their homes. Please be careful of any nest.

[Sithly]

Geez, that's a true blue Horror Story, TheJenners. :eek:

A few years ago I was brush-hogging with one of the push-type machines (like a huge weed wacker on wheels). I was going along the fence line, and I ran out of string. I walked back to the barn to get more, and when I got back to the brush hog, it was SWARMING with bees! Looked like there were hundreds of them! Turns out I had hit a ground nest without realizing it.

I was so lucky that string ran out when it did! I would have been swarmed a half mile from the barn with no help in sight. Someone must have said a prayer for me that day, or something.

[SmokenMirrors]

Chalk me up with having a horror story too on the ground hornets. My draft mare Smoke stepped into a nest in our yard that was tucked into an out of the way area, went through our oak fence, and onto the road. She was shaking, covered in sweat, pacing and for the life of me, I couldn't figure out why. Immediately called the vet he came out and we treated her for colic, as were doing so I noticed hundreds of welts on her lower body and legs. Ended up we had to rush her up to the vet's office by morning as she was very lethargic, tucked up in the flanks, refused to eat or drink, and she was placed on I.V. fluid therapy for 4 days before she came around and I was able to bring her home.

In her dash to get out of the yard, when she hit the fence, she took off about a 6"x2" scrape of skin down the front of her chest, had multiple knicks and scrapes and now is a bit panicky when something lands on her so I have to be very careful when a big bug or fly lands on her.

[scrtwh]

My TWH gelding and I ran into a ground nest of some stinging guys last year. It was not pretty for either one of us. Terrible thing. :eek:

[JSwan]

Ground bees are particularly nasty.

We run into them a LOT out foxhunting in the fall. And sometimes there is a wasp nest in a coop and God help the horse that dings that coop - and the horses that come after him. :eek: Bad news. VERY bad news.

[Beverley]

This time of year, they'll only be getting grumpier as they prepare to die or overwinter depending on species. Alas, I've had my fair share of stings (and bucks) too. However, it IS fascinating to watch the yellow jackets pluck flies off of a horse. Normally very neatly done although the occasional welt on the horse means oops, they missed the fly.

[TheRedFox]

I dont know if I would do this in the pasture, but when we had ground bees in an open area we would take a couple of buckets of water and moisten the grass and soil around the perimeter of the nest, pour some gas in and light those suckers up! DH and I were lucky that we did a lot of cold season goose and duck hunting and had such heavy camo to put on to approach the nest otherwise we would be stone cold with stings.

When I had my first apartment there was a large nest in the roots of my azaleas outisde my front door. Didnt know they were established there until one day after work I came home and was having trouble getting my key to unlock the door. I must have been making more than enough noise because they all flew out of that hole and came after me. My the sheer grace of god I was able to get inside without being stung. I called my dad and asked him what I should do...he said he would be right over. Daddy comes over with his shop vac and has a long extension hose on it. We took it into one of the bedrooms and cracked the window enough to get the hose out and pushed it right up to the nest. We cranked on that vac and it stirred those bees up like crazy. The shop vac was doing a great job a sucking up a lot of them and finally my dad went out the front, plunged the rest of the hose deep into the nest and got just about the rest of them (yes, he got stung a lot) then we finished them off with a nice full can of wasp and bee killer and covered the hole again. What a mess it was. I have been fortunate enough to never come upon a nest while riding..that must be a horrible experience.

[pj]

I've had really good luck with the traps with a little water and the cheapest, stinkyest cat food you can find mixed in. Yellowjackets LOVE that stuff.

I've gone through 3 cans of RAID Hornet/Wasp/Yellow Jacket Killer just spraying them dead...but still have yet to find the nest. BTW, those traps with liquid in them...don't work at all.

For scary viewing pleasure....here's a few pictures of my Hornet graveyard I add to daily:

http://photos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs139.snc1/5928_515825165980_90900349_30570059_8368071_n.jpg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_515825175960_90900349_30570061_4390692_n.jpg

http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_515825180950_90900349_30570062_381191_n.jpg

http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc1/hs159.snc1/5928_516042500440_90900349_30580818_3109640_n.jpg

[harveyhorses]

Hate hate hate. Fire is too good for them, although very effective. Bee very careful. A friends horse swallowed one (or several) and came very close to dying. We think she ate a downed apple.

[ayrabz]

BoysNightOut....OMG---is there a reason you haven't contacted an exterminator? Thats nothing to play around with!!!! Why live with that danger vs. having a professional come, locate and get rid of the nest?
Maybe I missed something?

[Drummerboy]

Yup, on Thursday, walking dogs in the woods. Walker hound comes running up the trail looking funny, then throws himself on the ground, rolling this way and that. I called him up to check him...YIKES! They were in his armpits which has no hair, between his hind legs...poor guy must have hit a ground nest. The other dogs were fine, we high tailed it home and headed to Benadryl. He was really sore the following day. It looked like an Alfred Hitchcock scene!