Bee/wasp/hornet/whatever identification

[wolfman]

In a pump up sprayer mix 1 cup of your favorite concentrated insect spray, 1/4 cup of dish detergent, 1 cup of diesel fuel, and a gallon of water. Wait until it is dark and they are all in for the night, pump up the sprayer, shove the wand as far down the hole as you can, empty the sprayer and mash the hole closed. I have done this on several nests and never had them dig out.

 

[briand212]

A old farmer showed me this.. for any bee's ..
get a pan of boiling water.. the hotter the better.. dump down the entrance to the nest.. or on the nest whatever the case may be.
of course I do NOT recommend this for any nest over head

I took out a couple of ground bees nest this way and it worked like a charm ... plus it is almost free

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I know they say don't do it...and it is dangerous, I suppose...and I'm not suggesting anybody do it because of the inherent danger...but there is that certain satisfaction, after you've been attacked by a bunch of the little ********, in pouring about a quart of gas down that hole and lighting it off.....Mua--haaaa-haaaaaaa-haaaaaaaa!

 

[mrjarrell]

I know they say don't do it...and it is dangerous, I suppose...and I'm not suggesting anybody do it because of the inherent danger...but there is that certain satisfaction, after you've been attacked by a bunch of the little ********, in pouring about a quart of gas down that hole and lighting it off.....Mua--haaaa-haaaaaaa-haaaaaaaa!

I've done that with yellow jackets, in the past. Usually works. Had to do a nest a couple of weeks ago and had a gallon of old bug spray sitting around. Poured it down the hole and shoved a walnut in it. Haven't seen hide nor hair of 'em since.

 

[Fargo]

I know they say don't do it...and it is dangerous, I suppose...and I'm not suggesting anybody do it because of the inherent danger...but there is that certain satisfaction, after you've been attacked by a bunch of the little ********, in pouring about a quart of gas down that hole and lighting it off.....Mua--haaaa-haaaaaaa-haaaaaaaa!

From his pic, looks a little close to the house....

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

From his pic, looks a little close to the house....

Meh...that's concrete. What could possibly go wrong.

 

[WebSnyper]

I've conducted several sneak attacks and emptied most of a large can of killer on the nest. I don't know how effective it'll be but it's been pleasurable. They didn't have the dust at the store when I went for dinner supplies, I'll find some tomorrow and finish it off.

So you found the nest itself? Is there anywhere they can get into the wall or is there a crawl space, etc there? If so, make sure you check if they got inside.

I had this in my basement recently, behind some insulation... yellow jackets.

If you don't get the queen, they will likely come back.

 

[phylodog]

I'm pretty sure I saw a hole in the ground earlier in the day but I didn't get close enough to be sure. I just went out and there were about a dozen dead laying where I believe their nest was but I can't find a hole now. I dumped the rest of the can on the area and I'll check it again in a few days and see if there are any survivors. I'm on a slab so they're either in the ground or in the wall. I'll wait until I know the nest is dead before I explore further.

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

I'm pretty sure I saw a hole in the ground earlier in the day but I didn't get close enough to be sure. I just went out and there were about a dozen dead laying where I believe their nest was but I can't find a hole now. I dumped the rest of the can on the area and I'll check it again in a few days and see if there are any survivors. I'm on a slab so they're either in the ground or in the wall. I'll wait until I know the nest is dead before I explore further.

During the day, while they're active, you can usually see them coming and going from where ever the entrance to their nest is. The last one I destroyed, every few seconds you'd see one either lifting off from or landing right at the entrance to their nest. The hole opening was about the size of a nickel or quarter. There'll usually be a few standing guard right at the entrance.

 

[WebSnyper]

During the day, while they're active, you can usually see them coming and going from where ever the entrance to their nest is. The last one I destroyed, every few seconds you'd see one either lifting off from or landing right at the entrance to their nest. The hole opening was about the size of a nickel or quarter. There'll usually be a few standing guard right at the entrance.

Yep, I saw a few in the basement but could not put together exactly where they were coming from/nested until my daughter had mentioned that while I had her picking weeds in the flower bed near the back of the house that she had seen some coming and going from a particular spot on the house. I then came inside and looked behind the insulation in my basement on the other side of the wall from where she saw them, and found the nest in the picture above. I got tagged in the neck when removing the insulation and came inside and contacted an exterminator. There was just going to be no place to run in the basement, and if I didn't get them all, I didn't need them getting loose in the house, and not killing the queen. Luckily the exterminator was relatively cheap compared to my undertaking the risk.

Good luck.

 

[rgrimm01]

A old farmer showed me this.. for any bee's ..
get a pan of boiling water.. the hotter the better.. dump down the entrance to the nest.. or on the nest whatever the case may be.
of course I do NOT recommend this for any nest over head

I took out a couple of ground bees nest this way and it worked like a charm ... plus it is almost free

From what I have observed, this is the way farmers also keep teenagers (and cats...and sales people...and neighbors...and squirrels...and walnuts...) off their property.

 

[Hookeye]

IIRC 4% of those who suffer an allergic reaction to a stimulus, have that reaction off and on (from that one incident) for up to a year. And, 4% of those people will have the reaction off and on, for the rest of their lives.

Years before, dozens of stings (one incident), single or double stings maybe every few yrs before............no big deal.

Bounced one off my Jeep mirror..............SOB screwed me up for months (hives and other).

 

[88GT]

So you found the nest itself? Is there anywhere they can get into the wall or is there a crawl space, etc there? If so, make sure you check if they got inside.

I had this in my basement recently, behind some insulation... yellow jackets.

If you don't get the queen, they will likely come back.

I'll see your nest in the basement and raise you one larger nest in the spare bedroom.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/enormous-wasps--nest-cover-bed-in-uk-woman-s-spare-bedroom-144546753.html

 

[miguel]

So do these things use a nest for just one year or do they come back every year?

 

[Hop]

They can come back. I've had several nests and the one under my hot tub has been the worst one because they come back there every year. I'm going to try to remove the entire tub from the wood surround this time. I'll pressure wash out ever last bit of hive. Hopefully they will be gone forever.

 

[JettaKnight]

I can't quite tell from the photo which species, but it's definitely the genus vespula - yellow jackets. They can be pretty nasty.

Yellow Jackets would swarm my fish pond last year (when it was hot and dry). They'd come from all over the neighborhood to get a drink of water and I'd sit and watch them standing on rocks in the stream and dipping their faces into to water. Fascinating actually, and they were too preoccupied with hydration to worry about me.

 

[JeremiahJohnson]

Yup, taken out many yellow jacket nests at night - so you get them all - they return to the nest at night.

By the way, don't trap all the skunks off your property. Skunks will dig up yellow jacket nests and eat them. Always need a couple skunks around just for yellow jacket control.

 

[WebSnyper]

I'll see your nest in the basement and raise you one larger nest in the spare bedroom.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/enormous-wasps--nest-cover-bed-in-uk-woman-s-spare-bedroom-144546753.html

Wow!

How does that happen in the living space of the house and one not know it. Mine was in an unfinished basement, behind insulation and I still found it. The exterminator that came in for us said it actually could have been built fairly quickly in our case.

 

[88GT]

Wow!

How does that happen in the living space of the house and one not know it. Mine was in an unfinished basement, behind insulation and I still found it. The exterminator that came in for us said it actually could have been built fairly quickly in our case.

I don't know, but according to the story, it was a spare bedroom that was never used. There window wasn't securely shut and they found a way in.

Creepy. Interestingly, the blanket on the bed was saved.

 

[Hawkeye]

I get your attitude towards these bugs! But one thing to consider is that they are predators and kill off lots of other species of bugs that damage your garden and fruit trees. Not saying don't go after them because I do myself but they do have their positives. I find more of a problem with papers wasps and mud daubers where I live. And if they have a next anywhere near a door or anthing they get balsted.