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John Coloccia
04-21-2012, 11:46 AM
Maybe this is a stupid question, but is there something I can spray to keep bugs and bees off my property?

Paul Saffold
04-21-2012, 12:09 PM
Are they destructive or just annoying?
Bees are necessary for the reproduction of many plants and trees.

John Coloccia
04-21-2012, 12:12 PM
Are they destructive or just annoying?
Bees are necessary for the reproduction of many plants and trees.

They're destructive plus I'm allergic to bees, so I don't really care about the flowers and the trees. Either way, I'm just tired of them and would like to see them gone.

Myk Rian
04-21-2012, 12:32 PM
Malathion or Sevin. But they might not be too nice to the birds.

I've used Malathion on small areas near and under the deck. Keeps the mosquitoes away nicely. Doesn't smell as bad as Sevin.
Sevin is an abrasive liquid. Good for hard shelled insects.

Peter Kelly
04-21-2012, 12:43 PM
If they're carpenter bees, the easiest thing to do is trap them. This one works amazingly well: http://youtu.be/DD5ExhmaZA8

Caught 10 so far this year.

Steve knight
04-21-2012, 1:05 PM
Yes remove all plants and trees and grass and pave over your lot. the problem is solved.

Mike Henderson
04-21-2012, 1:19 PM
When bees are foraging they have no interest in you. The only way you'll get stung is if you step on one (bare feet) or swat at them. But I understand your concern if you have an allergy to bee stings. My dad kept bees so I have an affinity for them. I enjoy seeing them in my yard.

Mike

Matt Meiser
04-21-2012, 1:20 PM
Steve, I've been stung in a parking lot so that doesn't work too well. :D

Mike, I don't particlularly care for them around my food because they don't really get the difference between "swatting", "shooing", and "eating/drinking."

We've been trying those WHY traps that are supposed to trap wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets but they specifically don't attract bees. And I'm not too impressed with they way they are working for anything else either. Supposedly you put them out early in the season and catch the queens, then the colonies don't form. So far I just seem to be catching other bugs.

John Coloccia
04-21-2012, 1:25 PM
They also get upset when you bother their hive....you know, like underground hives near my front door, hives in my dumpster (it's just for work material....no food, but they love all the nooks and crannies, and that's where the last one got me that sent me to the ER), hives underneath the deck, hives in the hot tub, hives in the shed (as well as carpenter bees). They seem to just LOVE my house and not only are they dangerous, they cause me great expense when I have to hire someone to remove them because I can't.

Jay Jolliffe
04-21-2012, 1:28 PM
Sounds like you getting crotchety in your old age. Bee's don't bother you if you don't bother them & for bugs is you find a way to rid your yard of them you'll be set for life...With out spraying poisons everywhere which is detrimental to the birds & other animals...

Matt Meiser
04-21-2012, 1:55 PM
Well there you go John, just stop using your dumpster, deck, hot tub, shed, etc. That way you won't have to go to the Senior ER. :D

I think I'm aquiring an alergy to them as every time I get stung (every few years) it seems to swell worse and worse and I don't feel all that great. My mom has to carry an Epi Pen after getting attacked by ones in an underground nest that was in her flowerbeds.

Steve Wurster
04-21-2012, 2:10 PM
I've got wasps in my yard; I think this is the 4th year in a row. We have an aluminum fence where the horizontal pieces are U-shaped and so the wasps like to nest up under those and in the main posts. I got nailed by a couple of them last year while mowing the lawn. Nasty buggers.

I sprayed some Sevin in the fence channels just a few weeks ago, flooding or knocking out old nests. Unfortunately they're back; right next to my wife's planter boxes. Actually today while clearing space for a new planter there were about 5 wasps hanging out on one of the other planters. I think they were looking for their home because I hit one of the fence posts with another spray just a few days before after seeing a wasp hanging out on it. I'm going to go back out there tonight and hit that space again, this time trying the Sevin again. Hopefully that will do the trick.

My Dad suggested spraying a non-expanding foam into the U-channels to see if that would prevent them from trying to nest. Might have to try that in the fall. I'm getting tired of these things bothering me when I mow. Otherwise they're not a problem... but I do have to get up against my fence in order to mow and trim!

Jay Jolliffe
04-21-2012, 2:39 PM
I had some of the wood boring wasps at my house a few years ago. I just finished adding my shop to the end of the house & used Western Red Cedar for the trim. I was taking an outside shower & noticed a perfectly round 1/2" hole in the trim under the lead flashing which I didn't fold down yet. I folded the lead down & the next day the same hole through the lead. Went on line to find out about them & found a site that sold a kit to help get rid of them. In the kit was some poison, a squeeze bulb with a long tube & some 1/2" corks. I was to put the poison in the bulb & stick the tube into the hole which went a long way into the trim then squeeze the bulb to blow the poison in there then cork the hole. I guess the poison dehydrated the bee's & the larva in there. I changed the trim & cut it open to find a long channel eaten away into the soft wood of maybe 10" & little pockets off the channel that had the larva in it....If you don't kill the baby's the come back every year. I was a caretaker of a house with cedar trim & it had about 60 holes into the trim where they came back year after year to make a new home....

Lee Schierer
04-21-2012, 3:01 PM
Let's be clear, are you referring to honeybees230217, wasps230215 or hornets230216?

Honeybees are very valuable and you should not try to exterminate them. Using any sort of insecticide can wipe out an entire colony. If you don't have flowers or flower scents, honeybees won't hang around. They rarely go to soft drinks or food items. Please leave them alone and they will leave you alone. Honey bees only sting for two reasons. #1 is to protect their hive. SO if you aren't bothering their hive you have no worries. #2 is self preservation. If you swat or mash one it will sting so don't do either. Even if one lands on you most likely it will not sting and will just flay away in a few seconds. A honeybee can only sting once as the stinger is barbed and will stick in you and tear free of the bee which also kills the bee. If this happens scrape it off with a finger nail, do not pinch it as it will inject more poison into you.

Wasps and hornets are fair game and are often aggressive, particularly around their nest. They are commonly found coming to food and soft drinks and can be a royal pain and aggressive around food sources. There is no way to keep them away from your property as they will nest in any sheltered area, crack in your house, a tree, in the ground or in bushes. Swating and Shooing will make them mad and if they get mad they get aggressive and will tend to sting. They can and will sting more than once and they will live to sting another day as their stinger is not barbed and can easily be withdrawn after stinging.

Get yourself an eppy pen and keep it handy if you plan to go outdoors. I've been stung when running and also when riding my bike when I collided with one.

Jim Matthews
04-21-2012, 3:23 PM
As parent to a child who packs an Epi-pen everywhere I find these responses less than helpful.
Anaphylactic shock (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001847/) is a real consequence of stings, and sensitivity tends to increase with exposure.

In short, each sting generates a greater immune response up to and including cardiac arrest.

If you're just brushing this off, you're ignorant of the risk.

My guess is that what we're talking about are "yellow jackets" which are social wasps. Were I allergic, I wouldn't stick around to make an identification, either.
These don't like the sound of footfalls, and will swarm when agitated. A mild, dry Winter followed by a dry Spring made them very active when the first rain came.

While the benefit of these eating other insects is real, the personal risk holds greater weight.
(I'll trade aphid infestation for anaphylactic shock, thank you.)

I think the idea of spraying the dumpster is a good one. I wonder if a time-release fogger could be installed?
There are some traps that will catch them as they forage, but this does not address nests.

Even professional resources aren't encouraging about long-term eradication, the discussions all turn to management.
The literature warns (http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7450.html) that they'll swarm when poisons are detected.

I believe the OP is on the right track, to contact a professional service about steady state abatement.
Eradication is not likely possible.

Peter Kelly
04-21-2012, 3:57 PM
Steve, I've been stung in a parking lot so that doesn't work too well. :D

Mike, I don't particlularly care for them around my food because they don't really get the difference between "swatting", "shooing", and "eating/drinking."

We've been trying those WHY traps that are supposed to trap wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets but they specifically don't attract bees. And I'm not too impressed with they way they are working for anything else either. Supposedly you put them out early in the season and catch the queens, then the colonies don't form. So far I just seem to be catching other bugs.

The pheromone bait for those traps is pretty useless but the overall design isn't bad. The keys to getting them to work is filling them with either cider vinegar or apple juice, sugar and decaying insects. I had a real problem with those big, nasty European Hornets destroying my Lilac bushes last year and was having a hard time nabbing them. Once I switched to cider and sugar I found that the more dead Yellowjackets there were in the traps, the more Hornets I got. Disgusting picture here but with the right bait, they work pretty well.

I put several of them up last week and got a pretty big one. Hopefully it's a queen.


230219

ray hampton
04-21-2012, 3:58 PM
if you got problems with honey bees then make a phone call to a bee keeper who will be more than happy to remove them, If the bugs are mud daubers, no need to worry no-sting-you, the same for bumble bees, the best defense against hornets, paper wasps and yellow jackets are your common water hose, step 1 , hook the hose to faucets , step 2 ,remove all kinks, step 3 ,spray

John Coloccia
04-21-2012, 4:19 PM
You know, someone's gonna get killed if they follow some of the terrible advice and "wisdom" in this thread. Yes, mud daubers do sting. As far as a hose is concerned, have you ever seen a ticked off white faced hornet? Not only are they very aggressive (never mind that "don't bother them they don't bother you nonsense"), they are incredibly hearty. My pest guy found a nest hanging out around my house, and one of the hornets was just hanging out. He put a stream of toxin on him and had him pinned to the side of my house for a good 10 seconds until the guy finally gave up and died. This stuff will usually knock them right out of the sky and they're dead before they hit the ground. This guy just drank it like he was doing shots of tequila.

Keith Outten
04-21-2012, 5:51 PM
I have developed an allergic reaction to honey bees over the years. I constantly watch for them when I'm outside and give them plenty of space. Generally speaking I try not to kill any bees, without them we would soon starve to death. No bees no food!!!

Hornets on the other hand have to go, the sting from a giant hornet can knock a grown man down to the ground. I rarely find hornets to be a problem unless they build a nest under the eves of the house. They are pretty easy to keep at a distance, they are really loud and sound like a plane landing when they get too close.
.

John Coloccia
04-21-2012, 6:24 PM
Wildlife around here has 6 acres of my property to play with, and another 40 back there that belong to other people....and that's basically just my back yard. All I want to do is get a a few hundred feet around my house cleaned up. It's not like I'm trying to kill all the wildlife around me. I've got wild life coming out my ears. I just wanted to make it safer and more comfortable around my house. That's not unreasonable.

ray hampton
04-21-2012, 9:14 PM
You know, someone's gonna get killed if they follow some of the terrible advice and "wisdom" in this thread. Yes, mud daubers do sting. As far as a hose is concerned, have you ever seen a ticked off white faced hornet? Not only are they very aggressive (never mind that "don't bother them they don't bother you nonsense"), they are incredibly hearty. My pest guy found a nest hanging out around my house, and one of the hornets was just hanging out. He put a stream of toxin on him and had him pinned to the side of my house for a good 10 seconds until the guy finally gave up and died. This stuff will usually knock them right out of the sky and they're dead before they hit the ground. This guy just drank it like he was doing shots of tequila.

I wish to correct any information that I give which John say is incorrect but I remove a number of mud-dauber nests since I were a kid and as far as I know , no dauber never sting me, as for spraying bugs with water hose, maybe John need to turn his water pressure up

Van Huskey
04-21-2012, 9:50 PM
I think those of us that are lucky enough to not be allegic to bee/wasp/hornet stings just don't appreciate the gravity of the matter. If our yards were covered with insects carrying 9mm Glocks we would probably be calling for the legalization of DDT!

I think this sort of issue is one for a professional, "large" area abatement requires a fine line between enough and too much and I don't think that line can be defined by any of us (unless there are pest prevention professionals among us) or by the label on a BORG product.


Dirt (mud) daupers are wasps and thus can sting but it is rare for them to sting a human, but the location of their nests can be perfect places for hands to "grab" sight unseen. They can be a pain even for the non-allergic since their nests are not as easy to clean off as say a paper wasp but they eat a lot of spiders and LOVE black widows so I tend to tolerate them.

Honestly, even without any fear of death I wouldn't attack a wasp and certainly not a hornet's nest with water, you ain't gonna kill 'em and they will be right back at it tomorrow, that is after the calm down and quit hunting you!

ray hampton
04-21-2012, 10:29 PM
well and all that appear to be good, if you need to remove a hornet nest with live hornets in it, will you call the ghost busters or remove it during a heavy down pour of rain ?, how big of a nest will it take to contain an American Motors Hornet car ?

Brian Ashton
04-21-2012, 11:04 PM
You're right in that it's not unreasonable to want a relaxing time in your own yard but you have to also understand that insects are relentless in that they occupy every square inch of the terrestrial world.

But unless you plan to add a 1/4 mile buffer zone around your no go zone you won't keep flying insects away for any sort of reasonable time. And the crawling ones wont be far behind either in their instinctual need to inhabit everything. And because you would have to be quite diligent in keeping up the spraying regime, using any insecticide that has an effective residual time frame could be far more detrimental to you and your pets... than being annoyed and or allergic to them. Of course detrimental health effects are denied by the multinational companies that make the insecticides by stating there is no evidence to support your cancer or debilitating neurological disorder being caused by their poisons... YMMV

Brian Ashton
04-21-2012, 11:30 PM
I have developed an allergic reaction to honey bees over the years. I constantly watch for them when I'm outside and give them plenty of space. Generally speaking I try not to kill any bees, without them we would soon starve to death. No bees no food!!!

Hornets on the other hand have to go, the sting from a giant hornet can knock a grown man down to the ground. I rarely find hornets to be a problem unless they build a nest under the eves of the house. They are pretty easy to keep at a distance, they are really loud and sound like a plane landing when they get too close.
.

In the area that I live in australia they have a native stingless bee... If I'm not mistaken they're starting to export them because they may not be on the honey bee mite's list of ideal hosts. I'm going to get a couple hives soon for my place.

As for wasps and hornets I have numerous different species in my yard. The first couple attempts to prune trees had me getting stung from head to toe by them when I rattled their hidden nests... So to prune now I dawn two hoodies, a thick canvas pair of pants, high top leather boots, 2mm thick neoprene gloves (even with them the hornets get the odds shot through into my hands), baseball cap (to keep the netting well away from my face), hooded bug net, and a few yards of tape to seal it all up. And because we're in the subtropics the temperature is usually over 75 degrees. 2 hours in that suit has me drenched right through... Spraying isn't an option to me unless I have termites.

Bill ThompsonNM
04-22-2012, 12:09 AM
John,
you're barking up the wrong tree. See an allergist for immunotherapy for bee stings. Then you won't have to worry about them when you venture outside your yard or when you need to clear them from your deck or other location. I've had asthma and severe allergies all my life and see many canine, feline and equine patients with allergies and immunotherapy (allergy shots) work very well and might save your life by preventing that final trip to the ER.
Bill Thompson DVM

Zach England
04-22-2012, 9:16 AM
I can tell you how NOT to remove a hornet nest on your house.

Do not try to use the shop vac to vacuum it up. THE HORNETS DO NOT LIKE THIS. OF THIS I AM SURE.

Jerrimy Snook
04-22-2012, 10:05 AM
Zach, next time try a Festool vac... They say green cool-aid is addicting.

Zach England
04-22-2012, 10:39 AM
Zach, next time try a Festool vac... They say green cool-aid is addicting.

I imagine Festool has a special hornet-nest attachment, which they sell for a very reasonable $259.

David Helm
04-22-2012, 11:18 AM
In the light of world wide disappearing of honey bees (both the mite and certain pesticides being the cause), killing honeybees is not an option. If they go extinct we'll be in a world of hurt (can you say famine?). I am not a bee keeper, but share my property with one. He brings ten hives every spring. Even the guy who cuts my grass doesn't complain because these bees are not aggressive at all. In the years that the bees have been on my property I have been stung once, and that was my own fault. There are also a number of species of stingless bees like the Orchard Mason bee. I have those too. They nest in holes, come out in early spring just in time for early flowering fruit trees, the lay eggs in the tubes I've provided, close them off with mud and hybernate till next year. I think the best advice was about seeing an allergist for help.

Zach England
04-22-2012, 12:02 PM
I don't like the idea of kilning bees either, but in all fairness the man did not ask for advice on managing his allergies. He asked for advice on getting rid of bees.

Matt Meiser
04-22-2012, 12:15 PM
Zach, next time try a Festool vac... They say green cool-aid is addicting.

I can tell you they work well for mice. Till they start to stink and you have to replace the expensive bag at least...

Bill ThompsonNM
04-22-2012, 12:29 PM
I don't like the idea of kilning bees either, but in all fairness the man did not ask for advice on managing his allergies. He asked for advice on getting rid of bees.
True, but this forum would definitely be lacking if John does make that final trip to the emergency room and I suspect that no amount of effort short of a screen house covering his whole acreage will significantly impact the number of bees and wasps in his vicinity. He did express one reason he wanted to get rid of them was the severe reaction from them. Perhaps eliminating that makes the removal question moot.

John Coloccia
04-22-2012, 12:48 PM
I don't like the idea of kilning bees either, but in all fairness the man did not ask for advice on managing his allergies. He asked for advice on getting rid of bees.

Thanks, Zach. Believe me, there are no happy little honey bees peacefully foraging around here. We don't keep many flowers, and what we do have are not what they're looking for. That's not by accident. I have lots of aggressive wasps and hornets.

And while we're on the subject of man's role in the ecosystem, which apparently this has turned into, let me tell you what these innocent, harmless woodland creatures do. I've had rodents of all kinds cause ridiculous amounts of damage in my shed from their "nests" and other little gifts they leave behind (nest is a nice way of saying "squirrel toilet"), not to mention a constant battle to keep them from nesting in and destroying various parts of my ATV (critical to me for property maintenance and snow clearing) and anything else I happen to store. It's like Christmas year round when I open the shed door and see what rodent Santa Clause left me. I almost broke my leg last year when the piece of grass I stepped on suddenly sunk 2 feet into the ground. Groundhog. I can't plant anything resembling food because my property is infested with squirrels, chipmunks, birds (including turkeys) and deer. Whatever I plant, and whatever I do, gets destroyed and eaten. Thank God they leave my herbs alone. And it's not like I'm looking for those stupid hornets. They build their nests all over my house, in the attics, sheds, crawl spaces, and wherever else they can. Some of you guys must be living in the heart of a city or in the middle of a field. If you live off in the woods like me, the non-human parts of mother nature are constantly assaulting you. I don't buy this notion that people are intruders and everything else is natural. I've got just as much of a right to live peacefully as anyone else, difference being that you can't reason with rodents and insects.

Even my wife, the bleeding heart of all bleeding hearts who once broke down crying in the supermarket because she bought free range eggs and was sick to her stomach thinking of all the suffering non-free range chickens (no, I'm not joking), has had enough and last fall allowed...nay, ordered...me to lay out traps and poison to "get rid of the little bas...."....uhm, get rid of the little fellas.

ray hampton
04-22-2012, 1:47 PM
John, I understand that what you call wasps and hornets and yellow jackets all belong to the same family, yellow jackets do not get mean, they stay mean, will you plant some marigolds and mums for your wife, one of these flowers will help to control the vermin

Matt Meiser
04-22-2012, 1:50 PM
.....

Whoa :eek:

John Coloccia
04-22-2012, 2:43 PM
Whoa :eek:

Which part? LOL.

My whole house is build on ledge. Apparently I have a vast network of little tunnels and things all over the place. When we replaced the septic tank several years ago (it was in very bad shape...the last owner used to drive his machinery over it and dumped the backwash from the softener into the septic system), the entire tank collapsed just as he was exposing it. It's buried 4 feet down. He took a scoop, finally got to the top of the tank, dumped it and by the time he turned back the tank was just....well, gone. There wasn't even anything to haul off. The whole thing crumbled into dust and tiny little pieces.

Anyhow, after marveling at it for a few seconds, a little chipmunk stuck it's head out into the new chasm...from about 10 feet down! They've got a little city down there :) ROFL. I can't even imagine how they do it.

Keith Outten
04-22-2012, 5:35 PM
John,

I can certainly understand your situation, I live in a rural area and I have to coexist with lots of different critters, insects and terrible mosquitoes during certain times of the year. I shoot groundhogs and I have learned to tolerate the skunks because they have the upper hand :) Insects are basically impossible to control, all you can really do is manage the plant life as you have done and deal with Mother Nature the best you can.

Imagine what kinds of problems birds pose at Nuclear Power Plants, they fly over the fences and land where they please. They often feed in areas that are contaminated then carry the contamination with them as they fly back over the fence on their way back to their nest. Along the way they can easily land on your car, your children's toys in the back yard, etc. We may be the most intelligent but we don't control the planet :)
.

Conrad Fiore
04-22-2012, 5:56 PM
John,
Here is an interesting piece you should read. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/insect/05525.html
Because you don't live in a closed ecosystem and winged insects can move about at will, you can only hope to control the found nests in close proximity to your living area. There is no magic bullet, chemical or otherwise that will rid your area of bees and bugs with any amount of permanency. You or a professional service can only treat what can be found nesting in and around your home and adjacent land. Even if you had someone fly over your house with a crop duster, the chances of permanently wiping out those insects is zero. When a nest is found, treat and destroy it, checking back often to see if another is being built. The key is to destroy the nest when it and the colony is relatively small. To carpet bomb your entire property with insecticides will surely do more harm than good by destroying many of the beneficial insects that share that space with the bugs you wish to remove. Again, the best defense is a good offense by seeking out and destroying the colonies before they have a chance to get established.

Jason Roehl
04-22-2012, 6:28 PM
Research and build bat boxes--then hang them on your house and on tall trees nearby. Bats are harmless and eats tons of insects. It may take some time for them to find and inhabit the boxes you build them, but once they do, you should see an improvement.

Harry Hagan
04-22-2012, 6:49 PM
I have developed an allergic reaction to honey bees over the years. I constantly watch for them when I'm outside and give them plenty of space. Generally speaking I try not to kill any bees, without them we would soon starve to death. No bees no food!!!

As a child, I had severe allergic reactions to bee stings. Fortunately, I haven't been stung as an adult so I don't know if that is still a problem.

As Keith stated: No bees, No food. We're losing bees at an alarming rate worldwide. Bats too.

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2012/0406/Studies-fault-Bayer-in-bee-die-off

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-04-09/bats-die-off-from-fungus/54133900/1

I haven't seen a honeybee on my property in a least five years.

ray hampton
04-22-2012, 8:41 PM
Research and build bat boxes--then hang them on your house and on tall trees nearby. Bats are harmless and eats tons of insects. It may take some time for them to find and inhabit the boxes you build them, but once they do, you should see an improvement.

bats are good at catching bugs but most bats only hunt at night, do the wasps -yellow jackets-hornets fly at night ?

ray hampton
04-22-2012, 9:10 PM
As a child, I had severe allergic reactions to bee stings. Fortunately, I haven't been stung as an adult so I don't know if that is still a problem.

0/1 (http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-04-09/bats-die-off-from-fungus/54133900/1)

I haven't seen a honeybee on my property in a least five years.

why not ask your doctor to test you for a allergic reaction to all bee stings

ray hampton
04-22-2012, 9:18 PM
the bigger cities used to have a bird that would catch bugs [not volks] at night and we would sit out side to listen for the wind whistle off of their backs[ maybe a night hawk ]

Larry Edgerton
04-23-2012, 7:15 AM
I feel your pain. I am sensitive, but have improved with age. Still, if stung by a bald faced hornet I have about 15 minutes to get to a hospital. My current project is about 45 minutes away so I keep an eye out.

My place has all of the same problems, but add elk in the garden, coon, possum, skunk, porcupine and an occasional wolf. I use a tyvek suit made for Lead abatement and a full faced helmet when I get rid of a nest. You already have the helmet. Red squirrels are the worst, but both my wife and I are great shots. I keep a RJS air rifle handy all the time.

Sounds like you have a nice place John. Other than the pests.

Wish you luck in your quest....

Larry

Tim Offutt
04-23-2012, 9:57 AM
Johm,
Kind of off topic but you mentioned problems with varmits. Maybe this will help....

Red squirrels, piney squirels, chipmunks are everywhere on my place. In the last 12 months I have spent over $2,000 on vehicle repairs caused by the varmits chewing the wiring. Not to mention the damage to the interiors. They will get inside any vehicle. Even my car that I drive everyday.

I have had tail lights, head lights, fuel pumps (3 times), heated seats, 4-wheel drive actuators, starter, etc on four different vehicles, a backhoe and a tractor. On my F350 they get my fuel pump wires just where they enter the tank. The last time I got lucky and they left me a 1/4" length so I could solder back together and then cover them with metal flex conduit. I replaced it twice myself before I got smart and protected the wires. The pump costs over $300 and you have to pull the bed to get to it.:mad:

Someone told me about using 5 gallon buckets that are half filled with water and a 2x4 for a ramp. Sprinkle sunflower seeds on the surface of the water with a few on the ramp. The little demons run up, jump in to get the seeds and that is their end. If you soak the seeds in vegetable oil they will float longer. I have caught dozens plus quite a few mice. They are still around but I see less than before.

We tried live traps, rat traps and even a Rat Zapper that is supposed to electrocute them. Nothing worked as well as the bucket of water trap. We used to have a couple great cats that probably kept them in check but the exploding coyote population took them out.

I am not a person who likes to kill things, but enough was enough.

Tim

Greg Portland
04-23-2012, 1:05 PM
John,
You need to eliminate the three things that the wasps are looking for:

1) Food
2) Shelter / nestable area
3) Moisture

It sounds like you've done pretty well with #1 (no fruits/berries on property, etc.). Are there any dead animal carcasses on your property (dead squirrel caught in a trap, etc.)? Protein is like candy to wasps.

I think you're popular because your property has 100s of pre-dug holes for nests (thanks to the rodent population). As Tim mentioned, a few good cats will take care of the rodent problem but foxes/coyotes will eat them (not sure how prevalent those species are in your area).

I have seen fake paper-mache nests that you can purchase (http://www.amazon.com/FMI-Brands-Inc-Natural-Deterrent/dp/B000W93LUU). Wasps are supposedly territorial and won't build near existing nests. I'm not sure if this works at all but it may be worth trying @ $10?

Mike Cutler
04-24-2012, 6:24 AM
John

I'm in Kewaunee Wisconsin right now, but if you still have the problem when I get back in, 2 weeks, PM me, and I'll see if I can't help you out. I have over 20 years of experience with Beekeeping.
The bald face hornets will have to be taken at nite when they all return, or you'll just have a bunch of confused agitated hornets on your hands. They also have to be carefully bagged and gassed, they are extremely agressive and are still active at note, and in sub freezing temps.
They yellow jackets need to be sprayed and that just requires me to put on my suit, bait traps are a better solution though.
Your long term solution is unfortunately a little more involved. Whatever attracted the little flying bugs in the first instance is now augmented with chemically released phermones that will continue to attract them.

Zach England
04-24-2012, 12:27 PM
I actually think I am going to get beehives in my backyard. I just found out that they only have to be five feet from the property line, so I would be able to make room. I am excited. Then I'd be harvesting my own tree fruit, vegetables, eggs, the occasional chicken and honey all on my .09 acre (most of which is house).

David Weaver
04-24-2012, 12:49 PM
I'd read the msds on things before i sprayed them. Sevin is bad news, I don't know about malathion, but none of them are probably very good in the long term.

Traps and sealing places where you find nests is probably a good idea, and perhaps the investment in some no-sting clothing (ask a beekeeper maybe) would be in order to help.

I understand your troubles - we have paper wasps all over the place - they love to build nests in the attic in the spring, but when it gets to be summer, it's too hot and they fall out of the attic steps like drunks, until they cool off and then they fly again. when it gets that hot, then i physically go remove their nests, they are alarmingly non-aggressive, but they have a very painful sting if you accidentally step on one, and their nature of exploring things (including people) at close range is alarming.

I have had more direct trouble with yellowjackets, which built an underground nest in my compost bin a few years ago (which isn't one of those tootie fruty plastic things they sell to suburbanites, but a large wooden bin that I turn from time to time). I found them by turning the compost, and then they found me in numbers. They don't hesitate to sting, and my pastor-neighbor makes it so that even when they're pounding the crap out of me, I have to bite my tongue when I run away. I gave them sevin.

If you have trees, you'll always have bees in the spring, because they'll pollinate the trees before other sources of pollen are available. But they shouldn't be around your level much when they're doing that.

(I've also had the experience of getting stung in the top lip by a bumble bee - when I was 4 at the zoo, because I didn't want to share a sno-cone with the bee and attempted to get in a contest to see who could eat the sno-cone faster. My dad always told me to look at a bumble bee's face, and if it had a white dot, no sting, and if no white dot, it was capable of stinging. I don't know if that's true or not.).

Matt Meiser
05-25-2012, 9:10 PM
The pheromone bait for those traps is pretty useless but the overall design isn't bad. The keys to getting them to work is filling them with either cider vinegar or apple juice, sugar and decaying insects. I had a real problem with those big, nasty European Hornets destroying my Lilac bushes last year and was having a hard time nabbing them. Once I switched to cider and sugar I found that the more dead Yellowjackets there were in the traps, the more Hornets I got. Disgusting picture here but with the right bait, they work pretty well.

I put several of them up last week and got a pretty big one. Hopefully it's a queen.


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Peter, you da man! We've been using apple cider vinegar for a little over a month. Ours look about like yours in terms of quantity but we are also getting a lot of flies. We are seeing very few wasps/horents/yellowjackets but lots of bees around some perennials. And I've seen exactly one fly in the house so far knock on wood. I'm thinking of buying another trap or two. And I forgot about the sugar so we'll have to add that too.

Jerry Thompson
05-25-2012, 10:34 PM
You can scare the bees. Just say "Boo Bee."

ray hampton
05-25-2012, 11:18 PM
You can scare the bees. Just say "Boo Bee."

who will translate your language to bee lanuage

Jeff Nicol
05-25-2012, 11:41 PM
Bugs were hear before us and what they have to use for protection, foraging and eating are just a part of their world and we are allowed to share it with them. Non of us want anyone to get sick or God forbid die from any sort of stinging insect or many of the nasty spiders that lurk in many dark and hidden places. So just like what has already been said the best defense is a good offense or if it is too much trouble to live with all the biting critters your options are few. One would build a dome with a self contained atmosphere or move out of the country into a condo somewhere where the hired help keep the riff raff and the critters under control.

I am not sure how many thousands or perhaps millions of nasty bugs are out there, but the only way to get rid of them is to destroy the earth, and if we wait long enough it looks like it is on its way.

Life is full of inconvienences,

Stay unstung,

Jeff

Van Huskey
05-26-2012, 12:10 AM
I had forgotten about this thread but when it was resurrected I thought of the new "pest" we have in our neighborhood... a gator. They have been around from time to time but this one has decided to set up shop. Guess it is time to call Troy Landry (Swamp People) and get him to "choot it".

Matt Meiser
05-26-2012, 8:42 AM
who will translate your language to bee lanuage

Bzz Bzzz Bz Bz Bzzzz

Jim Koepke
05-26-2012, 1:00 PM
There are many things to do that will help to minimize the problems associated with many insect pests.

There are many plants that attract certain species and just as many that will repel different species.

I have wiped out a few hives by using the hornet sprays available at the Borg stores.

Follow directions and do this as late in the day as can be done. I usually buy two cans just in case.

For regular honey bees, plants like feverfew (Tanacetum parthenium) are disliked and avoided by bees. Tanacetum pyrethrum is actually used to make insecticides and is not harmful to most animals.

Also search for wasp repellant plants or bee repellant plants.

jtk

Peter Kelly
05-28-2012, 3:17 PM
Peter, you da man! We've been using apple cider vinegar for a little over a month. Ours look about like yours in terms of quantity but we are also getting a lot of flies. We are seeing very few wasps/horents/yellowjackets but lots of bees around some perennials. And I've seen exactly one fly in the house so far knock on wood. I'm thinking of buying another trap or two. And I forgot about the sugar so we'll have to add that too.

That's awesome! Like I said, apple juice works pretty well too. I've also made some carpenter bee traps, caught around 30 of 'em so far. Simple but works amazingly well.

233070

Mike Holbrook
05-29-2012, 11:20 AM
I did not read every post in this thread. I see, however, that there is considerable confusion regarding a couple very different species of insects. I have been a bee keeper for some 20-30 years and during that time I don't think I have been stung by a bee other than while I was pulling a hive apart. I get stung regularly by yellow jackets and wasps, when I unwittingly disturb their nests. I run a dog park on 12 acres and have to deal with these guys throughout the warmer seasons. The worst time is the fall when yellow jackets build under ground nests and the cooler weather starts killing off the supply of other insects they normally feed on just at the time they have their largest nests. Run over one of those nests on a mower or just walk to close to it and there is a high probability of getting stung. When I have dangerous nests, I pore a oil & diesel fuel mix down the hole, then I throw a match on it. I wait to do this until just before or at dark when all the little rascals are in their nest instead of flying around looking for trouble. If you burn or poison a nest during the day when most the little guys are out of the nest you will be attacked by returning insects and guards and miss the larger part of the colony. The oil slows them down long enough for me to set the nest on fire. Of course this may not be a safe procedure for many people in many localities and I do not recommend it for most people. I have to get rid of them before they get to dogs or people who walk our trails every day.

Yellow Jackets
Most of the insects that sting people are either wasps or yellow jackets. Yellow Jackets are nasty little suckers who live in nests in the ground and will defend the area of their nest with considerable enthusiasm. Just walk in the general area and you may find a sizable number trying to punish you for infringement. They are also attracted to disturbed ground and food & drinks. Late in the fall when their natural food of other insects grows thin and they are trying to put away food for the winter they will show up in great numbers at picnics or anywhere the ground has been disturbed.... revealing other insects for them to feast on. These creatures look like bees to many but they are much more aggressive and I would guess they are responsible for 9 out of 10 stings people attribute to bees.

Wasps-Hornets
Are also largely predatory species. Some species which build smaller nests in hidden areas will defend the area similarly to yellow jackets. These guys can build a paper or mud nest in a a hurry, often in a place frequented by humans. Some wasps, hornets, yellow jackets will build larger hanging nests in low hanging branches of trees. They will defend the nest and the whole area vigorously. Unfortunately many people do not see the nest that they got too close to.

Bees
Bees are constantly raised and selected for calmness by commercial and hobby bee keepers, who at this point due to the many diseases, mites...plaguing bees, are the major contributors to the "wild' population. You have to step on most bees or really irritate the hive to get them to sting you. They live off nectar from flowers where wasps and yellow jackets are more often predatory insects. You don't see most of the bees around most of the time because they harvest nectar from trees higher up in foliage. Clover and other lower flowering plants, like black berries, do attract them when they are in mass bloom and the most abundant flowers in an area. Many have heard of "Killer Bees" or "Africanized Bees which is a hybrid bee created from an african bee that is very aggressive. Many years ago some were predicting that they would be all over the US and very dangerous. This has not happened as many though it might, the few reports of problems with these bees, thus far, have been restricted to the deep south. It is a naturally warm weather bee. There are many agriculturist who fear for many flowering crops which have come to depend on bees for pollination. There are some doom sayers who even believe the whole eco system could be negatively influenced. Bees tend to work the most prevalent blooming tree or plant at any given season of the year, this habit has made them very adaptable to pollinating large commercial and natural populations of plants. Actually there were no bees in North America until Europeans "discovered" America and brought their bees with them. The native indians use to call them "white man's flies". Still, bees are a significant contributing part of todays echo system that often gets blamed for other insects transgressions.

I just made another post to a friend who was asking about a swarm of bees near their farm. Swarms may be scary looking but they are generally quite harmless. Swarming has to do with reproducing colonies not some aggressive act. Swarms are large groups of bees leaving an existing colony that has grown too large. The swarm usually leaves with an old queen. The original colony having produced themselves a new queen. The swarm is always close to the preexisting hive. The swarm leaves the colony with their queen and hangs from some object near the hive until scout bees find a location for a new hive, which can be an hour or less or a few days. Swarming bees gouge themselves with so much honey before they leave the hive they can barely fly much less sting someone.

If you do not have flowering plants or a good place for bees to make a hive near/in your house you want see them.

ray hampton
05-29-2012, 1:50 PM
[QUOTE=Mike Holbrook;1934271]I did not read every post in this thread. I see, however, that there is considerable confusion regarding a couple very different species of insects. I have been a bee keeper for some 20-30 years and during that time I don't think I have been stung by a bee other than while I was pulling a hive apart. I get stung regularly by yellow jackets and wasps, when I unwittingly disturb their nests.


how often do paper wasps build their nests in your car or truck ? I found a small nest in my car door opening

David Weaver
05-29-2012, 2:52 PM
Ray - often. If you have a car that sits for a while anywhere, even a few days, and there are paper wasps around, you might find them in it. Gas tank cover, at the door openings front and back.

What color were the wasps, were they the brown type, or were they yellow? We have the brown ones around here, but I've seen a lot of videos of a certain person on youtube who has a bunch of junk cars that he drives around on a farm and beats up before junking them, and he's always fighting "bees" as he calls them, but they're a yellowish paper wasp that looks almost like a yellowjacket but not quite.

ray hampton
05-29-2012, 10:06 PM
Ray - often. If you have a car that sits for a while anywhere, even a few days, and there are paper wasps around, you might find them in it. Gas tank cover, at the door openings front and back.

What color were the wasps, were they the brown type, or were they yellow? We have the brown ones around here, but I've seen a lot of videos of a certain person on youtube who has a bunch of junk cars that he drives around on a farm and beats up before junking them, and he's always fighting "bees" as he calls them, but they're a yellowish paper wasp that looks almost like a yellowjacket but not quite.

the first ones that I saw went under the hood and I thought that they was yellow jackets until I found the nest with the wasp on it

David Weaver
05-29-2012, 10:22 PM
Yeah, at least they're less likely to sting you than a yellowjacket, but they will sting to protect their nests, and their stings really hurt.

Eddie Watkins
05-30-2012, 3:16 PM
My dad caught "tick" fever a few years ago and I bought some insecticide called Tempo SC Ultra at a chemical company. I sprayed around his house and there were no visible sign of bugs of any type around for nearly a month. I think the label said it was effective about two weeks. I don't know if they make it anymore or if it is legal where you live but it does work. It also doesn't stain so you can use it in the house as well unless they have changed it. I have literally seen bugs fly over the treated area and drop to the ground dead immediately after application so, if you choose to try this, be careful!! I always wear a protective mask when I spray it.