dartonman Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I have dealt with some pretty mean things in my life....when I worked in Corrections for 14 years, I met the cream of the crop, and the meanest they came............well, my wife was helping me push mow the yard this morning, and she ran over the hole of what are known as "meat hornets" or yellow jacket hornets....the real small 3/4 inch ones...........well, before she knew it, there were hundreds out of the hole, and I counted 12 really serious stings, and I mean they got in her leg of her shorts, and we had them in the bathroom stinging us trying to get em off her........folks, if you get a chance to kill some.....do it for me.....I have a flare right now that a firefighter gave me to strike and put in the hole at night, I guess the sulfur smoke will send them to the place they belong......but these things are no joke.....they are still swarming and stinging the mower....I guess once agitated, one will put off a sound that calls the others in to help.....it must of happened, cause they came after her and would not stop.............she is finally resting after taking ibuprofen and benadryl for the swelling................thanks for listening, be careful...........Ill let you know how the fire goes tonight.....................al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
preacherman Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 man, that is horrible! I hope that she gets to feeling better. I do not know what I would do, especially seeing how that I am allergic to anything that stings! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Andrea Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 I know EXACTLY where you are coming from. Those yellow jackets are EVIL!!!!!!!!!!!! My father is EXTREMELY allergic to them and they seem to find him wherever he is. We had a nest in our back yard and I'll pm you and tell you what I did to them. Sure hope your wife feels better soon. And hope that flare works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VermontHunter Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 We call then ground wasp here Al... and you are right they are about the most fearsome thing man or beast can come across when they get aggitated... :eek: Vibrations (such as a mower) is what really sets them off, what happens is after you start swatting at them they give off a theromone that calls others to the attack location to help will the defense.. and they are relentless on their attack.. PLEASE keep a real close on your wife,, the toxins in this many bites can be dangerous,, at the very hint of something wrong call 911 .. bee stings can be fatal in a hurry... I don't know how well your flare attack will go,, because these critters dig in pretty deep,,, we use to fill a soda bottle full of gasoline and lodge it in the hole until empty and BOOOOM bye bye whole... but these bee's just survived .. :eek: Wait until dark when it cools down and shove the garden hose in there and let it run for about 1/2 hour then do your attack... it's taken us days to rid the hole of these bee's.... I hope your wife is feeling better soon... Did some online checking and apparently they make a special spray that will kill the bee's and the hole on contact up to 12 ft. away .. I'd check on that method Al.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Man, that's bad. I ran into a big nest of those last year in my compost bin. It took them a day to settle down. Those things are just plain nasty. I got rid of the whole dang bunch with some of that wasp spray foam. I stuck it in there one evening and emptied the can. Hope she heals up real quick Al. That is painful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TreeWalker Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Sorry to hear that Al......hope she heals up quick, and you find a way to send them to the nether-regions... As far as how does one bee, wasp or yellowjacket find their targets ?? Once one stings a victim, they leave a scent behind that the others can home right in on............I used to work for a bee-keeper/honey producer, and one of his yards contained African honey bees......meanest suckers I've ever seen. One afternoon they got after me, and all a guy could do was run.......I got stung so many times I lost count, but it was well over 100 times just at the one yard......... It is true that you do build up an immunity to the venom, but I guess that after a while it can start working against you....thankfully i got out of that type of work before I found out...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 You are right Al, they are very mean. Man I am sorry to hear that she got stung, that can be painful. Good thing she is not allergic. We have had a few nests here over the years that I have found accidentally. The stings from the yellow jackets are not as bad as the red wasps, however the hornets and yellow jackets do swarm and instead of being stung by one or two more than ten is likely if you get over a nest. Got over one on the tractor a few years ago while bush hogging on a fairly steep hill side and it was not good, could not do anything but ride it out and get stung. My wife told me she saw a hole where a yellow jacket flew in just the other side of the garden last weekend. I picked up some wasp spray this week, but have not hit them yet, will be something I do this weekend. Will spray with some dawn dish soap mixed with water first and then with the wasp spray. Hope your wife recovers quickly from the stings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest outdoorgirl Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Get well wishes to your wife Al hope she feels better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildside Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Wow, Al, that is horrible. Like others have already said, please keep a good eye on her and you be very careful in your efforts to get rid of those nasty things. I'm glad that she was able to get away as she did with your help. Keep us posted, and I'll keep your household in my prayers! Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 I hate yellow jackets..this dry summer we got em bad again...sorry to hear she got into them..like buckee says that foam is what Ive found to be the best..on the above ground paper nest..it just envelops the entire nest and by morning its gone!...we usually find the ground nests while running equipment, since we are in an enclosed cab..we have alot of fun digging the nest out of the ground and piling dirt onto them with the bucket...LOL we were flagging a property line one day, and went to step over a log....right on the ground was a yellow jacket nest..you never seen two guys pull back so fast in mid step..LOL Hope your wife feels better soon Al!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griz Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Wow!!! Man Al I hope she is going to be alright. I hate those things. Very sorry to hear that she got stung by them. We keep a bottle of Pickling Alum on the shelf here along with a jar of Vaseline. We take the Alum and Vaseline and make a paste out of it and put it on the bites and put a bandage over it. What it does is that it draws the poison out of the bites and pulls the swelling down. It's an old family remedy and it really works... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dartonman Posted September 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 **Update.....used a road flare in the dark of night.......apparently their den was a hole right below a landscaping railroad tie, that was saturated with water, and did not catch fire when I brought them JUSTICE...cause I watched the 45 minute flare smoke the whole insides of their den, and nothing moved this morning......so, no more hornets....the road flare at night works............but my wife was not too keen on the smell of sulfur aka rotten eggs coming into the house......I mentioned the 10 stings all over her body, and our 5 kids possibly getting zapped......and she said.."Burn em ALL.."...lol............so, problem for now is solved........................thanks for all the help gang.................and yes, I did flood the den for 1/2 hour to make sure I wasn't gonna burn my house down in the middle of the night..............al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leo Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 Nothings meaner than yellow jackets with a lawnmower on their nest! Those things can kill ya! I'm glad she didn't get it worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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