wasp sting - dam that hurts!!

just wait till you run across some of those crazy africanized bees...they'll chase you for 100+ yards and all along the way charge at your eyes

I wonder if it has to do with eggs hatching. I've noticed that sometimes I can walk by a nest and they won't even move, but then one day, as soon as they see you coming, they all leave the nest and start buzzing at you. Now, I just get the 20' wasp jet spray and knock them down as soon as I notice them building a nest.

> I wonder if it has to do with eggs hatching. I've noticed that sometimes I can walk by a nest and they won't even move, but then one day, as soon as they see you coming, they all leave the nest and start buzzing at you. Now, I just get the 20' wasp jet spray and knock them down as soon as I notice them building a nest.

I'll buy the egg hatching theory. Like I said the nest has been there for well over a month. I could get right up on them within a couple feet and watch them and they wouldn't pay me a bit of mind - until the other evening. All I did was walk by and BAM right on the ear.
I didn't like the idea of dispatching them since they weren't bothering me before. I especially feel bad later after a few stranglers came home to find there ain't no home anymore. I wonder what happens to them. Do they go off somewhere and die alone? Do they take up residence with some other clan?

wasp sting - straggler question answered

I shouldn't have asked what happens to the stragglers.
Got my answer.
There is about 5 of them right now building a new nest less than 3' from where the old one was. This late in the year I can't imagine they would make more babies - would they?

My buddy calls them "Kenny wasps". I've never heard of that. They aren't mud-daubers for sure. About the same size. They look a lot like the GA Tech yellow and black mascot except with the wasp body. Any ideas?

Wasps are bad, hornets are absolutely the worst.

I have seen those really wasps (sand hornets? Cicada killers?) on the river bank before. I've never gotten close enough to figure out exactly what they are. Huge stinking things!

wasp sting - straggler question answered

around here (Upstate NY) they would probably be umbrella wasps

> Wasps are bad, hornets are absolutely the worst.
>

Roger that!!! I give hornets a wide-swath to pass by. I have been hit one time by a black hornet. I honestly thought I had been shot by a stray 22 round. It got me in the soft meat of the rear thigh. I barely caught a glimpse of him. Had to have the wife look to see if I was bleeding since I couldn't really see. Realizing I'd been stung really bad, I immediately had her make me a tobacco and baking soda paste to smear on. That took care of burning after a bit but it itched bad for days.

I never cut grass in shorts again.

wasp sting - straggler question answered

That looks about right. Mine are about 3/4" in length.

wasp sting - straggler question answered

They will keep trying until late fall when the temps start to drop.

I have an ongoing battle with a few that insist on building in my utility shed. Each week when I get the lawnmower out I take a moment to knock down their nest with a 10' section of pvc pipe. It started with one wasp in June and with all the rebuilding I think they're up to 3 or 4 on the nest. Soon I'll have to break out the spray or there will be enough of them to make me pay when I knock down the nest.

I'm not sure if they get more aggressive as their numbers increase or if it's just harder to dodge fifteen angry wasps than it is to avoid one or two.

Horsefly bite

Not nearly as bad as a wasp or hornet sting but still a great annoyance. One nailed me on the very tip of my elbow earlier this afternoon as I was washing Mrs. Cow's Jeep at the fancy/schmancy do-it-yourself car wash. Must have been at least of dozen of those rascals zipping around. They are supposed to save their bites for horses, not cows. No comments allowed about horse patooties.

Horsefly bite

They do hurt as well. I've had them get me to bleeding from bites.

wasp sting - straggler question answered

Google "paper wasp" and you will find a variety that are similar and they all hurt just the same.

Yellow jackets being the most swarmful as when one is disturbed the others will cloud together and they will follow you endlessly and attach themselves by holding on with all six legs and will ensue with biting and stinging until their stinger is gone and attached into your body and then they will continue to bite.

Wasps and bees get more agitated the hotter it is and will defend their nest until the last winged creature is dead.

Hornets are the most painful and will leave a deposit of venom in you that will fester and can turn into a hardened mini ball in a few days. While I was yelling S... one stung me under my upper lip. I went straight home from the field and stayed until I could open my eyes again, like 3days later.

One good, cheap way to get rid of wasp nests around the house is with dish washing liquid. Take a glass of water and mix a little of the liquid in gently so that it doesn't foam, them throw it on the nest. It does something to them so that they can't fly and they'll fall to the ground. Just don't miss. I do it pretty regularly.

Wasp larvae make good fish bait.

N

> It does something to them so that they can't fly and they'll fall to the ground.

The detergent is a surfactant -- it reduces the surface tension of the water and defeats the hydrophobic nature of the insect exoskeleton. Normally water will bead up and drop away from an insect, but with a surfactant added it coats the exoskeleton. Once wetted, not only is the insect unable to fly, it's also unable to breathe unless the water evaporates very quickly. They effectively suffocate.

A spray bottle filled with water and a few drops of detergent works great on ants that invade the house.