Totallyrad

I don't like to use that word. It's just ugly to describe someone or something with that word so I'll give it a go with something else. I cannot stand, better yet I loath those stupid little winged warriors we refer to as yellow jackets! I wish they would just stay in their little burrows and die right where they sleep. How in the world can something so little pack such a big wallop. And talk about tenacious, they'll chase you and sting as long as there is even one of them left. Stupid little bugs kept me at bay for over an hour after they chased me around the house and out of the skidsteer. Once I reclaimed my machine I had to fight with some others just to get it loaded. I hit two nests not 75 feet apart, no telling how many more are there. I had to tell my customer that we'll just have to wait on cold weather to bush hog those woods.

rbrettctd

Sounds like you got into the ones we call b52 bombers. Their the small yellow jackets, but are meaner than any other wasp. I was hooking up to a trailer last week, and when I reached for the jack handle thats hidden I bumped a nest. About 10 of them hit me before I could flinch, all on the hand. My hand swoll up about twice its size and I couldnt use it for 2 days, and Im not even allergic.

rip 112

Yeah, but you got to watch out for those africanized bees. A young guy that worked for my local city lost his battle to an africanized bee attack. He was stung over 1,000 times while he was mowing next to the Colorado River. He tried to jump into the water, but couldn't make it the 25 feet. Talk about tenacious...I don't see why they even exist, along with other things...

DSjockey

*shudder* man if that happened to me it would be straight to the ER, I'm thankful we don't have a problem with them up here

Pav1973

Not to be amused by your pain but that would have been funny as hell to watch.

Man =0
B52's=1

Can of starter fluid and a bic,no more bombers.

Pav

bruce03

The wasps that make paper nests like on the eaves of your house, don't hurt bad compared to yellow jackets and hornets that nest in the ground. I hit a hornet nest while dozing a fenceline and got stung once on the back of my right hand. That was the most painful sting I've had it just throbbed constantly for about 2 hours even with an ice pack from my lunch box. I've been bitten and stung by all kinds of bugs and insects doing dozer work. It might be time for a cab on the dozer just because of the number of times I find bees while clearing brush.

I heard with africanized bees you're not supposed to get into water to escape because they will stay at the surface waiting for you to come up for air. Jumping into a river I think would be alright because you could go under and the current will take you away, but a tank, pond or water trough you will either drown or the bees will get you.

Murf

You were Bush-hoggin' with a skid steer?

Ya'll do things a little diffrent down there in Alabama don't ya?

NCYZ1V

Go Cab!!!!

Dieseldude4x4

I had a yellow jacket bounce in the window of the truck one day and stung me on the neck. By the time I got home, which is less that 20 miles, my face was swollen enough I had to remove my glasses. By the time the other half got me to the ER (35 minutes later), I was having trouble breathing. That's how bad they affect me. Wasps, bumble thingys, hornets, or any of the rest of don't bother me but those little yellow devils will take me away from here in short order. Those are right up there on my list of "Why do these things exist".
Poison ivy
Gnats
Mosquitoes
(uh oh, I'm itching already just typing this up)
The old indian trick "gas down the hole with a match" works pretty well on them if you know where they are. Or the old "park the lawn mover with a full tank of gas over the hole running at about 3/4 throttle" works well too. Been there done both.

Totallyrad

This wasn't the funny one but a few years ago I was walking the loader up a hill and just passed by a nest. Long story short, I left the loader idling on the side of the mountain. The builder and framing crew got treated to a rare moment. When it was all over the builder came over and said "You looked just like one of those cartoons. You know, where the character is running and you can see the swarm of bees chasing behind him." They had a good laugh from that one. I've never had a problem with bees but I went to the E.R. on that one, just to bee safe. The nurses quit counting at 36 stings between the top of my shoulders and the top of my head. Once they released me, I did get even!

Yep, it's a little different type of rig. I was bush hogging the woods. The bush hog is all heavy duty, about a thousand pounds, and will cut trees in excess of four inches. I was cleaning out the underbrush around the keepers. The nice thing about this type of rig is it's on tires, not tracks so it's not too hard on the roots of the trees you're keeping. The material you're chopping up and their roots stay in place so you have very low erosion issues on the sloped areas.

daniel

my grandpa and cousin were dozing in the woods a few yrs back and hit a nest my grandpa covered my cousin and took most of the stings my cousin still had 36 or so stings and grandpa had close to hundred i think it was. they took em both to the hospital.

973604x4

Apparently bees in Texas are becoming a problem. 2 weeks ago a guy near the community of Carlton, Texas lost 2 dogs and almost got killed himself by a bee attack. Firefighters removed 52 stingers from the guy before he was ever taken to the hospital. This is 2nd or 3rd bee attack in the same area in the past year. Last I heard they weren't sure if they were the african bees or not.

rip 112

From what we heard following the city death, many (I mean almost all) normal bees are now africanized due to breeding, but not on so much of a dangerous scale as the native africanized ones.

Hey 97, ya'll got them banana spiders real bad too??? Man they are terrible!!! I know they're mainly harmless but man they get big!!!

Hoss

If it flies and has a stinger I don't like it...period.

My wife was watching me through the window a couple of weeks ago as I prepared to spray a big nest of red wasps that had set up camp in the eave of our house. I snuck up on them real slow with a big can of wasp and bee killer (which is SUPPOSED to drop them instantly). Once I got close enough I let 'er rip with that wasp killer. Most of them dropped to the ground but two of them came rip roarin' after me. I ended up using the whole can trying to "shoot" those two out of the air as they chased me. My wife thought it was quite amusing. I was just glad when it was all over. I got 'em though...first with the spray and then with the heel of my boot.

rip 112

Yeah i think those red wasps got a little more protective this year. They have some serious psychological problems...