Had to 'sac the castle' this evening, and I got the queen!

[ScotO]

the past couple of days I've been seeing a steady stream of yellow jackets going in and out of a very particular spot in my woodstacks (where I stacked the cord of Norway maple last spring). I spent around a half hour right at that spot yesterday with a propane torch killing every one of them that came or went from that area.....all in all, probably around 30-40 yellow jackets.

This evening, I noticed even MORE yellow jackets in and out of that area. So I spent almost 45 more minutes this afternoon and killed almost 80 more with the propane torch. And I decided that tonight, I'd go after the hive.

Waited til just after dark (a quick trip to the ice cream stand with the wife and kids first), came home and pulled back the rubber roofing cover off of that area of the woodstack. Found the nest 2 rows deep into the stack, around 2 feet from the top of the stack. Nest was around the size of a volleyball/basketball, and there were still TONS of active yellow jackets in it! Got a picture of the aftermath, had to dodge some of those bastages in the dark so I couldn't get any pics of the nest itself!

Area where the nest was. This was after I got done removing the several tiers of egg comb. Still were straggler bees so I had the propane torch in one hand and the camera in the other!



pic of some of the comb......HUNDREDS of larvae in various stages of development.......this nest was on it's way to becoming a big problem! Second pic is of the queen and one of the worker hornets.....notice how much bigger she is than the other hornets in the colony!



got the wood re-stacked, rubber roofing cover back on, and should be good to go for now.....this part of the stack is 2014/15 wood, won't be needing it for a while. I'm glad the bees are gone, that would have been an ugly colony in another year!

 

[jeff_t]

Those things used to be horrible at my house. All over under the soffits of the house and outbuilding, and anywhere else they could build a nest. If I didn't drive my Excursion for a week or so, they would have one started in at least one mirror. The last few years, they have been strangely absent. Can't say I miss 'em.

 

[Ashful]

Nice!

I just discovered yesterday, that the old nest under the gable wall footer of my barn is active again. Thought it was dead when i noticed the hole and back-filled last year. Only, these are big black fuzzy tailed things, much larger and less aggressive than yellow jackets. Do bumble bees tunnel under concrete footers?

 

[ScotO]

Nice!

I just discovered yesterday, that the old nest under the gable wall footer of my barn is active again. Thought it was dead when i noticed the hole and back-filled last year. Only, these are big black fuzzy tailed things, much larger and less aggressive than yellow jackets. Do bumble bees tunnel under concrete footers?

I believe the do, Joful. Happened to a buddy if mine several years ago, under his garage slab. They may seem docile, but rile the nest and they have a nasty sting to them!

 

[velvetfoot]

Maybe another reason not to cover?
(PS: I'm seeing a smaller number of wasps in an uncovered stack.)

 

[Ashful]

Yeah, Scotty. I was just doing some reading, and I do suspect they're bumble bees, which do collect/make honey... but at a much lower rate than honey bees. They can build nests under slabs, footers, sidewalks, and can actually be pretty damn destructive, in that regard. They don't sting unless they feel their nest is endangered, but when they do, they pack a wallup!

 

[ScotO]

Maybe another reason not to cover?
(PS: I'm seeing a smaller number of wasps in an uncovered stack.)

On that note, when I took that part of the stack apart last night, the wood is bone-dry and ready to burn right now ( even though it won't be burned til 2014/15 at the earliest). I'd rather top-cover and deal with a nest now and then than to not top cover and have to deal with wet wood! If we didn't get so much rain in the fall (past several years the amount of rain we get in the fall has been just AWFUL), I probably wouldn't top-cover it at all. But you gotta do what you gotta do.

 

[Ashful]

Based on some of the advice I have gotten here, I've stopped covering what's more than a year out, but I'll be covering this year's wood in another week or two. Hopefully no yellow jacket nests to surprise me!

 

[Jack Straw]

Boy, it's a lot of fun trying to guess the subject of these threads by the titles!