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Summer Doldrums Banter


Baroclinic Zone

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Mowed right over an underground bee nest. Sprayed the sh*t out of it, but they are swarming around it. Any good tips to rid these suckers? I don't want to light my yard on fire like Hubby did.

 

Did you get stung?

 

 

If you already sprayed down the hole, you should be fine by tomorrow. I would probably do one more spray once it gets dark tonight. Do not use a flashlight since they are attracted to light. They will all be in the nest by dusk and you can spray it while it is still a little bit light out.

 

Any that did not return to the nest will eventually die out on their own.

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Did you get stung?

 

 

If you already sprayed down the hole, you should be fine by tomorrow. I would probably do one more spray once it gets dark tonight. Do not use a flashlight since they are attracted to light. They will all be in the nest by dusk and you can spray it while it is still a little bit light out.

 

Any that did not return to the nest will eventually die out on their own.

 

No luckily not stung. I normally wouldn't care, but I don't want my son to get stung. I don't really get bothered by bees, but I was surprised at how large the hole was. It must be 3/4" wide. 

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No luckily not stung. I normally wouldn't care, but I don't want my son to get stung. I don't really get bothered by bees, but I was surprised at how large the hole was. It must be 3/4" wide. 

 

That's nothing, I've seen yellow jacket ground nests have a hole several inches in diameter. (unless you meant 3-4" and not 3/4")

 

When you spray again tonight, check to see if any of them are near the opening and not inside it. They may have not gone back inside it if you already sprayed in there. I'm guessing most of them will be dead by morning...and the ones that didn't go back into the nest will die off eventually. You might have to be careful though since some of the escapees may try and return to the nest over the next few days. I'd probably monitor it closely and don't let your son go near it.

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That's nothing, I've seen yellow jacket ground nests have a hole several inches in diameter. (unless you meant 3-4" and not 3/4")

 

When you spray again tonight, check to see if any of them are near the opening and not inside it. They may have not gone back inside it if you already sprayed in there. I'm guessing most of them will be dead by morning...and the ones that didn't go back into the nest will die off eventually. You might have to be careful though since some of the escapees may try and return to the nest over the next few days. I'd probably monitor it closely and don't let your son go near it.

 

Wow, 3-4"? I thought the holes would be rather narrow. To be honest, first time I really saw an underground nest like that. I have seen a few holes the width of a bee with one or two coming out, but I was surprised how wide this was (3/4"). But Jesus, what you describe sounds pretty bad..lol. Luckily it's on the left side of my property where he doesn't play. I ran out of spray, but I'll just check it out after work tomorrow. My yard has some ledge just underneath the topsoil and they made a nest near an outcropping...I wonder if they found a cozy little space in between rocks.

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Mowed right over an underground bee nest. Sprayed the sh*t out of it, but they are swarming around it. Any good tips to rid these suckers? I don't want to light my yard on fire like Hubby did.

friend had one just the other day. From the ground, just a couple small holes that you could see. we sprayed the crap out of it, then dug out the honeycomb. it was about 6-8" diameter. it was only a few inches below ground. very easy extermination, and neither of us got stung

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Mowed right over an underground bee nest. Sprayed the sh*t out of it, but they are swarming around it. Any good tips to rid these suckers? I don't want to light my yard on fire like Hubby did.

 

Controlled burn.  At first light when the little monsters are quiescent, pour about a half cup of gasoline down the hole, stand back a few feet and toss a lit wad of paper onto it.  Generally burns like the eternal flame at JFK's tomb for about 5 minutes, and wipes out the colony.  You may need to fill in a larger hole, as the fire burns out all the underground structure of the nest.  (If the overnight is 65+, wait for a cooler morning.)

 

Last week during our forestry peer review field trip downeast, I got nailed 3X by yellowjackets while in the midst of 25+ other people, none of whom even had one of the critters buzzing around them.  Those insects have "liked" me since I was about 5 years old.

 

Many years ago my older brother and I would mow the 3/4-acre lawn at our grandparent's place in NW NJ, and the avg mowing would encounter 2-3 yellowjacket nests - just keep walking and pay attention and we (usually) wouldn't get stung.  One huge nest had a swarm 10 yards wide after the mower passover.  That cool evening, our dad poured a lot more than half a cup of gas down the 3" diameter hole, the visible flame lasted an hour, and was not done working even after we could no longer see it.  Next morning there was a hole about 30" across and a foot deep, by far the biggest burnout crater we ever saw there.

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Yes when we had the farm controlled underground nest burns were a yearly occurrence. Pretty cool how big those suckers get.

 

That's like saying it's pretty cool how warm a torch can get in January. I love bees just about as much as I love a 30" snow pack on the first day of golf season.

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I am loving the warmth, beautiful day yesterday, today has started out a tad cool. Just got back from a totally empty beach walk and swim, man is the water warm. Back inland it's cooler in the shade than yesterday. Shaping up to be a fine Sept day.

 

Complete opposite for me, but I'll take it this weekend. I'd like to have the windows open at night.

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Controlled burn.  At first light when the little monsters are quiescent, pour about a half cup of gasoline down the hole, stand back a few feet and toss a lit wad of paper onto it.  Generally burns like the eternal flame at JFK's tomb for about 5 minutes, and wipes out the colony.  You may need to fill in a larger hole, as the fire burns out all the underground structure of the nest.  (If the overnight is 65+, wait for a cooler morning.)

 

Last week during our forestry peer review field trip downeast, I got nailed 3X by yellowjackets while in the midst of 25+ other people, none of whom even had one of the critters buzzing around them.  Those insects have "liked" me since I was about 5 years old.

 

Many years ago my older brother and I would mow the 3/4-acre lawn at our grandparent's place in NW NJ, and the avg mowing would encounter 2-3 yellowjacket nests - just keep walking and pay attention and we (usually) wouldn't get stung.  One huge nest had a swarm 10 yards wide after the mower passover.  That cool evening, our dad poured a lot more than half a cup of gas down the 3" diameter hole, the visible flame lasted an hour, and was not done working even after we could no longer see it.  Next morning there was a hole about 30" across and a foot deep, by far the biggest burnout crater we ever saw there.

 

Interesting. I'll check it out today when I get home. I don't think it is terribly big, but annoying to have.

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