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Thread: Remove bugs and bees from my property

  1. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matt Meiser View Post
    Steve, I've been stung in a parking lot so that doesn't work too well.

    Mike, I don't particlularly care for them around my food because they don't really get the difference between "swatting", "shooing", and "eating/drinking."

    We've been trying those WHY traps that are supposed to trap wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets but they specifically don't attract bees. And I'm not too impressed with they way they are working for anything else either. Supposedly you put them out early in the season and catch the queens, then the colonies don't form. So far I just seem to be catching other bugs.
    The pheromone bait for those traps is pretty useless but the overall design isn't bad. The keys to getting them to work is filling them with either cider vinegar or apple juice, sugar and decaying insects. I had a real problem with those big, nasty European Hornets destroying my Lilac bushes last year and was having a hard time nabbing them. Once I switched to cider and sugar I found that the more dead Yellowjackets there were in the traps, the more Hornets I got. Disgusting picture here but with the right bait, they work pretty well.

    I put several of them up last week and got a pretty big one. Hopefully it's a queen.


    bugs.jpg
    Last edited by Peter Kelly; 04-21-2012 at 4:03 PM.

  2. #17
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    if you got problems with honey bees then make a phone call to a bee keeper who will be more than happy to remove them, If the bugs are mud daubers, no need to worry no-sting-you, the same for bumble bees, the best defense against hornets, paper wasps and yellow jackets are your common water hose, step 1 , hook the hose to faucets , step 2 ,remove all kinks, step 3 ,spray

  3. #18
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    You know, someone's gonna get killed if they follow some of the terrible advice and "wisdom" in this thread. Yes, mud daubers do sting. As far as a hose is concerned, have you ever seen a ticked off white faced hornet? Not only are they very aggressive (never mind that "don't bother them they don't bother you nonsense"), they are incredibly hearty. My pest guy found a nest hanging out around my house, and one of the hornets was just hanging out. He put a stream of toxin on him and had him pinned to the side of my house for a good 10 seconds until the guy finally gave up and died. This stuff will usually knock them right out of the sky and they're dead before they hit the ground. This guy just drank it like he was doing shots of tequila.

  4. #19
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    I have developed an allergic reaction to honey bees over the years. I constantly watch for them when I'm outside and give them plenty of space. Generally speaking I try not to kill any bees, without them we would soon starve to death. No bees no food!!!

    Hornets on the other hand have to go, the sting from a giant hornet can knock a grown man down to the ground. I rarely find hornets to be a problem unless they build a nest under the eves of the house. They are pretty easy to keep at a distance, they are really loud and sound like a plane landing when they get too close.
    .
    Last edited by Keith Outten; 04-21-2012 at 5:56 PM.

  5. #20
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    Wildlife around here has 6 acres of my property to play with, and another 40 back there that belong to other people....and that's basically just my back yard. All I want to do is get a a few hundred feet around my house cleaned up. It's not like I'm trying to kill all the wildlife around me. I've got wild life coming out my ears. I just wanted to make it safer and more comfortable around my house. That's not unreasonable.

  6. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by John Coloccia View Post
    You know, someone's gonna get killed if they follow some of the terrible advice and "wisdom" in this thread. Yes, mud daubers do sting. As far as a hose is concerned, have you ever seen a ticked off white faced hornet? Not only are they very aggressive (never mind that "don't bother them they don't bother you nonsense"), they are incredibly hearty. My pest guy found a nest hanging out around my house, and one of the hornets was just hanging out. He put a stream of toxin on him and had him pinned to the side of my house for a good 10 seconds until the guy finally gave up and died. This stuff will usually knock them right out of the sky and they're dead before they hit the ground. This guy just drank it like he was doing shots of tequila.
    I wish to correct any information that I give which John say is incorrect but I remove a number of mud-dauber nests since I were a kid and as far as I know , no dauber never sting me, as for spraying bugs with water hose, maybe John need to turn his water pressure up

  7. #22
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    I think those of us that are lucky enough to not be allegic to bee/wasp/hornet stings just don't appreciate the gravity of the matter. If our yards were covered with insects carrying 9mm Glocks we would probably be calling for the legalization of DDT!

    I think this sort of issue is one for a professional, "large" area abatement requires a fine line between enough and too much and I don't think that line can be defined by any of us (unless there are pest prevention professionals among us) or by the label on a BORG product.


    Dirt (mud) daupers are wasps and thus can sting but it is rare for them to sting a human, but the location of their nests can be perfect places for hands to "grab" sight unseen. They can be a pain even for the non-allergic since their nests are not as easy to clean off as say a paper wasp but they eat a lot of spiders and LOVE black widows so I tend to tolerate them.

    Honestly, even without any fear of death I wouldn't attack a wasp and certainly not a hornet's nest with water, you ain't gonna kill 'em and they will be right back at it tomorrow, that is after the calm down and quit hunting you!
    Of all the laws Brandolini's may be the most universally true.

    Deep thought for the day:

    Your bandsaw weighs more when you leave the spring compressed instead of relieving the tension.

  8. #23
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    well and all that appear to be good, if you need to remove a hornet nest with live hornets in it, will you call the ghost busters or remove it during a heavy down pour of rain ?, how big of a nest will it take to contain an American Motors Hornet car ?

  9. #24
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    You're right in that it's not unreasonable to want a relaxing time in your own yard but you have to also understand that insects are relentless in that they occupy every square inch of the terrestrial world.

    But unless you plan to add a 1/4 mile buffer zone around your no go zone you won't keep flying insects away for any sort of reasonable time. And the crawling ones wont be far behind either in their instinctual need to inhabit everything. And because you would have to be quite diligent in keeping up the spraying regime, using any insecticide that has an effective residual time frame could be far more detrimental to you and your pets... than being annoyed and or allergic to them. Of course detrimental health effects are denied by the multinational companies that make the insecticides by stating there is no evidence to support your cancer or debilitating neurological disorder being caused by their poisons... YMMV
    Last edited by Brian Ashton; 04-21-2012 at 11:36 PM.

  10. #25
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    Quote Originally Posted by Keith Outten View Post
    I have developed an allergic reaction to honey bees over the years. I constantly watch for them when I'm outside and give them plenty of space. Generally speaking I try not to kill any bees, without them we would soon starve to death. No bees no food!!!

    Hornets on the other hand have to go, the sting from a giant hornet can knock a grown man down to the ground. I rarely find hornets to be a problem unless they build a nest under the eves of the house. They are pretty easy to keep at a distance, they are really loud and sound like a plane landing when they get too close.
    .
    In the area that I live in australia they have a native stingless bee... If I'm not mistaken they're starting to export them because they may not be on the honey bee mite's list of ideal hosts. I'm going to get a couple hives soon for my place.

    As for wasps and hornets I have numerous different species in my yard. The first couple attempts to prune trees had me getting stung from head to toe by them when I rattled their hidden nests... So to prune now I dawn two hoodies, a thick canvas pair of pants, high top leather boots, 2mm thick neoprene gloves (even with them the hornets get the odds shot through into my hands), baseball cap (to keep the netting well away from my face), hooded bug net, and a few yards of tape to seal it all up. And because we're in the subtropics the temperature is usually over 75 degrees. 2 hours in that suit has me drenched right through... Spraying isn't an option to me unless I have termites.
    Last edited by Brian Ashton; 04-21-2012 at 11:32 PM.

  11. #26
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    John,
    you're barking up the wrong tree. See an allergist for immunotherapy for bee stings. Then you won't have to worry about them when you venture outside your yard or when you need to clear them from your deck or other location. I've had asthma and severe allergies all my life and see many canine, feline and equine patients with allergies and immunotherapy (allergy shots) work very well and might save your life by preventing that final trip to the ER.
    Bill Thompson DVM

  12. #27
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    I can tell you how NOT to remove a hornet nest on your house.

    Do not try to use the shop vac to vacuum it up. THE HORNETS DO NOT LIKE THIS. OF THIS I AM SURE.

  13. #28
    Zach, next time try a Festool vac... They say green cool-aid is addicting.

  14. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jerrimy Snook View Post
    Zach, next time try a Festool vac... They say green cool-aid is addicting.
    I imagine Festool has a special hornet-nest attachment, which they sell for a very reasonable $259.

  15. #30
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    In the light of world wide disappearing of honey bees (both the mite and certain pesticides being the cause), killing honeybees is not an option. If they go extinct we'll be in a world of hurt (can you say famine?). I am not a bee keeper, but share my property with one. He brings ten hives every spring. Even the guy who cuts my grass doesn't complain because these bees are not aggressive at all. In the years that the bees have been on my property I have been stung once, and that was my own fault. There are also a number of species of stingless bees like the Orchard Mason bee. I have those too. They nest in holes, come out in early spring just in time for early flowering fruit trees, the lay eggs in the tubes I've provided, close them off with mud and hybernate till next year. I think the best advice was about seeing an allergist for help.

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