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Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 8:31 pm
by Paul
That makes sense. Bees, wasps, flies, and even butterflies go after my rotten grapes each year.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 4:48 pm
by GORDON
I think this is what got me.
The "cicada killer wasp."
They live in Ohio, it is the right time of year, my first impression when I was getting stung is that they were really big, and I've seen them around.
Edited By GORDON on 1283114922
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 6:04 pm
by TheCatt
I saw one the other day... took down a cicada right in front of me in mid-air, then killed it on the ground... the cicada was screaming.
Then, I got close and was like "that's a big fucking wasp" and told my family to walk around it. It scurried around the ground, carrying the cicada. Then, when we were about 30 feet away, it flew right by us carrying the cicada.
They are supposedly very non-aggressive against humans.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 7:09 pm
by Malcolm
Those things are supposed to be solitary critters. They don't typically swarm.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:14 pm
by GORDON
I think I was getting hit by all kinds of insects because I agitated the feeding area. That was just the big bastard that made an impression.... I got stung 7 times total.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:22 pm
by TheCatt
Only the women sting... so you got beat up by a girl.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 8:59 pm
by GORDON
Not the first time.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 9:03 pm
by GORDON
I thought it was the female mosquitoes that bit... bees and wasps, too? I thought the queen was the only female in a beehive.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:04 pm
by TheCatt
Cicada killers are different. Read the wikipedia, it's kinda cool. After i saw that one, I was like "wtf is a cicada killer" and wikipedia schooled me.
Posted: Sun Aug 29, 2010 10:07 pm
by Malcolm
GORDON wrote:I thought it was the female mosquitoes that bit... bees and wasps, too? I thought the queen was the only female in a beehive.
Female mosquitoes are the only ones that bite. There can be female (non-reproducing) worker bees in most bee societies. Drones are male, I think.
Wasps/hornets vary a bit.
Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 8:08 am
by GORDON
Holy shit, found the nest.
Must have been smaller when I was looking for it last week, because it is about the size of a basketball, now, hanging on a branch about 10 feet above where the branch had fallen.
Will probably wait until this winter, build a nice camp fire, snip it down, and terminate yet another genetic line of wasps.
These things are going to evolve to the point where they instinctually avoid me, or go extinct.
Edited By GORDON on 1283516729
Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 6:12 pm
by Paul
Waiting for a winter surprise attack?
I almost said it was unAmerican, but then I remembered the whole "Washington Crossing the Delaware" thing.
My suggestion: Big-ass fireworks.
Use PVC piping to make a long mortar, pointing right at the bottom of the nest.
Light the rocket(s).
Run like hell.
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:49 pm
by GORDON
I need real advice for how to take out that nest. Wife wants to have a little party in that part of the yard on the 26th.
I live in the middle of a town, so explosives/guns/etc are pretty much out.
Don't want to pay $125 for an exterminator to get it.
Don't have a bee suit. That would be easy then to just cut it down and throw it in a fire. Hmmm.... home made bee suit? Scary. Exciting.
I was thinking of a long pole, 30' or so, with a blow torch duct taped to the end. Use my ladder in a-frame as a pivot point. Hope that is far enough away from the nest when the hornets go all psycho.
I don't have a long pole, though. Or a blow torch.
Nest is about 15' off the ground. Clear area under. Would rather not burn a big as patch of grass by building a bonfire under it.. that occurred to me, too.
I think I already have the answer, I was just hoping someone would do it for me. I don't think I'll get out of this one unscathed.
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2010 11:51 pm
by GORDON
Hmmm. Lasso the branch, it is smallish. Tie it to the ball hitch of Unk's truck. Drag the damned thing into the fire pit.....
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 11:11 am
by TPRJones
The first step will be getting it out of the tree. You'll want to do that from as far away as possible.
Can you get an angle on it where there's clear space in both directions for a hundred yards or so? If so maybe build a catapult to lob bricks at it from a very long range away. Once it's on the ground the problem is simpler to deal with.
Edited By TPRJones on 1284909111
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 4:08 pm
by GORDON
This has me thinking I should call someone and have it done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVpBeiSjXSs
One attacks the camera 30 feet away.
There is a related video where they firebomb that nest... that makes me want to do THAT. Wish I knew what they were using.
Edited By GORDON on 1284930738
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 7:41 pm
by Paul
I have cans of foaming was spray that go 22'. I doubt it's 22' up though.
My thought is to wait until a cool night, then foam it. The foam expands and keeps the wasps from flying (the become entangled in it) while the poison kills them.
I used it when I had a hornets nest under the car port. Of course, I also sprayed from inside the car. 
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 8:56 pm
by GORDON
From inside a car... that's a really good idea...
Posted: Sun Sep 19, 2010 9:00 pm
by GORDON
Do they typically have one door into the hive? I only see one, and I could blast it with foam. Wouldn't like to see them get me from a back door, though.
It's one of those big balls of paper, about the size of a basket ball, hanging at the end of a branch.
Edited By GORDON on 1284944483
Posted: Mon Sep 20, 2010 12:16 am
by GORDON
Liking the car idea.
The wife wants to get video of it because she thinks I'm going to get attacked.