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bees still alive
i plugged them up in the garden shed for the
past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 8:38 AM, songbird wrote:
i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird I've had trouble with yellow jackets. They are not pollinators and have no reason to live. In past years, I was not allergic but last couple of stings caused swelling and one on the finger sent me to the doctor for prednisone as whole hand swelled up. Benadryl and maybe one of those sting pens are a good idea. |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 8:00 AM, Frank wrote:
On 6/24/2016 8:38 AM, songbird wrote: i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird I've had trouble with yellow jackets. They are not pollinators and have no reason to live. In past years, I was not allergic but last couple of stings caused swelling and one on the finger sent me to the doctor for prednisone as whole hand swelled up. Benadryl and maybe one of those sting pens are a good idea. Yellow jackets are good critters at catching pest worms on gardens. They feed them to their young in the nest. I still avoid the little stinging b*******. |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 7:38 AM, songbird wrote:
i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird We have carpenter and mason bees all over the place, have never been stung by one. After their young hatch and move on I use the pressure washer to knock down the old mud houses. Carpenter bees don't bother us as our eaves, etc. are concrete board and they can't drill it. Our old house had to have the eaves completely rebuilt due to carpenter bees and the squirrels eating into the attic to nest. Replaced those eaves with concrete board and solved the problem. Still picking them peas twice a day. Tomatoes have about played out but sweet peppers are going crazy still. We're getting temperatures in the mid to high nineties almost every day now. George |
bees still alive
On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 08:38:13 -0400, songbird
wrote: i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird Sounds more like some kind of wasps or hornets, maybe Yellow Jackets. Mason bees are solitary and absolutely non-aggressive, only sting as a last resort. They don't live in colonies and don't produce honey like honeybees. However, they are far more efficient pollinators than honeybees and are great to have around the garden or orchard. Ross. Southern Ontario, Canada |
bees still alive
On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 09:00:14 -0400, Frank "frank wrote:
On 6/24/2016 8:38 AM, songbird wrote: i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird I've had trouble with yellow jackets. They are not pollinators and have no reason to live. In past years, I was not allergic but last couple of stings caused swelling and one on the finger sent me to the doctor for prednisone as whole hand swelled up. Benadryl and maybe one of those sting pens are a good idea. I have to disagree with part of your first statement. While yellow jackets do little in the way of pollination, they do have a reason to live as they are a valuable asset in one's garden. They are great garden pest eliminators who use the spoils of their victories as food for their young. If you're a gardener, here's an article that may change your view of the yellow jackets. http://www.motherearthnews.com/organ...z1303zkin.aspx or http://tinyurl.com/gl97lho Ross. Southern Ontario, Canada |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 9:32 AM, George Shirley wrote:
On 6/24/2016 8:00 AM, Frank wrote: On 6/24/2016 8:38 AM, songbird wrote: i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. ok today will be a busy day. hope everyone is doing well? :) songbird I've had trouble with yellow jackets. They are not pollinators and have no reason to live. In past years, I was not allergic but last couple of stings caused swelling and one on the finger sent me to the doctor for prednisone as whole hand swelled up. Benadryl and maybe one of those sting pens are a good idea. Yellow jackets are good critters at catching pest worms on gardens. They feed them to their young in the nest. I still avoid the little stinging b*******. Comment was told to me several years by someone that worked at the Delaware Education Center. |
bees still alive
Ross wrote:
songbird wrote: i plugged them up in the garden shed for the past four days with no access to water or the outside and sucked up all the returning foragers in the vaccume... Ma had to get in there for something and said they're still in there. i think some type of mason bee. can sting more than once. bugger got me before i got her once in the heel and once on the end of the index finger of all places. luckily the sting wore off in a few hours. not allergic. .... Sounds more like some kind of wasps or hornets, maybe Yellow Jackets. i know all of those quite well. we have a lot of wasps, hornets, yellow jackets around. Mason bees are solitary and absolutely non-aggressive, only sting as a last resort. They don't live in colonies and don't produce honey like honeybees. then it must be something else because there's a good number of them in the wall when i bump it. However, they are far more efficient pollinators than honeybees and are great to have around the garden or orchard. no, it's some type of small bumblebee, i called it a mason bee because i've heard someone else call them that. i'm trying to id it now, but i don't have a dead one to look at (i don't want to open the vaccume :) ). until later i'll have plenty to look at when they're all dead. i don't know how long it will take for me to kill them off if they can't get out to get water and it will be hot this weekend... i've seen them nest in holes in the ground or in rock walls, this is the first time they picked the garden shed. in the many years i've been here and with the many bees around i've not been stung that often (perhaps five times in all these years). the one that got me was very aggressive, i don't know if it was the same one that stung Ma, but eventually i was able to squash it when it kept going inside my croc (it must have sprayed something on the croc because it really went after it). unfortunately the squashing of it also meant it was not identifiable... i work in many gardens with bees just a few inches from my face or hands. i like them, would not really want to kill any of them. even the hornets, wasps, etc. are plentiful here. they like the large rocks and build nests behind or under them. then once in a while the raccoons come through and pull the nests out and eat them. they must be able to smell them or something. i have to go around the house once in a while and knock the nests down. the ones that do mud on the rock walls i leave (mud daubers?) and the ones that do the plugs i leave alone too. i like them, they're black or bluish and very shiny and pretty and i also like how they flit around. they have a lot of character... :) songbird |
bees still alive
Frank wrote:
.... I've had trouble with yellow jackets. They are not pollinators and have no reason to live. In past years, I was not allergic but last couple of stings caused swelling and one on the finger sent me to the doctor for prednisone as whole hand swelled up. Benadryl and maybe one of those sting pens are a good idea. no reaction to the stings. no need. the wasps, hornets, etc. here are very frequently seen on the plants looking for caterpillars. the one year i grew cabbages they helped by finding eggs and worms from the cabbage moths. i enjoyed watching them (unfortunately they didn't get them all) hunt around. i've been stung so rarely here that it surprises me actually. there's a lot of bees here and many other species too. honey bees (there are six hives about 150ft away), etc. stung about five times in all the years and two of those were the other day from the same bee. all the rest were because i'd grabbed one or had it caught in my clothes. the rest of the time i'm out there there's bees just a few inches from my face or hands and they don't bother me. i don't swat at them... perhaps also because i tend to be rather calm and deliberate in my motions. i don't weed whack or thrash about... :) don't mow either. songbird |
bees still alive
George Shirley wrote:
.... We have carpenter and mason bees all over the place, have never been stung by one. After their young hatch and move on I use the pressure washer to knock down the old mud houses. Carpenter bees don't bother us as our eaves, etc. are concrete board and they can't drill it. we've had some carpenter bees once in a while. i just caulked the holes. the new stain on the house seems to have kept them away from doing more damage. all the siding and trim is western red cedar with several coats of stain on it. so i don't consider it enough of a problem to do anything about. them being inside the shed is the problem. Our old house had to have the eaves completely rebuilt due to carpenter bees and the squirrels eating into the attic to nest. Replaced those eaves with concrete board and solved the problem. they have snails in FL that eat concrete now. between those, fire ants, crazy ants and roaches i can't say the south appeals to me at all. i like ants and all that, but i don't want to have that level of warfare with them... the phorid flies can help slow them down a bit. Still picking them peas twice a day. Tomatoes have about played out but sweet peppers are going crazy still. We're getting temperatures in the mid to high nineties almost every day now. all the garden plants here are doing well with the sunshine, but the lack of rain is tough to keep up with the watering for this many gardens. almost the complete opposite of last year (where we had regular rains i don't think i had to water much after getting things sprouted/going). songbird |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 3:33 PM, songbird wrote:
George Shirley wrote: ... We have carpenter and mason bees all over the place, have never been stung by one. After their young hatch and move on I use the pressure washer to knock down the old mud houses. Carpenter bees don't bother us as our eaves, etc. are concrete board and they can't drill it. we've had some carpenter bees once in a while. i just caulked the holes. the new stain on the house seems to have kept them away from doing more damage. all the siding and trim is western red cedar with several coats of stain on it. so i don't consider it enough of a problem to do anything about. them being inside the shed is the problem. We haven't had that many carpenter or mason bees since we moved here. In Louisiana I made several carpenter bee nests, a short piece of four by four pine, drill holes into it of a certain size, which I don't remember, the carpenter bees will do the rest. We made mud pans for the mason bees and I made a hollow four by four with four one by fours about a foot long for the mason bees. Both of those are good pollinators. Our old house had to have the eaves completely rebuilt due to carpenter bees and the squirrels eating into the attic to nest. Replaced those eaves with concrete board and solved the problem. they have snails in FL that eat concrete now. between those, fire ants, crazy ants and roaches i can't say the south appeals to me at all. i like ants and all that, but i don't want to have that level of warfare with them... the phorid flies can help slow them down a bit. I lived on the East Coast for nearly four years while in the Navy. I prefer the south, mostly nice people, good food, decent weather except in the summer. Heck, I never saw snow until I was 18, don't miss it either. Still picking them peas twice a day. Tomatoes have about played out but sweet peppers are going crazy still. We're getting temperatures in the mid to high nineties almost every day now. all the garden plants here are doing well with the sunshine, but the lack of rain is tough to keep up with the watering for this many gardens. almost the complete opposite of last year (where we had regular rains i don't think i had to water much after getting things sprouted/going). songbird I just went to get the mail, black clouds to the south, east, and part of the north. Hopefully we will get some more rain this evening. This time of year rain means a somewhat cool spell for a while. I need to pick peas again but it's to darn hot out there, may wait and pick by headlight. |
bees still alive
songbird wrote:
in the many years i've been here and with the many bees around i've not been stung that often (perhaps five times in all these years). the one that got me was very aggressive, i don't know if it was the same one that stung Ma, but eventually i was able to squash it when it kept going inside my croc (it must have sprayed something on the croc because it really went after it). unfortunately the squashing of it also meant it was not identifiable... i work in many gardens with bees just a few inches from my face or hands. i like them, would not really want to kill any of them. even the hornets, wasps, etc. are plentiful here. they like the large rocks and build nests behind or under them. then once in a while the raccoons come through and pull the nests out and eat them. they must be able to smell them or something. i have to go around the house once in a while and knock the nests down. the ones that do mud on the rock walls i leave (mud daubers?) and the ones that do the plugs i leave alone too. i like them, they're black or bluish and very shiny and pretty and i also like how they flit around. they have a lot of character... :) songbird Are you sure these aren't yellow jackets ? You said you've seen them nest in the ground , the only honey bee that nests in the ground is AHB's , those are the africanized ones - and they will attack en mass when disturbed . But you live way north of their range . YJ's are slightly shorter , more slender and more brightly colored than honey bees . If slightly larger than honey bees , I'm not sure , but around bumble bee size there are several varieties, some of which have already been discussed . If they are honey bees , going in with some smoldering rags (or put the smoldering rags in a tin bucket and sit it just inside the door) will help to short-circuit their alarm pheromone , making them less likely to attack . You'll want to look for comb building , one identifier of honey bees . If you see comb , call a local bee club and someone will probably come and get them ... feral survivor bees are highly desired by many beekeepers . If they aren't honey bees , you can probably kill them with one of the house fogger canisters , might use 2 to be sure you give them a lethal dose . I currently have 5 colonies (hives) of dark Russian varroa-resistant honey bees , 3 of which have produced a honey crop for me this year - probably harvest around 50-60 quarts . The other 2 were just started this spring and are still getting their houses in order . -- Snag |
bees still alive
Terry Coombs wrote:
.... Are you sure these aren't yellow jackets ? You said you've seen them nest in the ground , the only honey bee that nests in the ground is AHB's , those are the africanized ones - and they will attack en mass when disturbed . But you live way north of their range . YJ's are slightly shorter , more slender and more brightly colored than honey bees . If slightly larger than honey bees , I'm not sure , but around bumble bee size there are several varieties, some of which have already been discussed . If they are honey bees , going in with some smoldering rags (or put the smoldering rags in a tin bucket and sit it just inside the door) will help to short-circuit their alarm pheromone , making them less likely to attack . You'll want to look for comb building , one identifier of honey bees . If you see comb , call a local bee club and someone will probably come and get them ... feral survivor bees are highly desired by many beekeepers . If they aren't honey bees , you can probably kill them with one of the house fogger canisters , might use 2 to be sure you give them a lethal dose . they are definitely not honey bees or any kind of hornet, wasp, they look like small bumblebees. and they can sting more than once (honey bees leave their stinger behind). usually i see these kinda of bees nest in the ground like under a piece of bark. I currently have 5 colonies (hives) of dark Russian varroa-resistant honey bees , 3 of which have produced a honey crop for me this year - probably harvest around 50-60 quarts . The other 2 were just started this spring and are still getting their houses in order . :) there's six honey bee hives 150ft from here. people put them there and didn't even ask us. it's probably either on or very close to our property line. luckily we don't ever use that back part of the property for anything, but it would be annoying because they are blocking our access... songbird |
bees still alive
On 6/24/2016 11:37 PM, Terry Coombs wrote:
songbird wrote: in the many years i've been here and with the many bees around i've not been stung that often (perhaps five times in all these years). the one that got me was very aggressive, i don't know if it was the same one that stung Ma, but eventually i was able to squash it when it kept going inside my croc (it must have sprayed something on the croc because it really went after it). unfortunately the squashing of it also meant it was not identifiable... i work in many gardens with bees just a few inches from my face or hands. i like them, would not really want to kill any of them. even the hornets, wasps, etc. are plentiful here. they like the large rocks and build nests behind or under them. then once in a while the raccoons come through and pull the nests out and eat them. they must be able to smell them or something. i have to go around the house once in a while and knock the nests down. the ones that do mud on the rock walls i leave (mud daubers?) and the ones that do the plugs i leave alone too. i like them, they're black or bluish and very shiny and pretty and i also like how they flit around. they have a lot of character... :) songbird Are you sure these aren't yellow jackets ? You said you've seen them nest in the ground , the only honey bee that nests in the ground is AHB's , those are the africanized ones - and they will attack en mass when disturbed . But you live way north of their range . YJ's are slightly shorter , more slender and more brightly colored than honey bees . If slightly larger than honey bees , I'm not sure , but around bumble bee size there are several varieties, some of which have already been discussed . If they are honey bees , going in with some smoldering rags (or put the smoldering rags in a tin bucket and sit it just inside the door) will help to short-circuit their alarm pheromone , making them less likely to attack . You'll want to look for comb building , one identifier of honey bees . If you see comb , call a local bee club and someone will probably come and get them ... feral survivor bees are highly desired by many beekeepers . If they aren't honey bees , you can probably kill them with one of the house fogger canisters , might use 2 to be sure you give them a lethal dose . I currently have 5 colonies (hives) of dark Russian varroa-resistant honey bees , 3 of which have produced a honey crop for me this year - probably harvest around 50-60 quarts . The other 2 were just started this spring and are still getting their houses in order . Damn Snag, you the man. I can honestly say I have never been stung by a honey bee. Wasps, yes, bees no. One of my Dad's friends about sixty years ago was a bee keeper and taught me how to handle them with a smoker so we could get their honey. Brought back some good memories to this old head. Now bumble bees living in the ground are another memory and not so good, particularly when I drove the bulldozer over their nest. Rascals hit me in my back so many times they knocked me out. If I had known they were there I would have left them alone. George |
bees still alive
songbird wrote:
Terry Coombs wrote: ... Are you sure these aren't yellow jackets ? You said you've seen them nest in the ground , the only honey bee that nests in the ground is AHB's , those are the africanized ones - and they will attack en mass when disturbed . But you live way north of their range . YJ's are slightly shorter , more slender and more brightly colored than honey bees . If slightly larger than honey bees , I'm not sure , but around bumble bee size there are several varieties, some of which have already been discussed . If they are honey bees , going in with some smoldering rags (or put the smoldering rags in a tin bucket and sit it just inside the door) will help to short-circuit their alarm pheromone , making them less likely to attack . You'll want to look for comb building , one identifier of honey bees . If you see comb , call a local bee club and someone will probably come and get them ... feral survivor bees are highly desired by many beekeepers . If they aren't honey bees , you can probably kill them with one of the house fogger canisters , might use 2 to be sure you give them a lethal dose . they are definitely not honey bees or any kind of hornet, wasp, they look like small bumblebees. and they can sting more than once (honey bees leave their stinger behind). usually i see these kinda of bees nest in the ground like under a piece of bark. I currently have 5 colonies (hives) of dark Russian varroa-resistant honey bees , 3 of which have produced a honey crop for me this year - probably harvest around 50-60 quarts . The other 2 were just started this spring and are still getting their houses in order . :) there's six honey bee hives 150ft from here. people put them there and didn't even ask us. it's probably either on or very close to our property line. luckily we don't ever use that back part of the property for anything, but it would be annoying because they are blocking our access... songbird In that case , poison the little suckers in the shed . Good beekeeper etiquette would be for the owner of those hives to contact you before placing them ... if they're actually on your property without permission , you probably have legal recourse to either make the owner move them or pay you for the use of your property . My hives are all within 50 feet of the house and we rarely have any problems . They can be a little ****y during times of dearth , but usually only bother us when I've been in the hives for an inspection . -- Snag |
bees still alive
Terry Coombs wrote:
.... In that case , poison the little suckers in the shed . yeah, i got up early this morning and gave them some trouble. it definitely knocked the population count down, cuz now when i pound on the wall there's not quite so much noise in there. then i got the tools out of there i needed and plugged it all up again for the day. Good beekeeper etiquette would be for the owner of those hives to contact you before placing them ... if they're actually on your property without permission , you probably have legal recourse to either make the owner move them or pay you for the use of your property . My hives are all within 50 feet of the house and we rarely have any problems . They can be a little ****y during times of dearth , but usually only bother us when I've been in the hives for an inspection . i gotta be diplomatic, yet get the point made... friends own the property to the north which shares the access road. i think they forgot completely that we share that road... what i'm planning on doing is telling them that it's ok to leave them this season, but to not put them there next year. they'd need to put them back another few hundred feet to not be a problem if we need to use the access cleared through the trees. songbird |
bees still alive
George Shirley wrote:
.... Damn Snag, you the man. I can honestly say I have never been stung by a honey bee. Wasps, yes, bees no. One of my Dad's friends about sixty years ago was a bee keeper and taught me how to handle them with a smoker so we could get their honey. Brought back some good memories to this old head. Now bumble bees living in the ground are another memory and not so good, particularly when I drove the bulldozer over their nest. Rascals hit me in my back so many times they knocked me out. If I had known they were there I would have left them alone. that would have been a nightmare! those suckers hurt! i don't think i've ever been stung by a honey bee here either, always either a hornet, wasp or bumblebee and always my fault (except this last time where she got me twice). songbird |
bees still alive
~misfit~ wrote:
.... It also doesn't mention the fact that yellowjackets can bypass caterpillars chemical protection so that they'll always go for the easy-to-see caterpillars such as monarch butterfly larvae. I grow plants specifically to nurture several species of ornamental butterflies and the wasps always take their larvae but never seem to find the well-camoflaged larvae of 'pest species' such as cabbage white butterfly. when i was growing cabbages, i would sit and watch the wasps gather the eggs and worms. they did help, but not enough to get them all. Wasps will completely eradicate a large population of monarch butterfly larvae while my vegetable crops get eaten to the ground by hornworms and the like which the wasps never touch. yes, nothing seems to get the tomato worms other than me. i've yet to see any signs of the parasitic bug that supposedly will use them as a host. there are at least two tomato worms out there that i have not found yet, either it is too late and they are done and back in the ground or they are being particularly sneaky. oh well, it's ok there's plenty... nice rain today and some yesterday too and the day before plus i watered that morning so the ground is finally getting a good soaking. it's been a few months of too dry weather. a nice day for reading and frogging around here. :) songbird |
bees still alive
On 7/30/2016 7:39 AM, songbird wrote:
~misfit~ wrote: ... It also doesn't mention the fact that yellowjackets can bypass caterpillars chemical protection so that they'll always go for the easy-to-see caterpillars such as monarch butterfly larvae. I grow plants specifically to nurture several species of ornamental butterflies and the wasps always take their larvae but never seem to find the well-camoflaged larvae of 'pest species' such as cabbage white butterfly. when i was growing cabbages, i would sit and watch the wasps gather the eggs and worms. they did help, but not enough to get them all. Wasps will completely eradicate a large population of monarch butterfly larvae while my vegetable crops get eaten to the ground by hornworms and the like which the wasps never touch. yes, nothing seems to get the tomato worms other than me. i've yet to see any signs of the parasitic bug that supposedly will use them as a host. there are at least two tomato worms out there that i have not found yet, either it is too late and they are done and back in the ground or they are being particularly sneaky. oh well, it's ok there's plenty... nice rain today and some yesterday too and the day before plus i watered that morning so the ground is finally getting a good soaking. it's been a few months of too dry weather. a nice day for reading and frogging around here. :) songbird In our Louisiana garden we had to patrol two or three times a day for tomato worms, have not seen one here at all. We do have a large population of barn swallows, purple martins, and other insect eating birds during the day and, at night the bats come out. I know they've been eating the mosquitoes and have seen them take moths and butterfly's both. Of course our tomatoes are out now, temps running into 100+ almost daily. Crowder peas have been pulled, the original cukes are gone but the new cukes are blooming like crazy. We still have four pepper plants that are producing but the fruit is much smaller due to the heat. I'm ready for cooler weather, if it wasn't for AC we couldn't live here. That being said I grew up in SE Texas and we only had fans, attic fans, floor fans, any kind of fan we could get. We must have had 20 or more screened windows in that old house and there was generally a light breeze blowing, thank goodness for that. My folks had never had AC until 1957, I turned eighteen that year and was in the Navy, who also didn't have AC. |
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