flowerbug
Garden Master
you guys...
one yellow jacket nest? one?! we have many around here with all the rocks. the raccoons come through at night and search for them and eat them. i have to go around the house eves once a week (in the early morning when it is cool is the best time) and knock them down. i leave them on the ground for the raccoons to eat too.
i've been stung maybe 4 times in 20yrs from hornets, yellow jackets. stung maybe 3 times from bees/bumble bees (one time from grabbing seeds and got a flower with a bumble bee in it by mistake). honey bees, don't think i've ever been stung by them here. but so often out working in gardens and there are thousands of bees all around. as long as you don't get them trapped in the clothes they usually don't bother me. i certainly don't swat at them or freak out. just move a little slow so they can fly around and watch where i'm putting my hands if i'm picking flowers.
wasps/hornets are the spider and eggs, larva and caterpillar eaters (but some of the birds will hunt for spiders around the eves of the house at times too).
i try to keep the house sealed up well enough that wasps/hornets won't be able to get in the walls/eaves. a few summers ago the mason bees found a gap in the garden shed wall and it took some time to get them out of there. they are like hornets in that they can sting more than once. once i got them out of there i used the spray foam to seal it all up better (to keep the mice out of the walls too). now i'm waiting for some year when i get caught up on projects again (hahahahaha...) where i can put up some scrap wall tile in there to make sure the mice can't chew back in again...
one yellow jacket nest? one?! we have many around here with all the rocks. the raccoons come through at night and search for them and eat them. i have to go around the house eves once a week (in the early morning when it is cool is the best time) and knock them down. i leave them on the ground for the raccoons to eat too.
i've been stung maybe 4 times in 20yrs from hornets, yellow jackets. stung maybe 3 times from bees/bumble bees (one time from grabbing seeds and got a flower with a bumble bee in it by mistake). honey bees, don't think i've ever been stung by them here. but so often out working in gardens and there are thousands of bees all around. as long as you don't get them trapped in the clothes they usually don't bother me. i certainly don't swat at them or freak out. just move a little slow so they can fly around and watch where i'm putting my hands if i'm picking flowers.
wasps/hornets are the spider and eggs, larva and caterpillar eaters (but some of the birds will hunt for spiders around the eves of the house at times too).
i try to keep the house sealed up well enough that wasps/hornets won't be able to get in the walls/eaves. a few summers ago the mason bees found a gap in the garden shed wall and it took some time to get them out of there. they are like hornets in that they can sting more than once. once i got them out of there i used the spray foam to seal it all up better (to keep the mice out of the walls too). now i'm waiting for some year when i get caught up on projects again (hahahahaha...) where i can put up some scrap wall tile in there to make sure the mice can't chew back in again...
