White-faced Hornet

I mentioned in a previous post how much I hate Yellow Jackets. Those wasps are just a pain in the a$$...and anywhere else they may sting you. Plus the rotters are usually found nesting at ground level where you might easily stumble upon them.

I had one nest of Yellow Jackets removed for me by (I assume) a bear. I also removed one from between the awnings of the trailer. So imagine my dismay/surprise to find a huge nest built on the antenna of the trailer.

I initially thought it was another Yellow Jacket structure but realized it was too large and so were the critters flying about it. I watched for days from the deck and finally got a good look at a few as they flew paste me. They weren't Yellow Jackets. They were White-faced Hornets!

White-faced Hornet

I thought to wait until things got below freezing before I tackled them, but grew impatient. I opted to hit them with two cans of Spectricide--the stuff with a 27-foot range--when I had a calm evening. That happened on Friday evening. I took a position a safe distance away and hit 'em hard! I soaked the one side of the nest with spray after the sun set.

I stood on the right side of the truck and was able to reach the center of the trailer roof. (The white piece to the left of the air conditioner.)

This morning, the deck of the house had a couple of dead hornets laying about and the roof of the trailer had even more. I watched for an hour or more and saw no hornets flying in or out of the nest. Hooking up a nozzle to the garden hose that would allow me to reach with a narrow, powerful stream of water, I spent half an hour spraying the nest. Damn thing is tough! It's still holding on to the antenna post. I managed to take half of the nest out and exposed larvae inside. The entire time I saw only two hornets fly into the area. They didn't stay.

Hitting the nest with a stream of water exposed the interior but didn't knock the entire thing off the antenna.

Exposed larvae of the White-faced Hornets.

I'll hit the exposed nest with more spray later this evening. Then I may be able to use a ladder to get closer and on a different angle to attempt to knock the rest of the nest to the ground.

Ding dong, the wasps are dead!

The wasps are dead! The wasps are dead!
Ding dong the wicked wasps are dead!

Seems two cans of Spectracide did the job. Oh, there's a stray yellow jacket or two searching the lawn for any dead, decaying fruit, or meat, but the nest behind the house is NOT a place of activity any longer. The ground in front of the nest is piled 3 and 4 deep with little yellow and black bodies.

Even the 0.23 inches of rain we got last evening couldn't save them. (Although it did save me from using another can of spray.) The Spectracide says to soak the nest and let it do its thing. The compound will continue to kill on contact as bees move about and/or return to the hive from a wild night on the town only to come into contact with the poison soaked hive. It delivered on that promise.

Now I "just" have to rake up the leaves and nest and haul it all into the woods to decompose. Oh joy! 8-(

What I did on my Saturday.

As night fell last evening, I ventured forth with a can of Spectracide Wasp & Hornet Killer to do battle with the yellow jackets that took up residence in the leaves behind the rear wheel of my log splitter. I could see no activity when I started to spray into the visible hole and soaked it and the surrounding leaves thoroughly.

In the morning light it was obvious that this first attack had had some success but did not produce a complete killing of the hive. I was, however, able to move the splitter a couple of feet since I could grab the tongue of splitter and pull it out of the way. What I then saw had the hairs on the back of my neck quivering. (There are precious few on the top of my head, but there are a few at the nape of my neck and these were at full, quivering alarm.)

The yellow jackets had built their nest in the leaves and not in the ground as they usually do. And what a nest it was! A mud construct measuring at least 12 inches long and 6 to 8 inches high and Lord knows how many inches deep was visible with the wasps--for that's what yellow jackets technically are--swarming over the surface.

Tonight I took another can of Spectracide spray out and gave them a second salvo of poison meant to kill on contact and keep killing for days. This time I emptied the entire can and marveled at the loud "buzzzzzz" from the agitated wasps. U was half surprised not to feel the vibrations through my heavy boots. With any luck, this will be the end of the little devils.

Actually, I was surprised that the little beasts didn't come swarming out and attack me while I was mowing the lawn yesterday, or moving the splitter, or spraying their nest. I have said many silent prayers of thanks for that little blessing! I've been stung before on multiple occasions and Do Not Like the experience.

When I was younger, I was allergic to bee/hornet stings and they almost killed me--twice. As a young teen I underwent desensitizing shots so the little creeps could not kill me. As a 20-something adult, I stepped in a yellow jackets' nest and got stung somewhere between 8 and 12 times. Who counts when there are that many? This was the first test of the shots I had received and they passed with flying colors as a couple of hours later--after having waited first with a NJ State Trooper a half mile from the hospital and then with a friend whose house was again just a stones throw from a hospital emergency room--I didn't even itch from the stings.

 Normally, I'm a live and let live kind of guy when it comes to wild critters who could do me harm. I give unknown snakes and spiders a wide berth. I'll sing or yell at bears when I see them approach--before making my own escape. (Of course, if I'm hunting....) I'll cut the line of any over sized shark (5 foot or better) and let it swim away with my tackle before thinking of bringing it into the boat. But not with wasps, hornets or their ilk. (Honey bees are another matter. Unless they are the Africanized version known as Killer Bees.) Especially when they invade my turf it's: Kill them all and let God sort them out.

******

In other activities today, I merely sprayed the deck with cleanser and then rinsed the same off in preparation of staining. I know I said I could do some staining of the rails today but my legs and back were protesting that I did too much yesterday so I was out voted 2-1. At least the spraying of the cleanser and subsequent rinsing didn't require my doing any stooping, bending or kneeling.

It did foul up my 500 gallon cistern, however. We have a shallow well here at the Aerie (just 120-150 feet deep) and it has a slow recharge rate. The water that comes in is usually laden with some of the fine red clay that surrounds the shale of the mountain. All the deck rinsing I did today caused a flushing of the water table and resulted in a rush of red clay particles into the cistern despite the one micron filter on the line. I had just replaced that filter last week but I had to do it again this afternoon. And the cistern's tank is cloudy with fine clay, too, and that will eventually have to be flushed out using the submersible pump. *sigh*

******

The Church is sponsoring a breakfast tomorrow morning on behalf of the Knights of Columbus so an early start to the staining project is not in the books. Biscuits and gravy, bacon and eggs, pancakes, the usual. Which is just fine my me! Staining will just have to wait until afternoon. Besides, waiting until later will allow the surfaces I sprayed with water today a better chance to dry out--as long as the widely scattered T-storms stay int he Northern Tier as they predict. ("Northern Tier" is southern, New York while "Southern Tier" is northern PA where the Aerie is located. Geography can get complicated. But at least I can spell "Ohio.")

Well, it wasn't a shutout after all.

I very nearly concluded a shutout of the wasps at the Bolt Hole over the past few days. In fact, I did manage to nearly wipe out the wasp nest I posted a photo of earlier. Only a few stragglers were seen by me and Mark as we worked on the garage today. They wold zoom in to the barn and then right back out. Their bright yellow and black striped bodies were easy to spot against the dark shadows of the barn's interior.

It was the second string that got me around noon today. We (Mark and I) were going to put some plywood over rotting, leaking windows on the west side of the garage. I had climbed the step ladder to screw the initial piece in place but had to hammer a stray nail out of the way first. it was then that I heard the loud buzz of a nest inside the garage wall with an entrance in the opposite corner of the window. You can reasonably assume I got off the ladder ASAP! Even then I was unscathed.

When things quieted down, I thought it might be safe to work on the other window. WRONG! No sooner had I moved the ladder and climbed up it than there was a very sharp jab behind my left ear. I swatted--and killed--the little martyr, and then got off the ladder again. Score one for the insect world. (The sting still hurts some 10 hours after it occurred, but, thanks to the allergy shots I wrote about, I was able to walk away without the need of medical attention.) I still had one can of Spectricide spray left and so I counter attacked, soaking the corner of the window as best I could before packing up my tools and calling it a day. I didn't stick around to see if the spray did any good or not.

These were not the same species of wasps as those that built the paper nest in the barn. These were about the same size (1/2 to 5/8 inches long) but were nearly all black with just a bit of pale yellow on their abdomen. I believe they may also build paper nest for, if I remember correctly, they had a small one some years ago under the Bolt Hole's second story deck. I got stung then, too, when I stepped out on the deck and the vibrations of my feet on the deck floor pissed them off.

When I get back up to the Bolt Hole (I'm back at the PA Aerie now) and get around to covering the windows, you can be assured I'll use a long pole to rap sharply on the window sill first to see if anyone is home.