OT - dealing with wasps at an outdoor barbecue

If you swat most 'stingers', they will swat you back. Live and let live is the key.

Wait till tomorrow when they come for more..... they will be looking for you :)

John

Aye to most of that - 'cept the statement about the Africanized bees - Even *THEY* only sting in defense, although when it comes to the nest, they've got a considerably broader, and longer-range, concept of what constitutes an attack than "regular" honeybees. When they're out foraging (not close enough to the nest, and scattered, rather than near the nest and "high density") they behave *EXACTLY* like any other honeybee, not stinging unless molested. It's only when near the nest and in large numbers that they become a serious worry. They've been known to pursue for a quarter mile, but most attacks I've heard any details about have begun within 50 feet of the nest - where "normal" honeybees wouldn't be attacking until about 20-25 feet or even less(1) if approached "politely", and don't usually pursue beyond a hundred yards or so if a sting-fest gets going.

(1) "Or even less" can include my own experience - that of disassembling and inspecting fully populated (caveat: and well known to me - don't try this with a randomly picked beehive and little experience in bee handling, boys and girls!) hives in jeans and a T-shirt. It's just a matter of taking the time to be nice and easy with 'em. Don't make 'em feel threatened, and they won't sting. It's really as simple as that.

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 20:48:37 -0700, JR North wrote: One summer day I was traveling in a pickup with my uncle. . 60 mph on a old gravel road and bam he locks up the brakes, skids to a stop in a cloud of dust and out the door he flys and went a stomping around like a mad man doing a mexican hat dance, slapping his leg.

He pulls up his pant leg and shows a row of welts the length of his calf and says it must of been a yellowjacket. Damn I tried not to bust out laughing and get my ass whipped but wow, that was some show. He gets back in and away we go back down the road. Well that little sucker was down in his boot and sure enough it crawls up and has another go----this time he's a wackin his leg, swerving and locked up all at the same time. He bails out and pulls of his boot and there is was-- dead this time.. Damn thing musta stung him at least twenty times. I still laugh everytime I remember that day...

Ever been swarmed by yellowjackets a horseback? I have. Lucky to be alive to tell the story........

ED

Grant,

I've been trying to contact you but don't have a good email address anymore. email me?

confusedly,

Jim Wright

I have grape vines on both sides of the house..so leave the yellow jackets alone, as they do a good job on both aphids and skeletonizers.

I actually think they are empathic. Many is the time Im working out in the shop, with them hanging around watching me work for a short while, then moving on. I think nice things about them and they get sorta friendly. I have a couple hummingbirds that do the same thing. And hummingbirds are Nasty bastards.

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism. As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

I always leave them alone. Once on a bicycle tour (Dalmac) I inhaled a YJ. While trying to spit the critter out as quick as I could, it stung me inside the mouth. Drinking from a water bottle after being stung is a real experience.

Wes S

How so?

I've got one here that comes looking for me when the feeder is empty. He keeps dive bombing me 'till I refill the feeder. When they go wizzing 2 in. past your head at 100mph, they get your attention.

I have a mountain cabin where we have lots of wasps. There is one black and yellow type that is about an inch and a half long, and just NASTY looking. But lots of several types of wasps, yellow jackets included.

I bought wasp traps. They look like a plastic Mason jar with a black pyramid top, and a little yellow tent top over that. They hang up. I got mine at Ace.

They work the best with apple juice concentrate. That is, apple juice that is made from concentrate, but with about 3/4 the amount of water you would normally use. They aren't expensive, and these puppies work. They can be hung in unobtrusive places. In a day, I have gotten 40 in one trap. I have six of them, and will probably add another six next season.

BEWARE! Any time you have wasps, they like stuff in cans. As I said, apple juice will catch the most. They also like: (in order of preference) orange soda, strawberry soda, beer, root beer, and any citrus flavored drink.

We use "yellow jackets". They are yellow plastic cups that a person puts over their drink when they sit it down. Each person's name can be put on it. It usually only takes telling the person what it does for them to use it. For the thick skulled, getting a wasp in their mouth will do it, too.

I have seen the wasp traps in the gallon size, too. For a handyman, they would not be hard to make. The bait is the key.

Leave them sit for a couple of days so all the wasps in the trap are dead. I made the mistake of dumping one in a toilet one time, and two live ones (angry ones) flew out of the commode at me.

HTH

Steve

"Gunner" wrote

I have a couple hummingbirds that do the same thing. And

Hummingbirds are territorial, and they protect sources of food. The different species of hummers have different levels of pugnaciousness. The roufous is about the most feisty in North America. But all of them will try to dominate an area or a feeder.

They are attracted to red. Anything red. Yes, they do get used to a food source, and if you remove it or it's empty, they will come around and let you know.

I photograph hummers. If you stand still, you can put the feeder 6" from your face and snap close-ups. They are remarkably agile, and I have had them brush me, but never crash into me.

I have had this scenario in my mind:

Doctor: "Now how is it that this hummingbird became stuck in your forehead?"

Hummers aren't really nasty. They're all bluff. Except to another hummer.

Steve

Ever watch hummingbirds? Exceedingly territorial, very "macho". They fight each other at the drop of a hat. The big ones will chase the small ones away from the feeders just out of pure orneriness. Ive got multiple feeders and have watched a big male chase any other male plumb off the property if they are trying to feed at ANY of his feeders. I had to put feeders out at the other side of the house, just so other hummingbirds could feed. The flying time from feeder to feeder slowed him down some....

They migrate and every year they will come back. This is the first year in several that one particular one didnt make it back. Either he got a better offer or he died somewhere along the route. If you check the net for hummingbird life span..its all over the place, from 3-9 yrs according to a host of differing sites. Shrug.

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism. As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

Ive had one for the last 3 yrs..who I swear is an insomniac. I tend to work out in my shop (open bay) at night, and one particular one does Air Racing around the florescent shop lights as late as midnight. I originally thought it was a bat, the first time he did it..until he stopped off at one of the feeders. For over an hour at a time, he will do figure 8s around the length of the shop at full tilt boogie.

Ill be doing some intricate machining or futzing..and feel an odd breeze, and look up..and one will be 12" away from my face, watching what Im doing. They dont much like the oil smoke coming off the lathes though.

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism. As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

Ive had a hummingbird try to drink from my urine stream when I was taking a leak out in the backyard

Ill bet he was pissed....

Gunner

"I think this is because of your belief in biological Marxism. As a genetic communist you feel that noticing behavioural patterns relating to race would cause a conflict with your belief in biological Marxism." Big Pete, famous Usenet Racist

Hi Grant,

I'm having a BBQ in a couple of weeks and I also have wasps. Could you please send me a 28 pound Salmon to keep them away? Don't bother filleting it, I'll take care of that!

Thanks, Tom

My wife bought a fly trap to put up near our cabin. I heard it when the guy said the stuff smelled horrible, but NOOOOOOOOOOO. She bought one.

She failed to read the instructions, and cut the bag. Well, just a little duct will fix anything, right? NOOOOOOOOO

So, she hung the dripping bag UNDER the porch. I was gagging in fifteen minutes, but she either has a less developed sense of smell than I, or one of those "I'm right, and I'll prove it!" attitudes.

By the end of the day, she asked me to take it into the woods, which I did. Still, for about two weeks when the wind was right, it was as fragrant as an elk carcass. Finally she asked if I would go and take it a very long ways away.

I said I would only if she would promise not to buy any more.

If you have a stable, or some other rank smelling stuff, I guess they would work to lessen flies. Personally, a stable smells like a rose compared to these things. And one would have to weigh the benefits versus the stink.

Steve

Don't blame the product for lousy performance when the operator screwed up from the git-go. Handled properly, they're a bit smelly when you're near them, or the breeze is "just right", but generally not noticable otherwise. The fact that she cut the bag is not the fault of the trap - It's the fault of the idiot that didn't read *AND FOLLOW* the instructions on how to use it.

(Hint: Those things are *SUPPOSED* to stink like something dead. What do you think attracts the flies???)