Infestation

[Weliddryn]

Recently my front yard has, once again, become infested by a swarm of wasps. All day they fly a few inches above the grass, in circular patterns and never once have they stung someone. They seem to be attracted to my yard, in particular, as they do not fly/swarm anywhere else to our knowledge. We have no idea what kind of wasp they are [the purpose of this thread is to figure it out] or why they suddenly showed up.

Their abdomend is a reddish orange and their thorax/wings/etc are black. Doe anybody recognize them?

 

[Anthile]

As I mentioned before, I did entomology in school - but without a photo there is not much I could do. And even then I'm not proficient with the insect life of the USA so the chances are rather low.

 

[fullerene]

does http://bugguide.net/node/view/30321 look like them? That was the closest I could find that fit your description.

Otherwise: they may show up on http://www.cirrusimage.com/hymenoptera.htm

...sorry. I've no idea, and don't know anything about bugs.

 

[studebaker]

Sorry to hijack this thread, but you should catch a wasp, put it into hibernation in the freezer, take him out, tie a thread carefully around his abdomen and attach the thread to a stick longer than the string. When he wakes up, you can take your 'pet' for a 'flight' just like people 'walk' their dogs. The tricky part is getting the wasp off his leash when you are finished.

 

[Artifice Orisit]

Sounds like Hornets, if they're anything like what we get here, get a tennis racquet.

Sprays kill them eventually, but you'll have a very large, angry insect flying around until then, your better off just using a baseball bat (it's tricky, but possible) or a tennis racquet to catch them (they get stuck in the strings) and then spray them.

Don't rely on cloth based protection, it's useless.

 

[Xel]

Internets Advice on How to Get Rid of Bees
Step 1: Spray their nest when they are sleeping
Step 2: Run

 

[Android]

I live in an area that has a ton of bees, wasps, and hornets. I make weekly patrols around the property at night with a flashlight and spray the hives that are on the house our out-buildings. Spraying during the day doesn't do a ton of good as most of them survive and build elsewhere.. at night you catch em gathered and sleeping. I sometimes spray the neighbors places as well at night. I don't prefer to kill them.. most are harmless, and I've been stung so many times in my life that I barely feel a sting anyways... it's just that I can barely drink a beer on the deck without a dozen bees swarming me.

 

[Mars]

Step 3: Remember, get a friend to video tape it. no use getting a stung and not having a video to laugh about it later.

What my dad did when we had a few wasp nests starting up was pour petrol down the hole and light it. I haven't seen any around in the area for about 10 years, must've worked.

 

[Android]

What my dad did when we had a few wasp nests starting up was pour petrol down the hole and light it. I haven't seen any around in the area for about 10 years, must've worked.

It actually seems to work just as well to stuff a rag soaked in diesel down the hole with out lighting it, preferably at night.

 

[Decaf]

My dad had a wasp nest right outside his back door a while back and came up with what is one of the simplest and most effective solutions I've ever seen (go figure, he's an ISTP).

Take a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment and secure the hose end right next to the entrance to the wasp nest. Turn it on and laugh your ass off for the next week or so as wasps keep trying to get into their home, only get to sucked into the bag. The only difficult part is disposal. We were fortunate that the vacuum bag seals easily, but its best to wait until night.

 

[Inappropriate Behavior]

Take a friends worn (dirty) shirt, wrap it around the same friends shoe and then throw it at the nest (where gloves while doing this). Wait for the hornets to tire themselves out chasing your friend around then step on them. Worked for me until I ran out of friends.

 

[fullerene]

Take a vacuum cleaner with a hose attachment and secure the hose end right next to the entrance to the wasp nest. Turn it on and laugh your ass off for the next week or so as wasps keep trying to get into their home, only get to sucked into the bag.

lol! That is awesome.

 

[Weliddryn]

Wow, I've not a chance to reply to this thread yet. Thanks for the feedback.

It seems that the bees are eating Japanese beetle larvae in the ground, but they're also mostly harmless thus far (no stings, etc).

^^

 

[Claverhouse]

I can offer nothing to this discussion --- apart from feeling some sympathy with the bees --- other than to proffer the age-old question, as enunciated by Lucille in Arrested Development:


"Who'd want a bee as a gift ?"


Claverhouse

 

[Anthile]

Ohhh! I see Weliddryn's career opportunity here!