Yellow jackets getting hinkey ! (Kalispell: house, fence, floor)

[rickers]

Those peskey wasps are getting real hinkey real early this year ! I just had to remove the housing on my dish anteaea yesterday, what fun that was. I noticed a bunch of yellow jackets going in and out and you know what that means ! A nest. So I'm up on a ladder picking this huge nest full of nasties out of the dish housing and the buggers are buzzing all over me and I didn't even get stung once. Then later I stepped on one in my kitchen floor and wham, right between the tootsies. I can't remember the last time I saw a honey bee !

[Debee]

Originally Posted by rickers

Those peskey wasps are getting real hinkey real early this year ! I just had to remove the housing on my dish anteaea yesterday, what fun that was. I noticed a bunch of yellow jackets going in and out and you know what that means ! A nest. So I'm up on a ladder picking this huge nest full of nasties out of the dish housing and the buggers are buzzing all over me and I didn't even get stung once. Then later I stepped on one in my kitchen floor and wham, right between the tootsies. I can't remember the last time I saw a honey bee !

Ouch, between the toes? We had the same thing! Lost our signal even.Hubby climbed up and sprayed all around it.They are terrible this year ive got stung three times already ,the first time in 15 years.

[Where'sMyCountry]

Is this normal? (I'm in Kalispell right now.) I've never seen such a thing. As soon as I step outside, they are everywhere around me. They swarm my truck. How long does this last? Bugs are always attracted to me and stinging ones freak me out. I got stung recently and wow! did that hurt....pain for several hours and then severe swelling and itching for a week.

[jimj]

No, this is not normal for this area. I think it is due to lack of water, they are going anywhere trying to find it. If you get stung again try some benadryl antihystimine to reduce the effects.

[rickers]

Take some plastic drinking water bottles (or soda bottles) and cut the top off and invert it into the top of the bottle making a trap. tape the inverted top in place and put some coke in it, sugar water or honey water works also. Place traps away from where you walk or sit in the yard. These will fill up with yellow jackets very fast. It also helps to seek and destroy the nests. We made the mistake of not taping the tops on and when we placed them on our porch one tipped over and the sugar water soaked into the wood. Big mistake, it's been a few days and they are still swarming all over our porch ! I use these traps a lot because I have a pile of rocks and a wood stack that there has to be some nests in. I have been building a nice fence and these wasps are attracted to vibrations such as saws and such. I was being bothered by them while using a saw outside and I discovered a nest in the frame of my mitre saw ! Getting them out of my dish antenna was a bit Harrie standing on a tall ladder while picking out the nest ! My wife thinks the fires may be driving them out of the woods and into our yards.

[ElkHunter]

I'm not in Montana, but only about 10 miles from the state line.

We have never, ever, had a problem with wasps. But this year, they are everywhere. I can't set on my deck in a lawn chair because they are about. I've taken my power washer and blasted all of the hives I can find and I still have thousands of them.

What's up with this year? Is it me, or are they out for revenge? haha

[brokencrayola]

We are right at the border of Idaho and Montana and the bees (especially the yellow jackts) are HORRIBLE! My husband has been stung 4 times in the past few weeks and one son stung on the lip. They are everywhere. I love the post about with the traps you can make yourself and plan on doing that. The bees slow down and stay on their nests at night. Go out at dusk with a good quality long spraying yellow jacket spray and just hammer them. That helps a lot. We had a huge nest close to our house and last week my husband went out at dusk and sprayed them. When he came back in the house he said it sounded like it was raining because so many fell and hit the ground once sprayed.

[rickers]

Yellow jackets are canibalistic ! They carry off pieces of thier dead to eat.