By Staff
The other day I was rummaging around in a debris pile looking for landscaping rocks and stirred up an underground yellowjacket nest. It's amazing how fast an old geezer can leg it out when sufficiently motivated. I even surprised myself. The pain subsided in a day or so but now the stings itch like crazy. Everyone has great respect for wasp type bugs but few of us know which of the 18 or so species of them here in the Midwest are the good, the bad and the downright ugly. Bee? Hornet? Wasp? Yellowjacket? We just lump them all in the ugly category, sometimes undeservingly. Some folks also freak out at the mere sight of anything that resembles a bee or wasp; to the point their outdoor life is literally ruined. Unless you're one of the few that have severe allergic reaction to the venom this is totally irrational and some knowledge may help.
I don't have the space to detail all the bee/wasp species and their look-alikes but there's little to fear from a single insect. They may show an interest in your deodorant, perfume, sweat or the sandwich in your hand but they won't sting you unless they are handled, insufficiently swatted or otherwise fear for their lives. The worst thing you can do is flail wildly at them. Bumble bees and their look-alike, borer bees, almost never sting unless you actually come in contact and compress them. The same goes for the large, loner wasp species that don't live in colonies such as cicada killer wasps, giant wasps and mud daubers. These are big, up to an inch or more long, with the classic wasp shape. They look imposing but are very benign. Honey bees are also very tolerant unless you mess with their hive. You can tell a honey bee from the more aggressive yellowjacket by the honey bee's furry appearance. Yellowjackets are smooth. A bee's barbed stinger stays in you and the bee dies. Wasps and hornets retain their stinger to fight another day.
That brings us to the more fearsome members of the stinging gang, paper wasps, bald faced hornets and the meanest of them all, yellowjackets. They all build paper nests made of chewed wood fiber. These nests may be in trees, bushes, on the sides or within the walls of structures and, in the case of ground nesting yellowjackets, underground. It helps to understand these guy's psyche and life habits. Like honey bees, they live in colonies with a structured society. The adults eat sweets, as in fruit, nectar, soda pop, beer and Kool-Aid. The larvae back at the nest are fed protein from chewed up caterpillars and other insects, ham sandwiches and hot dogs. Wasps find just about everything at our tail gate party very delectable either for themselves or the kids back home. Even so, they rarely sting here unless their well being is compromised. It's only when we muck with their nest, inadvertently or intentionally, that they take serious exception. Also beware of areas with ripe fruit on the ground. They may lay claim to this bonanza and defend it vigorously.
Today's wasp and hornet aerosol sprays are outstanding in exacting revenge on problem nests. Spray nests at night, early morning or late evening when everyone is home and let it soak a day or so before returning. Most brands shoot a stream about 20-feet. However, it's more than can be asked of any chemical to instantly subdue an entire colony of warriors. Manufacturers have two common ways to keep the wasps at bay while the insecticide does its thing. One coats the sprayed area with a layer of foam. The wasps eventually paddle their way up through the foam but it takes a few seconds, long enough for you to hose down the nest and make your getaway. I've also found those that do get through the foam and take wing don't have much enthusiasm left for a fight but don't count on that. The other method employs a freezing agent (beware, the freezing agent also kills plants). Simply yell authoritatively, "Yard police! Everybody freeze!" and hose 'em down. They stop dead in their tracks. Carpe diem.