Yellow Jackets and Chainsaws

[BIGChrisNH]

The roof of my mouth did swell up for a day. The pain was pretty intense. I twist my beer tabs over the hole now.

Yeah that one had to hurt.

 

[SidecarFlip]

My wasp and hornet repellent is a can of non-chlorinated brake cleaner. I keep it handy at all times. You can zap them in mid air and it drops them dead in a millisecond. Great for nests too. Instant death. Love that stuff and it's dirt cheap.

 

[TradEddie]

It has been a bad year for yellow jackets here too. In and around my yard, I have gotten rid of 4 nests.

Just wait until the scourge of the Spotted Lanternfly hits you in a year or two. The Lanternflies themselves are disgusting and potentially devastating to important crops, but the damage they do to trees attracts all kinds of stinging insects to the sap oozing from the bark, or the "honeydew" excreted by the Lanternfy.

TE

 

[Sawset]

I wonder if those lantern flys will be like what most other bugs seem to be doing in this area. Tear into an area, then burn themselves out and into an equilibrium. I looked at the range for those, and am hoping our glorious arctic cold will keep them out or at least give them a hard time of it. There was one year where deer flys made any venture outside, especially in a wooded area, nearly impossible. Cold took them out, but all summer was a no go. My wife has natural mosquitoe and knat pheromones, so we can tell what's in the area by her first. No bug spray in any quantity kept those deer flys away. I told her it was her curly hair, but she wasn't buying it and probably didn't care at that point.

 

[Bushels20]

I found a ground yellow jacket nest a couple years ago while dragging felled trees on my property. I got stung 9 times and reacted badly. I went to urgent care and passed out at the front counter while trying to check in. I got a couple of epinephrine injections and an ambulance ride across the street to the ER. It was a close call and 10 more minutes waiting to head to urgent care wouldve been the end of me. About a month later, roughly a 100x30 foot black cloud of honey bee swarm transited overhead at my property where I was working by myself. My heart skipped a few beats but I was ok. I carry a stupid epi around with me now and have to be cautious this time of year when the wasps start to get aggressive.

Pay attention to your reaction when you get stung. You can become allergic at any point and the more encounters you have getting stung, the more likely you will become allergic.

I was cutting down my wife’s peonies in the garden 3-4 years ago and when cutting one of the bushes down for the season a yellow jacket nest was chopped up with the hedge trimmers. They got into my sweatshirt, gloves, up my jeans, everywhere.

I was stung a bunch, I couldn’t count them all. I was fearful of a bad reaction or simply shock from too many stings but ultimately, nothing happened. It was a scary afternoon; not to mention itchy and painful.

 

[Deets]

Cut a hollow tree down a few winters ago, limbed it, and started bucking into logs. Just happened to buck it in the right spot cuz there was a huge honeycomb in there. Pretty dang tasty when it’s cold, bout like a frozen dessert. Lol

 

[mrd1995]

Dropped an dead elm on a hive in the bush last Friday. Didn't find out until this Monday that is was there, a single wasp was there and man did it light me up! Two days later and my hand looks fine but is itchy...not allergic so not sure what that is all about

 

[Simonkenton]

A person's reactions to an allergy can change over time. You might not have been allergic to bee stings last year, but now, you may be getting allergic. And this sensitivity to bee stings will only get worse. Better get you a package of 25 mg Benadryl, and keep it in that kitchen cabinet.
Itchy hand for 2 days is a symptom of an allergic reaction.

Did you get any red welts or swelling on your hand, or elsewhere?

 

[mrd1995]

A person's reactions to an allergy can change over time. You might not have been allergic to bee stings last year, but now, you may be getting allergic. And this sensitivity to bee stings will only get worse. Better get you a package of 25 mg Benadryl, and keep it in that kitchen cabinet.
Itchy hand for 2 days is a symptom of an allergic reaction.

Thank you for the feed back I will do so... live in fruit country so we have bees and wasps everywhere you turn!

 

[hockeypuck]

I have been stung multiple times by yellow jackets. Ground nests mainly. Swelling and itchy skin for days. Best way I like to get rid of them is to shut the exit hole off with foaming wasp spray, then get a can of brake cleaner with a long red stem extension.. put it down through the foam into the opening and let it rip. Brake cleaner drops them dead instantly. Never seen anything like it. I then like to dig up the nest to see what I was dealing with. I am not a mean person, but those things bring out the worst in me.

 

[hockeypuck]

Dropped an dead elm on a hive in the bush last Friday. Didn't find out until this Monday that is was there, a single wasp was there and man did it light me up! Two days later and my hand looks fine but is itchy...not allergic so not sure what that is all about

My knee itched for 5 days. I went to walk in because the area was still warm, said I might have started a case of cellulitis. If it lasts that long and is still warm, red and itchy you might want to go to a local walkin.

 

[Sawset]

A person's reactions to an allergy can change over time. You might not have been allergic to bee stings last year, but now, you may be getting allergic. And this sensitivity to bee stings will only get worse. Better get you a package of 25 mg Benadryl, and keep it in that kitchen cabinet.
Itchy hand for 2 days is a symptom of an allergic reaction.

Did you get any red welts or swelling on your hand, or elsewhere?

My reaction has changed. I used to keep honeybees. I can remember being stung 80+ times extracting honey once. Just put my head down, take it, and get it done. No more. If I'm stung once, everything lymphatic swells, everything. Bees are done here.

 

[PaulOinMA]

Ugh. Stung three times on my face yesterday.

Was picking up kindling in the woods. The vernal pool was dry enough to walk on, so I pulled branches out the pond, too.

Was walking through the woods with branches from the pond and I noticed a stinging sensation on my chin below the left side of my lower lip. Brushed it away. Got me two more times on the left jowl. May have walked over a yellowjacket nest in the woods.

Kept trimming brush by the driveway for trash collection next week. Kept feeling my jaw and cheek. Swelled up enough after 20 minutes that I thought I should take an antihistamine.

Went to the bathroom and pulled out the box with assorted medicines. Started looking at cold, flu, and allergy boxes for ingredients. Cough suppressant. Fever reducer. Nasal decongestant. Don't we have an antihistamanine?

Ah. Allegra Allergy sample pack. Score! Antihistamine. Took a pill. It's past, well past, expiry date.

Went downstairs to have a salad for lunch. Nan yells down from working upstairs to see if I want to go for our lunchtime walk.

Nope. Not with my face swollen like this.

Have a salad, yogurt, and fruit.

My face is o.k. enough that I think we can go for a walk. Nan doesn't notice.

Tell her later in the afternoon. She wondered what I was doing making all the noise in the bathroom. I usually say if I'm going to clean the bathrooms. Also though it strange that I didn't want to go for a walk on a nice day.

Still swollen today. Not Dizzie Gillespie playing the trumpet puffy, but definitely pretty swollen.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Man, you guys getting stung in the mouth and face, that’s no good. Be careful and heal up

 

[Beer Belly]

I've been thru 2 Epidurals, and 16 Spine Injections........hurt a bit, was uncomfortable, but a Bee sting freakin hurts !

 

[bmoore3]

Got into Yellow Jackets yesterday while in the middle of felling a 15 inch dead white oak.. took off running through the woods. shirt, chaps flying.. Worst part is that I had to come back and finish the job! Carefully.

 

[BIGChrisNH]

Wow the stories keep coming! Sorry to hear all these but glad I’m not the only one

 

[TradEddie]

Me too, I was picking firewood from the stack last week when a paper wasp let loose multiple times on the back of my hand. Within an hour my hand had swelled up like am inflated rubber glove, it didn't hurt so much as felt like it was constantly under immense pressure, I couldn't sleep properly for two nights, even with painkillers, antihistamines and prescription steroid cream. That had barely subsided when a few days later, I went for a run, along a road, when something came out of the adjacent lawn and stung me. At first I assumed it was just grit from a passing truck but the blood and the pain soon said otherwise. This one just simply hurt like crazy for two days and I had a 6-inch bruise to show for it too. Last week probably doubled the total number of stings I've had in my entire life.

 

[fbelec]

jez you must have had a target on you

 

[planner steve]

Today I wanted to start moving some firewood from my storage area to a stack I keep closer to the house for easy access in the winter. Moved a few pieces and started to see the wasps between rounds. For some reason they think they can overwinter in my wood pile. Next cold morning they will meet their maker