Bees! - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Johnhef · #1 07-10-2005, 01:49 PM

Yellowjackets to be specific. I hate bees.

Here's the deal, I went out this morning to get started on the A/C on the 300E. I noticed a yellowjacket crawl under the hood on the 300CD project I've got, so I opened the hood, and saw the nest. It was about the size of my hand. I hate bees. No problem, shot a few of them with brake clean, it wasn't really doing the best job so I went inside and got the wasp/hornet killer. I soaked the nest like it said and killed about 15-20 of the little bastards. I still couldnt start on the 300E (parked parallel to the 300CD) beacuse there were still 5 or 6 of them flying around, and call me paranoid, but I wasn't about to work with them flying that close to me. Did I mention I hate bees?

So I go inside and come back out after a few hours and holy crap there has got to be 50 of the suckers flying crazily all over the g.d. place! I can't get to any of the cars in the driveway, and they're swarming round the roof line of my house and front porch as well! I hate bees!!!

Is it best to wait untill the evening when their activity dies down a little and try to get rid of the nest from the car? I don't quite have a fear of bees but I sure as hell don't wish to be stung by that many of them. I've wandered into my fair share of wasp/yellowjacket/etc nests in the past, so luckily I don't have an allergy to them.

I'm about 1/4th the age of my father, and I've already been stung more in my lifetime than he has. I think I'm up somewhere in the 200-250 range.

I HATE BEES! help!

J. R. B. · #2 07-10-2005, 03:50 PM

Ok John cool off a bit. Do you have bees or yellow-jackets? I too am allergic to bee stings. It's a major PITA to ride my Harley this time of the year because of it. I have to carry the special bee sting kit with me on my bike. OTOH if you have yellow-jackets here's an easy way to get rid of them. Buy yourself a big bottle of Mountain Dew. Drink half of it and pour the other half in another container. Next cut the top off of the plastic bottle just where the diameter gets the biggest. You should have a cylinder and a funnel when you are done. Now invert the funnel and shove it into the cylinder making sure it is tight and pour the other half of the Mountain Dew into the homemade hornet trap. The little suckers love sugar and when they get into the thing they can't get out and drown.

Botnst · #3 07-10-2005, 08:02 PM

Qickly drink 2-3 bottles of expensive Scotch. Fill with gasoline and a tsp of detergent in each bottle. Shake to mix. Cram a rag into the top of each bottle. Light the rags and toss the bottles into the garage and under each car.

Problem solved.

J. R. B. · #4 07-10-2005, 09:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

Qickly drink 2-3 bottles of expensive Scotch. Fill with gasoline and a tsp of detergent in each bottle. Shake to mix. Cram a rag into the top of each bottle. Light the rags and toss the bottles into the garage and under each car.

Problem solved.

Scotch?

You have got to be kidding! A fire like that demands that you have bourbon. Preferably Wild Turkey. While he's at it he may as well get a few good sized hickory logs, butcher a hog, and invite the neighbors.

Robert W. Roe · #5 07-10-2005, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnhef

Yellowjackets to be specific. ....

I've got, so I opened the hood, and saw the nest. It was about the size of my hand. ....
Is it best to wait untill the evening when their activity dies down a little and try to get rid of the nest from the car? ...

I HATE BEES! help!

Man, I don't envy you.... Just a few thoughts on this... the nest will have a hole in the bottom which is where you want to aim the bee killer.
Make sure that the can is not near empty.
Somehow you will want to hit the opening of the nest, shooting vertically as much as possible.
Unfortunately this implies crawling under the car, or driving it up on ramps, to get access to the nest's hole from underneath.
The last nest I attacked in such a way was under my second floor deck, so getting under it wasn't a problem.
If the nest weren't under your hood you could set it on fire with a can with some gas in it or something held to the bottom of the nest.
You could always call a professional exterminator, but this might cost a hundred bux or so...
Another thought is to get a noose around the nest, tie it to something, and drive away, then come back with the wasp and hornet killer.
anyway, good luck John .... don't get stung

Robert W. Roe · #6 07-10-2005, 10:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Botnst

Qickly drink 2-3 bottles of expensive Scotch. Fill with gasoline and a tsp of detergent in each bottle. Shake to mix. Cram a rag into the top of each bottle. Light the rags and toss the bottles into the garage and under each car.

Problem solved.

Sounds like a classic Molotov cocktail, but I have a question:
What does the detergent do?

J. R. B. · #7 07-10-2005, 10:23 PM

If the nest was out in the open I think it would be kind of funny to get some liquid nitrogen (available from a semen tank) and pour it over the nest. Give the little ba$tards a shot of quick freeze.

Snibble · #8 07-10-2005, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

If the nest was out in the open I think it would be kind of funny to get some liquid nitrogen (available from a semen tank) and pour it over the nest. Give the little ba$tards a shot of quick freeze.

A semen tank? I am afraid to ask what that is or where one would find such a thing

BobK · #9 07-10-2005, 10:29 PM

Something funny I used on wasps a long time ago: Wet-Vac with the smaller bore hose (longer the better). Seems the tumbling in the ribs of the hose does them in. Did this to rescue the tractor one time.
Tried to kill all the critters in a nest the size of a small melon one time. Dead of winter out at the farm. thing was up in a tree. We figured with cold weather they would not fly. Knocked it on the ground, no problem. Drench it with gasoline, no problem(not enough gas it would seem). Light the darn thing-problem. Warmed air around hive let them fly. They all died eventually, but it did get a bit exciting.
I like to use the cheap yellow can of brake cleaner that AutoZoo sells for killing the little stingers. I'm somewhat alergic (not as bad as JRB-that's no fun, mate), so I take a pretty agressive stance against them. Killing one early in season is same aas killing ten later on in hte year.

Johnhef · #10 07-10-2005, 10:41 PM

Well 8 hours after I first sprayed the nest, the problem was solved. The activity finaly died down to where I could get within two feet and soak the nest. It was a little awkward trying to get to it. The nest was located up under the overhang on a W123 where the battery would be and semi-tilted backward toward the car. I managed to soak the nest much better this time and pick it off the car, set it in the driveway, then burn baby burn

So much more gratifying this way

I was wrong earlier, these were a type of wasps as I understand, although they had the black and yellow bands on their abdomen.

The reason why I hate bees so much, not only due to the amount of times I've been stung but, this past winter in my new house, wasps and some yellow jackets invaded my room over the course of a month or two- and my room is not very big. I finally figured out they had to have been coming in through the baseboard heater where the pipe comes through the wall. Then one day, they were gone, kinda strange. I figure I need to track the point of entry down for sure or they will be back again this winter. What irritated me was they were only in my room with the exception of finding one in the upstairs bathroom and two downstairs in the kitchen.

J. R. B. · #11 07-10-2005, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Snibble

A semen tank? I am afraid to ask what that is or where one would find such a thing

It's a tank that holds ampules of bull semen in liquid nitrogen. The semen is taken out and slow thawed (so as not to kill the semen) and used to artificially inseminate cows. To find one look for a guy that breeds cows.

I would assume that human sperm banks probably store it the same way. Us old farm boys used liquid nitrogen to get rid of plantars warts. We would dip a Q-Tip in liquid nitrogen and rub it on the wart to freeze it and kill it. Why pay a doctor when you could do it yourself.

Robert W. Roe · #12 07-11-2005, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J. R. B.

It's a tank that holds ampules of bull semen in liquid nitrogen. The semen is taken out and slow thawed (so as not to kill the semen) and used to artificially inseminate cows. To find one look for a guy that breeds cows.

I would assume that human sperm banks probably store it the same way. Us old farm boys used liquid nitrogen to get rid of plantars warts. We would dip a Q-Tip in liquid nitrogen and rub it on the wart to freeze it and kill it. Why pay a doctor when you could do it yourself.

Man, my grandfather never had liquid nitrogen on his farm

H2O2 · #13 07-11-2005, 01:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Johnhef

I was wrong earlier, these were a type of wasps as I understand, although they had the black and yellow bands on their abdomen.

I'll bet they're paper wasps . These little f@#kers will set up shop under and in anything around these parts, and are particularly enamored with our eaves and assortment of dead vehicles--nasty sting too.

Botnst · #14 07-11-2005, 08:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by H2O2

I'll bet they're paper wasps . These little f@#kers will set up shop under and in anything around these parts, and are particularly enamored with our eaves and assortment of dead vehicles--nasty sting too.

There are two types of hymenopterans that folks call 'yellow-jackets". Paperwasps nest above ground in nests that are single-shelved. The wasps are about 3/4 inch to 1 inch long. They are banded with black and yrllow. Sometimes the colors fade so the banding is not bright. They are very slender for their length. When excited and just before they attack, they will walk agitatedly about the nest with their wings outstretched and vibrating. When they're calm, they move more slowly and keep their wings folded. The nest usually has a half-dozen to 20 insects. It starts with a queen and then her brood population expands until frost.

The other wasp called a yellow-jacket is also called a ground hornet (hornets are wasps, too). They billed assymetrical, multi-tiered paper nests underground. They like rotted roots or stumps or boards that have virtually disappeared, into which they dig. They are under a1/2 in in length and have some bristles on their abdomen. They are brightly colored with black and yellow bands. They are stout rather than slender.

Both kinds of wasps are omnivores. They hunt other live insects and will also eat carrion. They love pear, apple and fig trees where they hunt-down and sting little boys for the pure joy of inflicting agony (that last is from painful memory).

Add the detergent to make the gasoline very viscuous. It spashes less and sticks to the target.

boneheaddoctor · #15 07-11-2005, 08:13 AM

Bees activity does subside at night....and thats a better time than mid afternoon to tick them off.

I used to have a major alergy to wasp venum (Yellow jackets are wasps not bees) Have been to emergency room 4 times as I had SEVERE reaction.

Went through years of shots to get over that...

The ones swarming and ticked were the ones away from the nest when you sprayed it....another good reason to wait till night if you are able.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
Angry Bees	Kuan	Off-Topic Discussion	12	06-19-2005 10:50 AM
darn it!	Snibble	Off-Topic Discussion	10	04-18-2002 03:11 PM