Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: MagicValley on September 19, 2010, 04:11:29 pm

Title: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: MagicValley on September 19, 2010, 04:11:29 pm
There is a 3/4 inch hole in the top on a railroad tie that borders my garden.  These bees are constantly going in and out of the hole. 

This wild colony is about 45 yards from my hive at the back of the yard.

Any ideas on what kind of bee it is?  They seem to be either living underground, or in hollows that may be in the RR tie.
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(http://www.nemitz.net/images/bee003.jpg)
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: HomeBru on September 19, 2010, 04:26:26 pm
Not a bee, it's a wasp. Looks like a yellow-jacket.

J-
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: MagicValley on September 19, 2010, 04:49:31 pm
So is the best this to do, is to kill that colony?  What do you look for to know its a wasp?

They seem to have a very bee-like behavior.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Kathyp on September 19, 2010, 05:17:26 pm
kill themmmmm!!!!!!!!

get some of that 12 foot wasp spray, wait for night, soak the stuff into the entrance.  if you still see them the next day, kill them some more!
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AliciaH on September 19, 2010, 06:16:19 pm
 :lau:

Ya know, I'm not sure, but I think Kathy has an opinion on this......:)
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AllenF on September 19, 2010, 06:19:05 pm
Save the spray and wait until night and gas them.  Cheaper.   Just a cup of gas will work.  Or a bucket of soapy water also if you are worried about the gas.  Go out there and soak them good.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AllenF on September 19, 2010, 06:20:12 pm
And nobody here likes yellow jackets so it ok to kill them dead in anyway you feel good with.   
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AliciaH on September 19, 2010, 06:26:01 pm
We're in agreement.....kill 'em 'till their dead!

But out of curiosity, our club has a yellow jacket nest on display at the fair.  Never having dealt with one and now knowing how they get put together, which works better at reaching the internal brood sections of the nest?  Will the soapy water reach all the way through and drown/suffocate the brood?  Will a spray permeate the outer shell enough to kill the brood?  Do yellow jackets leave pheramones the way bees do and you'll have another nest there at some point anyway?  I know our paper wasps keep building in the same place, was just wondering if the yellow jackets would, too.

Thanks!
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AllenF on September 19, 2010, 06:38:35 pm
The soapy water soaks through and at least kills the adults.  They young will die without them.  You kill them at night so that all the yellow jackets are back in the nest.   Kill them all that way.  No more nest.  I have never seen yellow jackets build in the same place twice.  But I tend to just gas them.  It is a family tradition.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Shawn on September 19, 2010, 07:19:40 pm
I use the spray and I dont spare any for any wasp colony!
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Kathyp on September 19, 2010, 07:41:52 pm
i have an unfortunate history with them.  that's why my fields are not yet mowed.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: iddee on September 19, 2010, 07:57:32 pm
But they are so cute and cuddly. Couldn't you just kill them a little, and not a whole lot?  :?   :evil:
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AllenF on September 19, 2010, 08:02:49 pm
Is that like killing them slowly, with love of course. 
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: iddee on September 19, 2010, 08:09:42 pm
It's like the girl that is just a "little bit" pregnant. You just kill the YJ's a "little bit".

Sometimes a "little bit" is sufficient.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Bee Happy on September 19, 2010, 10:57:01 pm
"kill them some more"   - I can't help but agree.
I think one way to tell them from a bee, is that they usually look narrower, the very distinct yellow and black especially the face mask, I think most wasps have their abdomen spaced away from the thorax more than a bee.  The easiest way to tell is if you can coax the creature into stinging you twice, then you can conclude that it's not a beneficial insect and you should probably facilitate its conclusion.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: gguidester on September 19, 2010, 11:02:03 pm
Sevin dust around the entrance is one of the easiest.  They carry a dust right down where it needs to be without worrying about getting enough liquid to them. A couple of dustings and some patience should do it.  My 2 Cents.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: bulldog on September 19, 2010, 11:19:05 pm
burn 'em ! burn 'em all !! yellowjackets aren't good for anything except stinging people for absolutely no reason. but that is just my completely biased opinion on the subject.
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: HomeBru on September 20, 2010, 11:29:09 am
So is the best this to do, is to kill that colony?  What do you look for to know its a wasp?

They seem to have a very bee-like behavior.

Yep, they're attracted to sweets, they're a colonial organism, "act" quite a bit like bees, they're closely related.

Some differences include:

Bees tend to be fuzzy, wasps are smooth.
Bees have a blunt abdomen (tail) Wasps are more pointed.
Bees are more compact in body style, wasps are longer, some species have definite "waist"
Bees carry pollen, wasps don't.
Bees sting only once, wasps sting multiple times each.

And, as you can tell from the previous posts:
Beekeepers LOVE bees, Beekeepers (mostly) HATE wasps!
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: MagicValley on September 20, 2010, 12:19:20 pm
I was thinking about gasoline myself, actually.  So tonight I'll funnel in a 1/2 cup of gas, and use spackle to close the hole.  The fumes from the gas will kill them all and the spackle will keep the nest from being used again.  Ach du Liber, just like the old days at Auchwitz!

Thanks for all the fun advice!
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Scadsobees on September 20, 2010, 01:49:23 pm
The nice thing about YJ's is that they won't reuse the nest.  The not-so-nice thing about them is that they will find a new creative place next year.

Gas works great.  Some people advocate soaking with gas and then lighting it, but unless you are in the middle of a field, I'd say thats a big no-no!!   :-x

The weird thing about gas is that when I did that last year and then dug up the nest, all of the capped larvae were still alive but the adults were dead.  Dead either way, but I found that interesting.

Rick
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: winginit on September 20, 2010, 02:26:13 pm
I'm with Kathy. Had one get under my nightgown when I was four years old.

I wish I could find the nest near my beehive and kill it. They keep trying to get into the hive, so far to no avail. Also have some hummingbird feeders full of dead yellowjackets.

If you want to make beekeepers real happy, blow it to smithereens and film it. (But be safe of course, we would be most UNhappy if you got hurt.)
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: greenbtree on September 20, 2010, 04:39:50 pm
There is never a handy skunk around when you need one.  They will dig up and eat yellow jacket nests, adults, larva and all.  The same way they go after our bees...

I leave paper wasps alone as long as they leave me alone - I have a shed they love and I can usually go in there to get tools without them coming after me.  Although it is kinds of creepy watching all the adults turn their heads to watch my progress.  I leave them because the paper wasps eat a lot of flies.

Yellow jackets however...  They have to go.  They are just plain mean!  Especially this time of year.  My husband and new puppy just got all stung up the other day while on a walk.  He saved one of the offenders for me to I.D. luckily, so I could assure him that "my girls" were not to blame.

JC
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: Two Bees on September 22, 2010, 11:41:16 am
WHOA!!!  Hold on here!

What will the Georgia Tech student body think if we just go around killin' yellow jackets!   :-D
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: philinacoma on September 22, 2010, 08:09:15 pm
Save the spray and wait until night and gas them.  Cheaper.   Just a cup of gas will work.  Or a bucket of soapy water also if you are worried about the gas.  Go out there and soak them good.

Excuse my question but, when you say 'gas' do you 'gasoline' or an actual gas? If it is gasoline, then we don't stop at just a cap full.  :evil:  Use the whole jerry can!!!  :evil:
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: AllenF on September 22, 2010, 08:12:52 pm
Up here it's just gas.  But you can call it gasoline or petrol.   But that stuff cost too much to use the whole can now.   ;)
And with yellowjackets underground, just a little gas will work.   Fumes are denser than air. 
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: philinacoma on September 22, 2010, 08:15:03 pm
:oops: oops, I forgot the step where you light it.   :evil:  :evil:
(I hate them)
Title: Re: What Kind of Bee is this?
Post by: OzBuzz on September 23, 2010, 02:35:00 am
Yellow Jackets or, here in Australia, we call European Wasps are the most foul creature ever given wings! they look evil! they fly like they're evil - they're just plain evil! kill em! kill em all! and i'm with Phil! a whole can and then light it! i can't begin to describe how much i dislike these insects! and i have never been stung by one! they're just evil!