[AT] OT-Ground bees

[szabelski at wildblue.net]

Mike,

You’ve gotten several methods that will work. A couple of more that you can consider are:

Pouring a mixture of ammonia and bleach down the hole. This produces a poisonous gas that you don’t want to breath.

Strap a propane cylinder to a stick and after lighting it, place it at the nest opening and let it burn for a while. The heat will do the job if 5he nest isn’t too deep.

Whichever method you do, do it at night when they don’t fly. But be careful since they will crawl out of the nest, and if you happen to be holding a flashlight, they will crawl towards it. I’ve been stung at night by bees that crawled up my pants leg and got me good in the stomach. What I’ve learned to do is place a halogen light on the ground and let it get hot. Then if one crawls towards the light they get fried on the hot surface of the light. The light also helps with seeing what you’re doing.

When you’re done, dig up the nest and make sure there aren’t any survivors. You’d  be surprised on how big some nests can be, and how there constructed. Also, leaving the nest essentially intact can lead to a new family moving into the hole. You want to make sure the hole is filled in. Again, do this at night unless you’re sure you got them all, then you can do it during the day. 

Carl


----- Original Message -----
From: Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com>
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Thu, 20 Aug 2020 21:55:27 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: [AT] OT-Ground bees

Hi all, a little slow here lately so I was wondering if any of you have
a sure fire way to rid yourself of ground bees, yellow jackets. We're
having a dry summer and that seems to have made them explode. A friendly
neighborhood skunk or opossum cleared out 3 for me, but I am battling 2
more without much success. One is along the driveway a long ways from
the house, so all options are on the table for that one. I discovered it
after my wife  had trimmed an elm branch and was getting ready to drag
it away. I saw them swarming, but she didn't notice. I told her back
back up slowly but steadily and hop back into the truck. The other one
is under a  Boxwood shrub right next to the garage, I've sprayed it with
poison (Bifenthrin) but they won't die. Any tips or advise would be
appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike M

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