OUCH!!! WHAT BIT ME???!!!

[oxankle]

This place has chain link fence on two sides, horse wire on the other two.  Over the years trees have grown up beside and in some cases into the fences, so I have been cutting trees and cleaning up the fence rows.

This afternoon I kicked up a den of some kind of small ground-dwelling bee and one of them got me right on the nose.  Still aches.  They were not bumble bees, unless they are the smallest bumble bee I've ever seen-----About the size of a sweat bee or perhaps even a bit smaller, but vicious.  Not honeybees; I kept bees for years and know them well--and I've only seen one colony nest in the ground, a meter box.

It was cold, too; barely 60 degrees, colder than bees like to fly when there is no honeyflow on.  

Anyone have an opinion?  What kind of small, stinging bee nests in the ground?

[motdaugrnds]

They sound like the "ground bees" I've run across here. (Some people call them yellow jackets.) What I do when stung is take a couple of benadryl and wait until dusk to find where they're going in for the night. Then pour a couple of tablespoons of gasoline in that hole and cover it with something. Entire hive is gone/dead by morning. (I dug one up and discovered 7 HUGE hives all attached together in that part of the ground.)

[paquebot]

That would probably be the native yellow jackets, not the larger German type. Native ones are smaller and almost always nest underground. They are rather protective of their nests and 60ºF won't slow them down. Next time, find some common plantain and rub a leaf over the sting.

Martin

[Deleted]

Yelp Yellow Jackets. Every so often they get me good.

Rockpile

[oxankle]

Fellows; wnhat I call a yellow jacket is shaped like a wasp, with a long and thin abdomen. These buggers were shaped like a sweat bee, almost like pint-sized honeybees. Is this what you call a yellowjacket in your neck of the woods?

I've a lot to learn here. I know how to kill bumble bees, but I've never encountered these little rascals. To top it off, they were in thick grass along the fence line, nearly knee high. No way I'll find that nest without stirring them up again.

[paquebot]

What is called a yellowjacket here is the same as a yellowjacket anywhere else. The scientific namw for the native one is Vespula maculifrons and found nationwide.

Martin

[copperkid3]

Let's try and get to the bottom of this right now.

Did they look like this? (see link) www.mindenpictures.com/search/preview/common-yellow-jacket-wasp-vespula-maculifrons/0_80005396.html

If they did, then they are what Martin is referring to; also known as the Eastern Yellow Jacket. Since we've mentioned

eastern, there also is one known as the western as well. Vespula pennsylvanica and they are scattered across much of the

U.S. as well as Canada. However, the list doesn't end there, as there are 15 MORE species of yellow jackets found in this country.

Take your pick....however, I'm still not convinced that what you've initially described are yellow jackets. If you could find another

and take its photo and then share it, we might be able to get a more positive id. Normally, yellow jackets are only around for the spring

and summer and the nest dies out come winter, but because you live in the south, it's possible for yellow jackets to live year round.

[oxankle]

If the yellow jackets you are used to live in the ground, then mine were probably yellow jackets, a variety I've never seen before. The yellow jackets I grew up with have a longer abdomem and compare to the picture in the link as would a thoroughbred to a clydesdale.

If he cold has not already killed them (and why would it if they live in the ground?) I am still not going to get a picture. Those fellows are hostile and will not willingly pose.

[paquebot]

The native yellowjackets are more protective of their nests than the German species. As with all in that family, the workers can not survive a hard frost. The queens will find a protected area and hibernate. They survive the winter and begin a new colony the following year. Just as with bees, all workers in a colony are sisters.

Martin

[oxankle]

Martin; if that queen tried to hibernate where I stepped on the colony she will be mighty wet and cold by now.

Got my delicata squash, but BC was out of the Japanese squash. I'll be content with what I have this spring. Friend found Copra for me for $1.75 per package at Superseeds.com. Shipping was reasonable, cheap if I'd ordered anything else.

Sun is shining but it is damp and the feeling is colder'n a witch's kiss. Pure mud where the dirtwork man threw up a terrace for me.

[paquebot]

If there had been a frost, or even some cold nights, the queen and other fertile females would not have been there. Only the workers would still be there until frost kills them or they atarve. That's why one only finds empty comb at this time of year. No eggs to be laid and no young to attend to.

Martin

[Deleted]

Some yellow jackets are small.

[manygoatsnmore]

@misterg, those look like the yellow jackets I'm familiar with. Nasty tempered little buggers!

[oxankle]

Those must have been the midgets that nailed me. Short and fat, but they acted like the yellow jackets I know.

[oxankle]

Those must have been the midgets that nailed me. Short and fat, but they acted like the yellow jackets I know.

[Deleted]

Dec 3, 2015 21:37:27 GMT manygoatsnmore said:

@misterg , those look like the yellow jackets I'm familiar with. Nasty tempered little buggers!

Not, a friendly bunch of flying assassins.

[manygoatsnmore]

@misterg, flying assassins, yup, that about sums it up! Hate them.