5 wasp queens .. IN ONE NEST... holy cow!!!!

[Dar]

I was at the BBQ on Friday night and I happen to look up at my bathroom window and i see a bunch of wasps.. they seem to be going in a small hole between my soffit and my stone wall.. (my back wall is field stone that was pulled out of the fields over 150 years ago)

I called the exterminator and he unloaded 3 cans of spray in there and out pops 5 queens

... he said he has never seen that many queens in one nest... they were getting ready to split into separate nests

and then on the other side of the window.. I have bumble bees... gee I am lucky....

i am terrified of both of them...

anyone else have a nest with multiple queens?

 

[Chickengal505]

Quote:

 

[Whispering Winds]

No, but they are most wicked things I have ever messed with. Just took a nest out under our deck a couple of weeks ago after our little Daisy got stung on her lip. . .it makes me wonder what God was thinking when he created them and mosquitoes. What earthly good they are is still out as far as I am concerned.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
apparently wasps are beneficial to the environment. they eat problem insects that destroy crops

 

[fuzziebutt]

We had a mobile home, and we have built a new roof over the old one, and it extends over a porch and new room. We were being attacked by wasps when we came and went off the front porch. We called the exterminator, because we could really hate it for him if he got stung instead of us. He found 3 different nests in there. We couldn't see them, he had to spray all around, and in 3 places, they were attacking. The big, red nasty ones. They are gone now, and we don't even have any on the muscadines this year. Easier to pick without the threat of being stung!

 

[deerman]

few fact about wasp, bumble bees, yellow jackets, .nOT LIKE HONEY BEE which winter over, last hatch of the season ,before winter, lot of queens, and drone are hatch , they mate ,then the queen winter over ,all other die out. the new queens in the spring will start a new nest, all her young will be workers, and help grow the nest, until late fall then start all over with new batch of queens hatching.

So yes nothing strange this time of years to see alot of queens in a nest.

Honey bees live thru the winter ,by keeping their hive warm, reason they store honey.....

 

[deerman]

Oh only honey bee split their hives (swarms) all those other wasp and etc, DON'T SPLIT THEIR NEST...Will keep growing until late fall, when all worker die, after new queens hatch

 

[nop169]

This post brought to mind the following thought .... do most of you want a sanitized yard free from all insects? That seems to be the mindset i find locally and it disturbes me. We do not spray the wasps, hornet or yellow jackets unless they are positioned in such a way as to be a danger to DD or the critters... for several reasons.... first I do not like pesticide sprayed on my property due to possible long term exposure issues .... secondly - my neighbors spray enough & use enough yard granules that my honey bee hives were killed out within 4 years & after extensive examination by our local ag dept was determined to most likely be from insecticide. My neighbors on both sides are religious in using pesticide for a yard free from "pests".... thirdly.. on my property there is a balance achieved after the first 5 years... I have very few issues with garden pests that are serious due to the balance of predator/pest insects. Likewise at my barn, I have few flies from general hygene, purple martin colonies we cultivated and muscovy ducks free ranging. I no longer have issues with ticks, flies, japenese beetles or any other insect (except occaisional flea surges - thank God for gunieas).... they are here - just not in numbers enough to cause major damage.
I will say at times I am tempted to go armed with a can of wasp killer - such as last week when bushhogging & hit a yellow jacket nest! It was not fun & somewhat painful but after the pounding stings settled down and the emotion fled.... I realize I am content to allow the balance to continue.
Since determining to not use pesticides at all, we have had a return of frogs, lizards, worms, songbirds and yes insects. It took 5 years for a balance to be achieved & that balance has maintained for the last 10 years. Granted I do not get that "perfect" apple, occaisionally have to hand pick "potatoe bugs" and have cabbage & corn with a small amount of eaten on leaf or cobb...... but I hear crickets at night, watch the martins swooping during the day & little brown bats at night, turn over my soil to mounds of wriggling worms and have not used even sevin dust in a decade.
I confess I do use Vectra 3d on the dogs (but only once every 3 mos or so) but as it is a localized application on the dogs back I am resigned to this. I also use apple cider vinegar in their water. We use plantings of marigolds, nasturtuim and mint in the gardens and around the house. We use the ducks & gunieas for fire ant & flea, tick & fly control. This method works very well for us. Granted I still get stung occaisonally, get mosquito bit more often and bathe dogs every 2 to 4 weeks. But the tradeoff to me is priceless

 

[Stacykins]

Nod, most people are very scared of stinging insects. While the stings don't really hurt that much (I keep bees, stings are bound to happen!), it is the fear of the sting and the possibility of multiple stings that cause people to not like them. Most fears are irrational. Also, the possibility of allergic reactions through a sting might cause a lot of people worry. I know of a gentlemen down the road who, after years of beekeeping, suddenly developed an anaphalactic reaction and for his health, had to stop. Heck, once time I didn't realize my girls would be so angry the day I went gloves free, and they were stung up so severely I did need some steroids from a doctor in order to bring down the swelling.

 

[ChickenAlgebra]

I'm pretty nasty allergic to wasp stings, and the current youngest has had a anaphalactic reaction to a wasp sting. So we do spray for them, simply because no matter how much I'd prefer not and how much I dislike the chemicals, I like my kids more.