Worldwide Beekeeping
General Discussion => Any and Every Thing => Topic started by: Bakersdozen on November 25, 2019, 11:09:32 am
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Holy Cow! I took my first yellow jacket sting yesterday. It was warm enough that honey bees and yellow jackets were snooping around my smoker. I took a sting on my wedding ring finger right where, if I had my ring on, my ring would have been. It left the stinger, which I removed immediately. Wow! It hurt terribly the rest of the day and night. Today it's better, but I still feel it. Swelling is not bad. I feel really bad for anyone that stumbles onto a yellow jacket nest. Death to yellow jackets!!
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I agree B12. I hate those things. Sorry that happened to you.
PappyRick
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B13,
For such a little insect they pack a serious wallop. Some years ago, I was out coon hunting on mules with some friends. The dogs treed a coon up a cedar tree that happened to have a large yellow jacket nest in the ground at the base of the tree. We all dismounted and walked up to shine the tree. Suddenly YJs were everywhere, stinging hounds, people and mules. Mules were braying and kicking, hounds were running everywhere yelping and grown men were screaming like little girls on a rollar coaster. :)
Lot funnier now than then. :laugh:
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Nasty Things! And what is even More Not Funny is that they can sting repeatedly and bite repeatedly.
Sorry Baker :'(
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So, this is Day 3 since the sting. Swelling is down, but itching. It still hurts to wash my hands, but doesn't hurt constantly as it did before.
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Holy cats! After 3 days? You know, if a nonbeekeeper told me that I wouldn't believe them, but coming from you? After hearing this I've developed a great deal of respect for yellow jackets. Thanks, I think, ted
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A few of years back, Calif was suffering a drought longer than usual. Everything in our yard was soo crunchy. The yellow jackets were Awful! They hovered all over our drought ridden lawn. We didn't dare go outside in just flip flops.
Then the drought lifted and there were less yellow jackets, but still way to many for my liking.
THEN! One summer Jay birds nested in our yard and they ate every yellow jacket in sight, knocking down all nests from the high eaves, and dug around in all the crevises in our sheds. That was the first yellow jacket free summer I have ever had. And there have been a couple more summers like that. It was Great!
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Good to know, Jen! A lot of people don't like Blue Jays because they tend to bully their way around a bird feeder. I think they just became my new favorite bird.
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I've always liked the Jay birds. Stellar Jays are beautiful against the snow. But they are definitely arrogant!