Last week I discovered a nest of Yellow Jackets in my side yard as I was trimming one of my trees. The hornets were in a "craw-dad" hole in the ground, and they were coming and going as if I wasn't a concern to them (which is good). I showed the nest to a couple of friends, both were concerned, but the hornets were not aggressive at all. As I later found out, they can be very aggressive if disturbed.

Yesterday evening I discovered a second nest, in a similar hole in the back yard, only after I ran over it with the lawn mower. Yikes!!!! I was immediately swarmed and repeatedly stung as I ran as fast as I could, swatting and jumping to try and get away (I've never moved that fast in my life). I ran into the house, then to the bathroom where I planned on jumping in the shower, but I was too busy swatting and killing the remaining hornets that were all over me still stinging away. Luckily, my clothing protected me somewhat, it could have been worse (hole-y jeans and long sleeve shirt). It gave me a new understanding of the phrase, "They were steppin' and fetchin', like their arse was on fire and their heads were catchin'." I'm sure that I looked like that as I ran, swinging, swatting, jumping and cussing.

After killing the remaining hornets, I was completely exhausted, so I sat down for a minute to catch my breath. I counted 14 stings all over my body, and about 20 dead hornets on the bathroom floor. The back of my head, nose, elbows, one hand, wrist, knees and bottom, all had some pretty painful stings (yep, holes in the jeans seat too).

All is fairly well this morning, just a bunch of red, swollen spots, my nose looks even funnier than usual, but the pain is almost all gone and luckily I wasn't allergic. I have had many single stings in my life, but never a bunch of times at once like this.

So, just a warning for everyone to keep a look out for these Yellow Jacket hornets that can nest in the ground. I have lived in the same house for about 14 years and have never had hornets before. As much as I hate to, they will have to be killed as soon as I get to the store and buy some stuff that will do the job. I researched on the net last night, and it seems best to wait until after dark to apply the poison, as the hornets will all be in the nest, and they can't see well at night, so the chances of being stung will be the lowest possible.

Just so you will know, these are the exact same hornets that will be on your soda, or food at picnics and cookouts outdoors, and they look like small bees, yellow and black. They aren't aggressive, and usually won't sting unless defending the nest, or if they are roughly handled. Those people who freak-out and start swatting because they are scared, will be more likely to be stung, or cause others to be stung. Once one hornet is bothered, they give off a chemical which causes all other hornets in the area to attack. So DON"T SWAT AT THEM, or otherwise disturb them, and they won't hurt you.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

WOW Thats a scary one. the kind of thing you see on TV but never experience in person,Thank God. Hope your OK.
----Danny,

Good story shimmilou, I'll be sure and watch out for Yellow Jackets. Glad that you are alright.

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

You are fortunate. In my youth a friend and I were hunting and he disturbed a yellowjacket nest as we were going thru the woods. They swarmed him like bees on honey, but didn't touch me even though I was right next to him. I waited to see which way he ran and I went the opposite direction...

Here is a quick and inexpensive way to rid yourself of these pests. It works for fire ants but they don't have wings either. Take a 4ft. metal pole at least 1 inch in diameter. Cover the entrance to the nest and tap it into the ground. Pour an appropriate amount of flammable liquid (about a 1/2 cup) into the pole. Ignite it and step away. It will suck out all the air in the nest and they will suffocate. (unless there's more than one hole) In that case wear a bee suit....

Thanks guys, I'm fine. I found out that this type of hornet can sting more than once, and it is only a really bad sting if the stinger is ripped from the hornet and lodged into one's skin, where it stays and continues to pump in the poison. I only had one stinger stuck to me that I saw, and I removed it immediately, but it was one of the worst stings (of course this one is just below my rear on my leg.) Check YouTube, there are some great videos showing how Yellow Jackets go from being docile, to attacking when disturbed. This one is pretty much the view that I had briefly, until the first one stung me right on the nose. But as I was running, I heard it just like it sounds in the video, they were everywhere, I couldn't swat fast enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diFK0Psxfq4

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Sorry for your experience. Hope your better today. They can pack a wallop....

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The blues ain't nothin but a good man feelin bad.

fire doesn,t work. Been there done that. Get wasp killer made for ground wasps (Powder) wait till evening when there all in there and not active and spray it in the hole. Good luck

+1 tbazzone,

I checked a few exterminator sites that gave the same advice. Start at night with a fast acting spray-in, gas poison down the hole, then add the longer lasting powder around the upper part of the hole for any remaining/returning hornets.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

I have a powder I got from and exterminator and it work great. If it ever stops raining I,ll get the name of it.

Scary moment for you shimmilou eh, hope you manage to get rid of them ok

I grew up near the lake so we had lots of wildlife including yeller-jackets. When they would get after us we would run for the water. They will wait for you to surface so you have to swim down and over before you come up, then be ready to dive again. We would wait until sun down and gas them. I'm talking about pouring a few gallons down and making a gas trail to set on fire. We were out in the country so we could blow them up if we wanted to. Other methods are probably a lot safer.

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My ability to spell is in direct proportion to the amount of coffee I've had.

We had a similar experience with yellow jackets. My daughter then a teenager ran the lawn mower over the top of a hole and the yellow jackets swarmed her. She had previously had a school teacher that had told the class, "If you are ever swarmed by those things don't run but stand still" about the dumbest advice ever. She ended up at the emergency room with dozens of stings. I was told that the yellow jackets always have a hole with two entrances and you need to be careful that they don't get you from behind. We got rid of them by pouring a couple of gallons of gasolene down the hole after dark when it was cool. Hope you are feeling better soon.

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OK, I'll hum a little bit, got it now?

I live in a neighbourhood built in the 1960's and there is plenty of plants around, wich also means that there is plenty of the yellow buggers around too. I am becoming a champion in hunting hornets and bees in a glass and releashing them, well the bees anyway (bees around here are harmless except if you attack their hives).

Good luck getting rid of that menace, shimmilou.

P.S. That thing with gasoline made my wallett hurt, maybe because gasoline is so expensive where I live.

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Deyr fé
Deyja frændr
Deyr sjálfr ið sama
En orðstír
Deyr aldregi
Hveim er sér góðan getr

My cousin got the fright of her life once when a wasp got into a can of soft drink her son had and it stung his mouth when he took a sip.As it turned out he was highly allergic and went into shock almost immediately.Luckily she's a nurse and knew what to do while they were rushing him to hospital.After that they had to take an Epi pen with them everywhere they went until he was well into his teens.BTW when you give your kids drinks in the summer if you use cans give them a straw in case a wasp gets inside the can or use clear plastic bottles.To keep wasps and bees from coming into your house in the summer tie a piece of string around and inflated brown paper bag and hang it in your doorway about 1' from the top.Wasps will think that it's the nest of another swarm and keep away and bees will avoid a wasp's nest at all costs anyway.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

Don,t mess with gas. Very bad things can happen