# Yellow jackets hurt **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 13, 2016, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712 "2016-08-13T20:46:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/41 "2016-08-16T16:59:05Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > 1. All that said, they can still be beneficial insects, as they are voracious predators of other pests. I was once sitting outside with family, having eaten dinner out there, when a yellowjacket (I believe; might have been some other wasp) landed on the remains of my steak. I was done eating and figured leaving it alone was better than trying to wave it off and have an annoyed yellowjacket at the table so I just watched it. It used its mandibles to cut out a shallow strip of meat, walking backwards as it went and rolling it like a piece of sod or carpeting. Then it snipped the end and flew off with its meat roll for parts unknown leaving a neat rectangle missing. Was kind of neat to watch. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/42 "2016-08-16T17:24:50Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > I can’t help it - must post most awesome wasp video ever: > > You know they are a problem when you have to ask the military to take them out with a damn flamethrower. But if they’d waited until winter, the nest would have died off, and they’d have has a sweet hornet nest to show off! (Badass video!) ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/43 "2016-08-16T17:57:01Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Then you may appreciate this story. > > Earlier this summer, my wife was walking into our house when she was stung on the arm, with a horribly painful sting that left a truly ugly rash and welt. The welt lasted a couple of weeks, terribly painful and itchy. > > I knew this meant there was likely a wasp nest nearby, but I couldn’t find it at first. As it turns out, the nest was growing in our yard’s tree, on a branch hanging right over the sidewalk - it was hidden in the foliage so it was hard to see. I knew that it was starting to attack people walking on the sidewalk right in front of my house as being “too close”. > > Worse, they were white-faced (aka bald-faced) hornets. > > This wasn’t exactly the welcome mat I wanted for our place. 😃 So I resolved to kill the bastards. But I didn’t want to use poison, because of where the nest was located - right over the sidewalk. Our area has lots of little kids and pets, and I wasn’t sure if I could clean the poison up well enough. > > So I had to use the drowning method. I got a bucket of water, an old pillow case, and some bricks. I waited until nightfall, put on a lot of clothes and thick gloves, and bagged the nest, trapping the wasps inside (that was a nervous moment, when they started to buzz angrily), clipped the nest free of the tree, then dropped the bag and nest into the bucket with bricks on top. > > I was lucky: all went well, not a single sting. A couple of wasps escaped the trap. Interestingly, they must have sprayed the gloves with some sort of pheromone - the next day, I saw a wasp attacking one of the gloves I had tossed aside. > > The drowned nest was interesting; it had about a hundred wasps in it, the queen (who was about one-third larger than the others), and nearly a hundred grubs: looked like the nest was set to double in size. I would never have the courage to do that! Well done. The only time I ever saw my pest control guy actually leap back from a nest was a Bald Faced hornets’ nest situated in a similar way to the one you tackled. It was huge and hanging over my driveway. I called him to take care of it. He shared the following Interesting Facts About Bald Faced Hornets: [ul] [li]They have some kind of infrared sense, because they target the softest, warmest parts of your body to attack. They go for the back of the knees, inside of the elbows, neck and groin.[/li] [li]They’re meat eaters and the way they attack you is to bite and hold on, then repeatedly sting you as they flop back and forth. You can get 8 or more stings from one Bald Faced hornet, and the bite site can easily become infected.[/li] [li]Do not use a flashlight when tackling a nest. They will follow the light right back to you.[/li] [li]They are much more aggressive than other hornets when provoked to sting. While yellow jackets will give off after about 100 feet, Bald Faced hornets will chase you for 400 feet or more.[/ul][/li]My pest control guy would not take on the nest during the day. Told me it would be gone in the morning. It was, and I was very glad. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/44 "2016-08-16T18:11:25Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I would never have the courage to do that! Well done. > > The only time I ever saw my pest control guy actually leap back from a nest was a Bald Faced hornets’ nest situated in a similar way to the one you tackled. It was huge and hanging over my driveway. I called him to take care of it. He shared the following Interesting Facts About Bald Faced Hornets: > > [ul] > [li]They have some kind of infrared sense, because they target the softest, warmest parts of your body to attack. They go for the back of the knees, inside of the elbows, neck and groin.[/li] > [li]They’re meat eaters and the way they attack you is to bite and hold on, then repeatedly sting you as they flop back and forth. You can get 8 or more stings from one Bald Faced hornet, and the bite site can easily become infected.[/li] > [li]Do not use a flashlight when tackling a nest. They will follow the light right back to you.[/li] > [li]They are much more aggressive than other hornets when provoked to sting. While yellow jackets will give off after about 100 feet, Bald Faced hornets will chase you for 400 feet or more.[/ul][/li]My pest control guy would not take on the nest during the day. Told me it would be gone in the morning. It was, and I was very glad. Stands to reason they’d be so aggressive. They are not true hornets - they’re really non-ground-dwelling yellow jackets. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/45 "2016-08-16T18:25:54Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I would never have the courage to do that! Well done. > > The only time I ever saw my pest control guy actually leap back from a nest was a Bald Faced hornets’ nest situated in a similar way to the one you tackled. It was huge and hanging over my driveway. I called him to take care of it. He shared the following Interesting Facts About Bald Faced Hornets: > > [ul] > [li]They have some kind of infrared sense, because they target the softest, warmest parts of your body to attack. They go for the back of the knees, inside of the elbows, neck and groin.[/li] > [li]They’re meat eaters and the way they attack you is to bite and hold on, then repeatedly sting you as they flop back and forth. You can get 8 or more stings from one Bald Faced hornet, and the bite site can easily become infected.[/li] > [li]Do not use a flashlight when tackling a nest. They will follow the light right back to you.[/li] > [li]They are much more aggressive than other hornets when provoked to sting. While yellow jackets will give off after about 100 feet, Bald Faced hornets will chase you for 400 feet or more.[/ul][/li]My pest control guy would not take on the nest during the day. Told me it would be gone in the morning. It was, and I was very glad. I made sure to do it at night, when they were less active, and fortunately there was a nearby street-light. A trick I heard was of covering a flashlight with red cellophane, allegedly it makes the light less attractive. Not sure I would want to experiment, though. 😃 Again, fortunately the nest was reasonably small. Any larger, I’d have hired an exterminator I think. They are too vicious to take many chances with. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/46 "2016-08-16T18:29:47Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Stands to reason they’d be so aggressive. They are not true hornets - they’re really non-ground-dwelling yellow jackets. I think I have to backtrack on this. I’ve been taught that the BFH’s are aerial yellowjackets for so long that I took it as gospel, but according to [this](http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/9/150159), the bald-faced hornets (_Dolichovespula sp._) share a most recent common ancestor with the true hornets (_Vespa sp._), not with the yellowjackets (_Vespula sp._). ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/47 "2016-08-16T18:35:36Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > I think I have to backtrack on this. I’ve been taught that the BFH’s are aerial yellowjackets for so long that I took it as gospel, but according to [this](http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/2/9/150159), the bald-faced hornets (_Dolichovespula sp._) share a most recent common ancestor with the true hornets (_Vespa sp._), not with the yellowjackets (_Vespula sp._). All I know is that they are a lot meatier, and much less likely to bother you at a picnic - as I think they are mostly carnivorous. I too thought they were basically very closely related to yellow jackets, and not a “true” hornet. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/48 "2016-08-16T18:42:55Z")
> [@Waltzes\_with\_Cacti](#): > > Next time you get stung, immediately put some dampened baking soda on the spot. It will allay much of the pain. When I was a kid, about 8 or 9, I was wearing shorts and walked through a yellow jacket nest. The little buggers got me all over my leg. My mother put a baking soda poultice on me. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/49 "2016-08-16T18:51:05Z")
This guy is a veterinarian, who runs the Vet Ranch channel where they take care of abandoned animals. He also runs the Demolition Ranch channel, where he blows stuff up for fun (he’s from Texas). But this channel is his personal channel where he shows us his ranch and his family in the south of Texas. In this channel, he was having “fun” killing wasps that had nested in his kids’ playhouse: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/wSdM1syogog/maxresdefault.jpg "Risking It") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSdM1syogog) ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/50 "2016-08-16T19:16:46Z")
[quote=“Rick\_Kitchen, post:49, topic:762712”] This guy is a veterinarian, who runs the Vet Ranch channel where they take care of abandoned animals. He also runs the Demolition Ranch channel, where he blows stuff up for fun (he’s from Texas). But this channel is his personal channel where he shows us his ranch and his family in the south of Texas. In this channel, he was having “fun” killing wasps that had nested in his kids’ playhouse: [/QUOTE] Wow, how many channels does that guy have? Definitely an entertaining dude though, I watch Demolition Ranch quite a lot. I got in a nest of yellow jackets when I was a kid, wasn’t fun, lots of stings. Also ran over a nest on a riding mower, I managed to get it stopped but they were swarming so bad I ran before I turned it off. I just let it sit until sundown, they were swarming and attacking the mower constantly. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/51 "2016-08-16T21:17:09Z")
I ran a push mower over a nest. I got stung in the butt and bolted inside immediately. Fortunately, that was the only sting I managed to get. And that one was quite enough. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/52 "2016-08-20T17:50:37Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > it might be dependent on which specific species, but the yellowjackets we have in Michigan are paper wasps, and tend to build their nests in or on wood structures. my building has wood facings and I’ve hosed down a couple of nascent yellowjacket nests with “insta-seizure” hornet and wasp spray. > > seriously, these things are _dicks._ > > **ETA:** apparently the yellowjackets which build paper nests are German Wasps. So that’s what I have by me. the ground-nesters are other species. Yeah paper wasps are stinkers. A few years back, they decided that a good place to build their nest was under the overhang right outside our back door. You didn’t even have to disturb the nest for them to attack; they are very aggressive. Fortunately, I was working for a major pest control company at the time and had access to some very effective anti-wasp products. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/53 "2016-08-20T20:39:43Z")
> [@NeonMadman](#): > > Yeah paper wasps are stinkers. A few years back, they decided that a good place to build their nest was under the overhang right outside our back door. You didn’t even have to disturb the nest for them to attack; they are very aggressive. Fortunately, I was working for a major pest control company at the time and had access to some very effective anti-wasp products. I’m actually impressed with the consumer grade stuff I got at the store. I gave a nest-in-progress one quick squirt, and the wasps building it were basically in convulsions within a few seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shinna_Minna_Ma)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/54 "2016-08-23T09:10:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > No, I’m pretty sure it’s urine that helps. Now, get back here. Well, stay still and it won’t splash in your face. Urine for bee stings? I thought urine is for jellyfish stings. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712/55 "2016-08-23T10:54:57Z")
> [@Shinna\_Minna\_Ma](#): > > Urine for bee stings? I thought urine is for jellyfish stings. Mayonnaise for jellyfish stings. Rub peanut butter into chewing gum caught in your hair. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jackets-hurt/762712.md?page=2)