Let me start with this: "Eeeeeyikes!!"

Okay. Now that's out of the system.

Yesterday, The Lovely Girlfriend (TLG) sent me a couple of pics, and then called. Essentially, "Good grief, look at what I found under the chair cushions on the porch!"

It was a giant nest of "sting-y" things -- and once they'd been discovered, they were peeved.

TLG: "I didn't know they'd build nests underneath things like that! I half expect to see nests on trees or under decks or eaves, but not between the chair and the cushion. What the heck?!?"

Truly, y'all, I'd never seen such either. She emptied two cans of "bee spray" into that mess and hauled hiney back indoors. One of the wee-beasties tagged her, but thankfully she's not terribly allergic to them.

On a followup inspection today, it appears that the critters had begun to chew/digest/destroy the fabric on the cushion in the process of building this giant nest.

A couple of pics of the carnage:




And one of the offenders:


Yellowjacket? Wasp? I'll admit I don't really know the difference. Based on this pic, one has black antennae and the other has yellow... to me, the dead offender looks like a wasp rather than a yellowjacket. What do you think?



Is there a way to prevent such critters from being attracted to porch cushions and such? Holy smokes, this could have been disastrous.

Both the wings and the antennae look like the wasp's. The head is much bigger on the wasp, too, but you can't see it well in the photo. I'm going with wasp.

Yowza. Fire. Kill them from space.

That’s why I have a weird thing about outdoor furniture.

A week and half ago got hit by a simular marked insect. on the outside right elbow while weed whacking a fence line.. Thought it might have been a hornet.. Was able to swat and stomp it.... did not see the color of the antenna. ..... bit physical size was a bigunn... Sleep was interupted for two nights due pain at sting point............... Back in the middle 1960"s got hit in the top of my mouth by a yellow jacket while walking outside and eating a jelly sammich.. Got sicker with terrible headache but unknown if from the sting or the plug of chewing tobacco that a visiting uncle made me place in mouth and suck on.... Can still taste both.................................. drill sgt.

Yellow jackets are actually a kind of wasp, but are commonly treated as different insects from a pest point-of-view.

Wasps usually build their nests above ground, while yellow jackets tend to nest underground or seek out protected areas such as soil cavities or tree stumps.

Yellow jackets are far more aggressive and more likely to sting (as your GF found out), but fortunately their sting is less painful.

Yellow jackets can have black antennae like that. Based on behavior, I'd say those are jackets.

I just got done spraying the whole yard and exterior of the house in my war against wasps and other stinging things.

Every three months.

Bifenthrin is your friend. Available at tractor supply as Bifen I/T or Talstar.

I tried peppermint oil water mixed with a spray bottle on my shrubs once. They didn't come back that season. An option to treat the furniture that isn't poisonous to family and pets.

Good luck.
-TVz

Sneaky little bastiges can turn into yellow VW's and blend in to traffic.

Maybe you want to flip the cushons, etc over every now and then.

Bob

For those who have been bitten, stung, get a Bug Bite Thing, amazon has them, they suck the venom and can get the stinger out of any bite.

Neighbor introduced it, said he uses it all the time and I bought one and use it, it works.

Link

Time to give the fire pit a summer test burn. The YJ's will eventually leave, or go into winter sequestration, but it will make you and TLG feel better.

With the cushion upside down, most of the YJ's will have left the scene, unless the queen has remained, but you can give it a spray first to knock some of them down. Wear protective clothing and/or use a long-handled pitchfork to move the cushion (from underneath, don't stick it in the nest) once the fire is going good. Reducing time in process is your key to minimal exposure, they communicate with some kind of pheromone and work themselves up in a frenzy if the upset lasts for over a minute or two.

Usually these nests are found in the ground, but what the hell do YJ's know? They go where the queen goes, different pheromones this time. If the queen has fled, it will undoubtedly be to establish a colony somewhere else in your yard. Only way to stop this is to kill the queen, Sevin powder sprinkled at the entrance is the legacy strategy, the workers pick it up and spread it to the queen.

As far as discouraging selection of another couch cushion, perhaps not spilling your Margarita or other sweet beverage on it might help. Absolutely do not blame TLG for her slovenly habits! Or maybe a tactical Kevlar-covered replacement cushion (in Chicago maroon and burnt orange, of course)?

I had similar, though just paper wasps instead of yellow jackets, so they had build small nest on surface instead of a nuclear nest IN the cushions. Holy shit that will give me nightmares now.

Apparently I agitate them sitting on or near cushion, and on a trip to the grill they decided to pop out and sting me on the foot and leg. Fuckers.

It was partially the fault of my lazy ass. Normally when cleaning all the windows on that side of house we move chairs away, wash down cushions at the same time. This spring with other things underway just got lazy and did neither, otherwise I'd probably have discovered before it got out of hand.

Or, they would already have settled in and would have flown up my nose to sting my brain!
FUCKERS!!!

Flipping over those cushions on occasion on coolest mornings seems like a good idea now.

When I was a wee little tad-maybe 5 years old, I sat on a porch swing at my great grand-dad’s house. I didn’t know there was a wasp nest attached to the bottom of the swing, or anything about wasps, for that matter. Several of the SOBs flew out and stung me all over. This was around 1962, before the invention of 911, and I remember all the grownups present (grandparents, great grandparents, great uncles) got into a big debate about what to do for me. They finally decided to stick me in a bathtub full of cold water. Seems like I remember they mixed baking soda into it. Grand-dad told me that later on I could watch when he and the great uncles dealt with the wasps. That made me feel better. And, naturally, they used fire.

[shudder]

Yellowjacket vs wasp, the question is irrelevant. They're dead, that's all that matters.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
For those who have been bitten, stung, get a Bug Bite Thing, amazon has them, they suck the venom and can get the stinger out of any bite.

That's very cool. Thank you for that!

quote:

Originally posted by asonie:
They're dead, that's all that matters.

Roger that, sir!

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Time to give the fire pit a summer test burn.

I like the way you think.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Reducing time in process is your key to minimal exposure,

Also good thinking.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
kill the queen, Sevin powder sprinkled at the entrance is the legacy strategy, the workers pick it up and spread it to the queen.

More good stuff!

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
As far as discouraging selection of another couch cushion, perhaps not spilling your Margarita or other sweet beverage on it might help. Absolutely do not blame TLG for her slovenly habits!

Truth is, I'm more clumsy (spill-prone) than she is, and she's definitely not slovenly.
And I'm more likely to show up with a mojito than a margarita, but your point is still quite valid.

quote:

Originally posted by architect:
Or maybe a tactical Kevlar-covered replacement cushion (in Chicago maroon and burnt orange, of course)?

Extra-good plan, sir!

Oh hell no. The previous owners of our new house took their outdoor couch with them, or I’d be out there right now trying to figure out how to set fire to it without burning the damn house down.