Thread: Mad and Recovering

It's summer here and everyone be watchful. While mowing the lawn I was attacked by the awful and dreaded ground bees. 3 got me on the arm and 2 to the reduced hair head and one to the right ear. Now I'm not allergic to the stings in the life threatening way just the I hate pain way. If you can when mowing watch well a head of where your going. They will appear hovering just above the ground of the last pass you make. I have mowed many times this year about once a week so these came in and dug the hole and moved in in about 1 week. So "be careful" out there.

Same thing happened to me last year, one on the leg and one on the top of my ear, I looked like Mr Spook for about three days....
I put the hose over the hive and flooded it for about an hour

Originally Posted by rodb

Same thing happened to me last year, one on the leg and one on the top of my ear, I looked like Mr Spook for about three days....
I put the hose over the hive and flooded it for about an hour

I found 2 holes and poured 1 gallon of gass down each one. waiting to see what happens.

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Originally Posted by rhensley

I found 2 holes and poured 1 gallon of gass down each one. waiting to see what happens.

Drop a match in each hole. You won't have to wait and you'll probably feel better. That is, if you back off fast enough.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

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They had a longer and bigger and jagged tail

Aloha!

I got an early experience with Ground Bees when I ran over a Ground Bee nest when I was a young teen mowing my father's lawn. Got stung three or four times on the legs. There is nothing worse than minding your own business mowing a lawn and suddenly ZAP ZAP ZAP ZAP, multiple painful stings from running over a Ground Bee nest. I remember my father going out that evening with some gas and burning them out. There are no Ground Bees in Hawaii, nor Fire Ants. Nothing that rises out of the ground to bite or sting you. We don't even have snakes in Hawaii, the state is Snake-Free. There are wasps and hornets and bees, but I have never heard of nor seen Ground Bees in Hawaii. The worst ground dwelling stinging insect in Hawaii is the Centepede. You don't want to get stung by a Centepede in Hawaii. You'll really regret that encounter. But they are not that common.

In my Florida pad, I have Fire Ants, and I burn them out with White Gas (Coleman Fuel). Just a little white gas down the hole, throw on a match and that's it. Nest gone. You can't spray Raid or use other insectisides because they just move. You need to kill them. Entomologists are trying to introduce the Phorid Fly into Fire Ant states to kill the Fire Ants. Phorid Flies hover over Fire Ants and they harpoon Fire Ants injecting eggs into them and that kills the ant as the egg matures inside the ant while making more Phorid Flies. If you've ever been stung by a Fire Ant, you will appreciate this. Anything to kill Fire Ants. And every sting in your life is worse than the last because your body never gets rid of the toxin. It only compounds sting by sting.

-Zip

:I've fought fire ants and ground-nesting yellow jackets several times this summer. Somehow the jackets didn't sting me even though I mowed right beside them. This one was a big one, must have been hundreds of bees right beside the creek where my neighbors' kids still play and dam up the creek, so couldn't have that. So I came back with a full can of hornet spray and a molotov cocktail with lamp oil and a rag in a jug-much safer than gas! I lit that rag, threw the bomb to the middle of the nest, and watched bees fly out of that burning nest on fire as I sprayed the angry ones seeking revenge. I'm normally one of these crunchy granola environmentalist types, but this was war! They haven't been back. Now the fire ants is more of a whack a mole campaign- sprinkle the granules on one mound and they turn up a few feet away next week. I hate 'em, and yeah, that sting hurts and then blisters!

Take care of those stings, Hensley-My papaw would have put wet tobacco on em, or a meat tenderizer paste.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

:I've fought fire ants and ground-nesting yellow jackets several times this summer. Somehow the jackets didn't sting me even though I mowed right beside them. This one was a big one, must have been hundreds of bees right beside the creek where my neighbors' kids still play and dam up the creek, so couldn't have that. So I came back with a full can of hornet spray and a molotov cocktail with lamp oil and a rag in a jug-much safer than gas! I lit that rag, threw the bomb to the middle of the nest, and watched bees fly out of that burning nest on fire as I sprayed the angry ones seeking revenge. I'm normally one of these crunchy granola environmentalist types, but this was war! They haven't been back. Now the fire ants is more of a whack a mole campaign- sprinkle the granules on one mound and they turn up a few feet away next week. I hate 'em, and yeah, that sting hurts and then blisters!

Take care of those stings, Hensley-My papaw would have put wet tobacco on em, or a meat tenderizer paste.

I would have used tobacco also back many years ago but it took a lot for me to quite so I stay away from the weed now days. Both kinds.

Originally Posted by rhensley

I would have used tobacco also back many years ago but it took a lot for me to quite so I stay away from the weed now days. Both kinds.

You and me both my friend!