Posted on 04/06/2015 9:00:54 PM PDT by djf
Now I have (and have had it for a while) a birdhouse right next to my back door.
Early in the spring, I checked it -but nothing seemed to be happening. There was an old nest inside from last year when I had the privilege of watching a pair of chickadees raise there young one.
About two or three weeks ago, I stepped outside about 2 AM just to see the weather, etc., and I heard a sound - it was like a buzzing. I realized it was coming from the birdhouse, and thought it might be wasps which I have a bit of a problem with. I decided to leave it till the morning and then terminate them.
The next morning I went out there and discovered it wasn't wasps - it was BUMBLEBEES!
Now I think that that is kinda kool, so I decided I wouldn't kill em.
Now, during the day when I'm outside, you frequently see them buzzing around and flying into and out of their nest. And it seems odd, but at night (our nights are still pretty chilly - 35F or so), you can go out there and they seem to just buzz - I imagine they are firing their engines to generate heat!
I am unsure if this is a permanent nest for them or exactly what's what - if anyone out there has more knowledge/experience with bumblebees, plese let me know! TIA!
If you have a place wasps are nesting paint it sky blue.
To attract more wasps?
Do you work for Dcon or what?
;-)
Heck no. I have huge wasp problems here in florida. They’d always nest in the space right at the top of the garage door and tops of windows. They end up in the house through the vents.
Paint the surface sky blue and they won’t nest there. Works about 99% of the time with wasps.
Wow, that’s good to know. Thanks!
I say I have wasps, they are mostly tiny parasitic wasps. Well, except for the wasps that like to build paper nests in my Chev Blazer!
Ooooh, those Italian bees! The former Mr. Fivecatsandadog kept bees and the Italians would chase me all over the yard, right up to the back door - and then hang around waiting for me to come back outside.
Thanks for letting them stay there...bumbles are pretty neat to watch.
They usually nest in the ground. They must have been “swarming.” They might not be there for long.
I like watching bumble bees......they mind their own business and are hard workers. I would never kill one even if it got into my house.
I have a log home. I also have carpenter bees. I also have a tennis racket.
Each spring I practice my tennis swing outside.
There are 77 dead carpenter bees littering my property now.
Should nab another 10 today.
Anyway,I told my neighbors there was likely a nest within a 100 yards and that's where they were coming from and to look in the nearby trees to see if they could find it.
It wasn't until the cold weather set in and the trees lost all their leaves that they discovered a soccer ball sized nest in the small tree right on the side of their front room picture window.........
Were they bumblebees chasing you or carpenter bees? They look similar but carpenter bees can be aggressive if you’re near their nest.
At least you’ve got something productive in your birdhouses. The only things that ever nested in mine were squirrels. They’ve been raising their babies in my birdhouses for generations.
One of my favorite late summer sports when I was a kid was trying to squeeze and kill bumblebees when they collected nectar in the tube like flowers of my patents hosta plants. Wasps and bumblebees provided lots of entertainment.
“As soon as those suckers come after you you wont think it is cute having them around.”
__________________________
Indeed.
The population of honeybees is seeing a major decline in our area. We might see a few, maybe a half-dozen in our flower/vegetable gardens during the entire summer.
Bumblebees are taking over the job that honeybees used to do and they are becoming very aggressive. We battled them all summer and had to avoid areas that they claimed as their own.
Best remedy for a sting is to use meat tenderizer that contains Papain (found in Papaya fruit). Make a quick poultice and apply directly on the sting site. The quicker you act the better off you’ll be.
I laughed when my Dr. told me about this. Not so much after he explained how it works. The venom from a bee & other insects is nearly pure protein. Papaya breaks down protein, which is how it works to tenderize meat. You will have less pain and swelling after being stung if you get it on immediately.
I happen to like wasps myself, especially mud daubers and paper wasps. I have no use for yellow jackets though, because they have an attitude and are downright mean. But most other wasps are docile and won’t go out of their way to mess with you. And they pick the little green caterpillars off my tomato bushes and fly away with them. It’s fun to watch, and I don’t have to use insecticides on my tomatoes.
The person who asked about the temperature thought that you meant -35 (minus 35) degrees F because of your hyphen, I think.
Buzz Kill...
the mud daubers make a mess but aren’t too big of an issue. I live on the edge of a nature preserve so its pretty wild. Tons of the yellow jackets that run around looking for someone to sting.
Speaking of which...I used to use that spray to keep sparrows and pigeons from nesting in our roof tile grooves, but found out that spraying WD-40 works perfectly. Zero recidivism from the little winged pests.
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