The Forestry Forum

I was just wondering if you guys get stung as often as i do? it happens every time i'm out there cutting anthing down. yesterday i was stung 7 times once in upper lip face swelled a little on that one still is in fact then i got stung 6 more times. I guess i cant complain to bad though because they saved me from making terrible mistake had'nt had land surved yet and was clearing a spot to put dogs and some of the trees where interfering with satellite reception well i get swormed call it a day week later when survery comes it seems i stoped just before property line. 8)

I get stung but find that certain soaps make me more susceptible.  The perfumes used in soaps and shaving creams and after shave lotions and deodorants really rile up the bees.  'Course, don't be to quick to blame bees when it is wasp or hornets, or yellow jackets or even spiders that are at fault.   Bees are usually pretty docile little creatures.

I usually don't wear any perfume stuff in the woods except for deodorant, and it has cut down the attraction for a lot of insects.  I've even heard that ticks will shy away if you eat foods with Garlic.

The best thing to do is keep some DEET around.  I put Deepwoods Off on me when I'm in an insect infested area.  Some around the shoes and socks, pants legs, waist band, arms, back and hair make most of them shy away.  It's probably a good idea too. ( Every once in a while I do something smart.)  With Lyme disease :), West Nile virus and other insect borne diseases being as prevalent as they are, a good repellent makes you feel a little more comfortable.

I usually put some off on for the mosquitoes, i dont seem to notice much in the way of ticks here in new hampshire but when i lived in mass had plenty like one night i went out with hounds came home started checking for ticks took 1 hour to get all off stoped counting at just over 100 glad we dont seem to have as many here. the bees your right they are yellow jackets. i just seem to lump them alltogether.

Bees, they are bad news for me. I got stung by a hornet about 7 yrs ago, was in the hospital for a wk. Kinda werd how a little critter like that can put a person down for the tenth count. Four yrs ago I got bite by a copperhead, I ran over and caught it and drove to the game wardens place cause I wasnt sure what kind of snake it was. When he saw it was a copperhead he panic, you thought he was the one that got bit. well anyway I felt no different, so I went back fishin.
EZ

i was telling the wife it's funny how such a small thing as a bee can make a grown man run and scream like a baby. yesterday when i got stung i was working in back of house i got to ouh ough ough ough ough & moving butt quick stung 6  times all the dogs must have that i was under attack cause they went nuts. just remberd was mowing lawn one day about 8-9 years get stung in calf (ran over yellow jacket hole) course my sheperd had to go see what got me stuck his nose right in he came away right quick rolling on ground :D :D :D

We got bee's under the siding of the house. I've sprayed tarred and calked and I just can't seem to find where they are located for sure.  ???I was out this morning before the bee's got out of bed again trying to tar their door shut. Soon as the sun cam out there they were again. ::)


Gus

guy that did my survey told me his dad had bees in the wall and it made the wall hot . there was this lady the wife was telling me about she thought she had a squirrel or some other critter up in attic and was going to put cat up there to take care of it but decided agianst it. good thing too seems she had a massive bees nest and she was just a day or two from having her ceilin from falling in on her bees had eat trew the rafters allmost completly. lucky cat

I usually try to stay out of the woods until the end of September.  You can't see anything because of the underbrush, there are spider webs everywhere you walk, and all the yellow jackets are pithed.

I was marking timber one Sepetember when a yellow jacket landed on my cheek and stung me.  I wasn't even close to the nest.

Whenever I mark timber, I always check for holes around the base of the tree.  A lot of times those holes will have a jacket nest.

Another time I was marking timber and I felt something land on my finger.  I figured it was a horsefly, and shook my hand.  It didn't move.  I knew I was in trouble.  I got stung on the ring finger, so I high tailed it out of the area.

After running for a couple of hundred feet, I stopped, but the yellow jackets were still buzzing around.   So, I run a lot further.  They're still buzzing around me.

Then I look at my pant legs.  I was covered with yellow jackets.  I dropped trow right there.   :D  Only got stung 3 times.

yeh yellow jackets are what get me not much choose though i am clearing 5 acers and i want to be able to leave certian trees and not much good at telling what certian trees are when they are young. we have so many holes in ground dont think i can go by that because will work by holes no problem then no hole that i notice get stung course i get so involved in what i'm doin next thing i know ough.

   Up here in Maine it's a crazy bad year for stinging insects. I have 2 HUMONGOUS white-face hornet nests building up in 2 bushes very low to the ground. I want to wait til winter and then get them for tophys. Meanwhile back by the beehives I was moving some spare equipment and found yellowjackets had used some supers as a home- I had on my bee suit as I was moving a stack of supers and I just caught a glimpse of this nest as I put them up in the stack. So that one is waiting too.

  Lots of rescue calls for stings this year.  lw

I've seen some yellow bees this year i dont what they are they about 3/4 of an inch same color as yellow jackets but much bigger.

You gotta be careful calling stuff bees.  Some of these bee keepers will tell you real quick that bees get a bumb rap.

We have an insect that looks a lot like a yellow jacket.  It doesn't bite or sting but it buzzes around like a blow fly.  It's wings are going 90 to nothing and it will sit in front of a hole like a helicopter and examine it for something to eat.
The are called "hover flies" and their lavae eat aphids.  The adults eat necter from flowers. Once I found out what they were I would stop what I was doing and watch them.  They are really neat.  

They hang around the sawmill but you don't see them until you quit for a break.  Then they come out, usually 2 or 3 of them and examine every nook and cranny of the mill.  They seldom light but just buzz around.  I feel like they are a pet and really enjoy them.

Tom,

We have critters here that look and sound like that.  I was told they are a kind of moth.  They call um 'News Bees' here caus they are here and there and every buzzing the gossip around.  They claim when one visits you,  they are telling you that you have company coming. :)  I figger that's what David saw.

I was just looking at one killed the other day it is 1 inch long it is black &yellow yellow face black dots on yellow on back & most definitly has a stinger is almost a 1/4". definitly nasty looking whatever it is.

Tom, I've always called those things Sweet Bees. They don't bite but sure can be a pest at a picnic. They are attracted to anything sweet. Must be why they are always after me. ;D

It's a very good idea not to wear after shave, colognes or perfume into the woods and to use a good insect repellent with 100% Deet.  Also, watch the color of clothing you wear. Insects are attracted to blue, yellow, red and other bright colors. Best color to wear is probably khaki.

Whats under the siding of my house are definately bees. They are pretty docile but the 4 yr. old boy (hard to say what he was up too ::)    got stung once  :o
Gus

Tom's right, bees get blamed for alot of things done by hornets, wasps, etc. I used to keep a few hives, and it was neat watching them. On a summer evening I'd sit on the ground about ten or fifteen feet in front of their hives and watch all their goings on. They'd fly right over your head and never bother you. The only time I ever got stung was when I did something to make one mad, and then I figured I deserved it.

This past month a local high school girl helped us pick sweet corn. She said that mosquitoes, gnats, etc. were bothering her pretty bad so she started using bug spray. Well the bug spray didn't do much good as she was loaded down with every kind of perfume and makeup she could find. I told her to leave that stuff at home, but she insisted on wearing it. She said she won't leave the house without it. All of us fellows chuckled at her because we rarely used bug spray, even though it's been a wet summer.

Frickman

Dont much care what you call them. When i get stung i dont stick around and ask if they are a bee or a wasp or yellow jacket i just run like the dickens. But i mostly get stung by yellow jackrts. I aint no bee keeper so their all bees to me if they have stingers.