Yellow jackets

Was bush hogging last night and of course when I made the last pass down the center I got nailed by one. I took the tractor out of gear and ran. I got stung about 30 times. Couldn't seem to out run them and about every 50 foot they would nail me again. Seems they were stuck in my shirt and when I would knock one off, he would sting me.

If you had stayed on the tractor you would not have gotten stung as much. The yellow jackets where attracted to your movement. Have hit many nest on the tractor mowing. just keep on going and they will usually fly around the tractor but not sting you. Just sit still and drive.

Nasty little buggers. I carry a can of hornet spray with me in some areas I cut. Lot of people are afraid of the bigger mud daubers or paper nest makers that you see in most farm buildings. It's the little yellow ones that nest in the ground or in old stumps that are the most aggressive, IMO. I've had one follow me all the way back to my truck to get the spray can.

Just the other day, I was on a ladder reaching up over the gutter and measuring for steel roofing on a barn without really looking at where my hand was resting on the eave. Looked over and there were a couple of dozen wasps right underneath it. Couldn't have been more than a half inch away from them. Not one sting, just moved my hand away quickly.

Wow, 30 times, hope you don't get sensitized to them.

I've been stung a few times while on a tractor, but you're right, not nearly as many as when you get off and run. And I don't run so good, any more.

Been told by oldtimers that you will not get stung if running a bulldozer. Apparently the noise and commotion is what does it.

I was hogging 2 weeks ago and got hit by one then by two more before I could upshift and scram. Need to find the nest in the ground and hit it with wasp spray.

Nope, yellowjackets will nail you on a bulldozer just like any other machine, when you get into their territory. Ask how I know!

What I want to know is how they can single out the operator on some big snorting machine, and get him, usually in the face!

If on a diesel just bump the throttle a couple of times as they don"t seem to like the dirty black smoke.

Might need to be a big, noisy one- Was watching a guy clearing land with a D8-2U (cable blade)- 'jackets came boiling up, flying around everywhere, he just ignored them. He told me later that they're afraid to land. Probably wouldn't work as well on a modern, more sedate machine.

I have ran over a ground nest with a bulldozer pulling a fire plow, they certainly did figure out where I was sitting in that thing! It was on a John Deere 350D, a toy compared to a D8, but they found ME right away.

When I was kid I was picking raspberries and suddenly I was getting stung. I ran home, I must have been stung 30 times, I had walked right into their nest. Yesterday in the early morning in a neighboring town, an ambulance was picking up a patient at their home, and when they came out their rig was full of yellow jackets. They had to go and get their back-up ambulance. A couple weeks ago I ran over a nest while mowing. I made sure to run over it again every time around to kill as many as I could. Not one of them got me up in my sealed cab.

You're right about that, JD. Problem is, they've usually spotted you moving before you spot them moving. My day and I used to put our heads down, sit rigid, and mow right through the 'jackets and the bumble bees that nest in the ground.

Eye Contact. If I am seeing some of the buggers around I hold my shirt collar close around my neck (so they can't get inside my shirt) and stay stock still. They will buzz around but generally don't sting.

Had a fellow killed here in Middleport, Ohio week before last. He was hanging gutter on a commercial building and encountered a nest of yellowjackets on the roof, There were 2 guys handling the gutter, swung it up into 32KV powerline. One was D.O.A. and the other was life flighted to Huntington, WV hospital in critical condition. Didn't know you could find them little critters up on a roof (kinda think it could have been Bumble Bees). Keith

If I am correct, don't these too leave a pheromone (sp?) and that scent directs the rest to you because you are tagged as a threat ?

I've noticed what the others said, where they don't find you. Thankfully I have not seen them around here in quite awhile, none in the ground anywhere. Once in awhile they would make a nest on the lawn or the side of an embankment where it is probably easier to make a nest, they must use old chipmunk holes as I cannot imagine they could burrow into the soil.

The last time I hit a nest was on a D3 doing some grubbing and clearing on some idle land, that was near a good size creek. They came out and were all over the dozer, I just moved away and worked somewhere else, I was not getting off the machine they seemed confused, can't sting metal etc. Same ones I've stepped on nests 2x while working, and got nailed in the leg, they let me know they were there but did not come out in a swarm, well I did not disturb the nest either. I found one on the lawn one time and had some fun with it, I put a cover on it, you know those industrious little buggers just kept making or finding a way in, and never got upset. Way back, we had the farmer bale for us, and his son nailed one, they got into the cab though, he ran off, got nailed a few times.

The ones I have seen sure are small, sting is minor compared to the full size ones or those brown wasps. Never got nailed by a white face hornet, they have to be the worst of all, or a bumble bee, though I did come face to face with a nest in a bush while clearing, I am grateful I did not hit that bush, and was able to avoid them without incident, these experiences do keep you on the lookout when you may encounter same. That hornets nest was huge, was about this time of year, full size, no vacancy !

Remember, your tractor can run farther and faster than you can on foot. You're also less likely to have a heart attack speeding away on the tractor than speeding away on foot!

glad your ok.

getting stung 30 times can be serious.

At least you could run, now days i would just have to stand there and get stung

Getting stung sucks but the worst is the itching for days afterward.

Best thing I have found for yellow jacket stings, is a paste made out of meat tendorizer. Doesn't take it all out, but takes most of it out right away. As mentioned earlier below, the nagging itch can linger for a day or so.

I've had angry yellow jackets chase and sting me for over a hundred feet. Its like every 25 feet, a bunch give up, but its that last 100, 125, 150 or so, one trying to make a name for himself back at the nest as the toughest guy, will succede in his goal at making a name for himself as the toughest guy, at my expense. OUCH!

Mark