# Need help.. Bees in my wood pile



## s13rymos (Aug 24, 2011)

Ground hornets to be exact.. They made two nests in my scrap bark/cookie pile.. 3 gallons of gas later and they are still there! I already got stung once while in the skid steer and i need them gone so i can start cutting again..


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## Hank Chinaski (Aug 24, 2011)

can you try to smoke them out?

or toss in a few bug bombs under a tarp tossed over the wood


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## Guido Salvage (Aug 24, 2011)

They should home once dusk arrives and be less active than during the day. Instead of gas try diesel fuel and soak the holes. If you light it off there will not be the flash explosion and it will burn longer than gas.

CRC-52 brake cleaner will knock them out of the sky too....


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## s13rymos (Aug 24, 2011)

Ive been soaking the holes at night where i see them go in and out.. I dont wanna set it on fire cause of my rows of log length nearby im afraid the pile will go up in flames.. Ill have to look up bug bombs never heard of them before.. Im thinking of putting the enclosed cab back on the skid steer and flipping the pile to get the nest out then pour on the gas again that night...

Brake clean does work wonders... Its expensive though..


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## Kingsley (Aug 24, 2011)

From what I have been told, the ground nests usually have a trap (like a toilet) that doesn't allow them to flood. Pouring gas on these and setting it on fire usually doesn't work. 

I think you might want to go the route of the cabbed skid steer. Flip the pile, then soak with wasp spray, then dig them out during a very cool spell. 

I hate those things. Good luck to you and be safe.

Marty


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## audible fart (Aug 24, 2011)

I was the victim of bees making multiple holes near my tomato plants and woodpile. All i did was buy one can of the aerosol wasp and hornet large can and sprayed it into every hole i saw them using. It worked and only set me back about $3.50.


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## Blazin (Aug 24, 2011)

Try some used motor oil or diesel in their holes, that usually does the deed better than gas...don't light it either just pour it in.


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## dms (Aug 24, 2011)

Pick a cool night and dig them out and spray bee killer as you go. You will find that the nest is a foot or two from the entrance. **note cool\cold night is the key.


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## 7sleeper (Aug 24, 2011)

Use liquid hydrogen to cool them down. Should be sufficient

7


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## Coldfront (Aug 24, 2011)

audible fart said:


> I was the victim of bees making multiple holes near my tomato plants and woodpile. All i did was buy one can of the aerosol wasp and hornet large can and sprayed it into every hole i saw them using. It worked and only set me back about $3.50.


 
That is what I did, I sat and watched closely where they were going in and out, came back after dark soaked both holes with 1 can of spray wasp killer. The next day they were all dead. Btw I got stung bad last Friday evening I was in the woods and walked up upon a big paper hornet nest laying on the ground, it must have blown down out of a tree from a storm. I was about 8 feet away I saw no movement around the nest then B52's started buzzing me and before I knew it a got nailed twice on the right forearm. Dang those black and white bald face hornets put a hurt on me. The swelling is finally going down today.


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## Geez (Aug 24, 2011)

I'm also beekeeper, and my advice is to buy or borrow a headnet. Bee suits are really just coveralls any way so not necessary. Bees instinctively go for the eyes so the headnet is most important. Anyway, put on coveralls or heavy clothes, boots, and leather gloves, and the headnet. Duct tape the gloves and boots (and headnet!) to your clothes. Voila! Prepare to do battle and just dig the nest out and spray it when you find it.
Since I took up beekeeping I've never worried again about how to handle them.


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## TreePointer (Aug 24, 2011)

I've tried many home remedies over the years, but the best for ground nests has been *Sevin powder*. Fill a measuring cup with a quarter cup (or more) of powder and dump it right on the hole. I just did two yellow jacket ground nests this past month and there was no activity within 5 days. You may have to dump powder on/down the hole a second day, but that should get them.


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## Elim (Aug 24, 2011)

First thing you need to do is mark where the nests are during the day, so you can come back and pay them a visit after dark. I use sticks laying on the ground pointing at the hole(s). Get an empty 20 plastic bottle, (one per hole) and fill it with gasoline. Come back after dark with a flashlight, and just remove the lids from the bottles, and turn them upside down in the hole(s), and walk away. No need to light the nests unless you just want to watch them burn as payback for the stings. They are nasty when you find them brush hogging fields. 

Enjoy!


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## cantoo (Aug 24, 2011)

You guys must get your fuel real cheap to be pouring it into the ground and oil too. Is that Green?  I carry a couple of bee spray bombs in all of my trucks as it works good and is cheap, compared to gasoline anyway. I find the spray foam style does a good job of sealing the hole but it takes awhile to kill them. The liquid spray will drop them dead out of the air.


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## Geez (Aug 24, 2011)

Two things I've found... First, one time I snuck up on a ground nest at night in the daylilies once. Turned on the flashlight to pinpoint it. I found it alright. As soon as the light hit the guard bees, they were after me. It took 50 yards before I got enough wits about me to drop the flashlight. They WILL fly in the dark! I had that reemphasized when insulating an attic once. Something kept pinging off my clamplight. I looked back and saw the nest in a gable vent behind me. They were flying past me and attacking the light.
The other thing regards putting bee spray or gas in the hole. If you take a mason jar and screw it into the ground over the hole after spraying, when the sun comes out it heats the air in the jar and forces the vapor deeper into the hole.


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## MNGuns (Aug 24, 2011)

I woud think, that by the time you are ready to use the wood (aka winter) the bees will be rather dormant...Personally, I'd just let them bee..


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## dingeryote (Aug 24, 2011)

TreePointer said:


> I've tried many home remedies over the years, but the best for ground nests has been *Sevin powder*. Fill a measuring cup with a quarter cup (or more) of powder and dump it right on the hole. I just did two yellow jacket ground nests this past month and there was no activity within 5 days. You may have to dump powder on/down the hole a second day, but that should get them.


 
BINGO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Carbaryl in any form is Bee Toxic and human safe...and wont explode/burn/Kill you.

I like the Sevin XLR wet powder and simply run 4oz to a gallon of water, and slosh it in and around the holes at night.

The yellow Jackets get it on them going in, and out, and carry it into the nest with them. Have seen 'em dig a new hole to avoid the contaminated original, but the sloshing around the area gets 'em anyway.

Havn't tried the new Bonide "Eight" (Pyrethrin)the same way yet, but suspect it would work as well, seeing as how the same base component drops the Bees in flight when run out of a Cannon sprayer.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote


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## Misfit138 (Aug 24, 2011)

Guido Salvage said:


> ...CRC-52 brake cleaner will knock them out of the sky too....


 
Yes! I found this out working on my buddy's Mopar in 1989. They drop like bricks- instant kill!


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## DIESELBOB (Aug 25, 2011)

*Ground BEES*

I wait till after dark and put a large rock in the hole. If the hole is too big a wheelbarrow full of dirt works good,followed by a good 
soaking with a garden hose the next day.


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## Geez (Aug 25, 2011)

DIESELBOB said:


> I wait till after dark and put a large rock in the hole. If the hole is too big a wheelbarrow full of dirt works good,followed by a good
> soaking with a garden hose the next day.


 
Just be aware that most ground bee nests are renovated rodent holes, which means there is usually a back door!


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## s13rymos (Aug 25, 2011)

Well i decided to put the cab back on the skid steer and flipped the pile to expose the nest. They started swarming so I got the hell outa dodge. I filled the can with diesel to soak the nest this evening but we got a big storm with heavy rain. Ill check im the morning to see if the nest is still there


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## WidowMaker (Aug 26, 2011)

Diesel will do the trick


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## WidowMaker (Aug 28, 2011)

Update???


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## s13rymos (Aug 29, 2011)

Got the lower nest taken care of.. now i found another nest more toward the top of the pile.. ill attack those tonight... cant wait to get rid of those little biotches


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