Bee Season is coming!

[peejman]

Carpenter bees have a shiny black abdomen, bumblebees have a fuzzy yellow abdomen.

Edited June 25, 2015 by peejman

[Sidewinder]

Carpenter bees have a shiny black abdomen, bumblebees have a fuzzy yellow abdomen.

Thanks Peejman. I guess I've never seen many of the carpenters. I catch the bumbles, with the white heads, with my hands... swirl them round and round... then release them to fly off in a dizzy flight pattern. They don't sting... but the black head ones will! Did someone say carpenter bees don't sting? Just checking.

[peejman]

Female carpenter bees and bumblebees can sting, however it takes real effort to piss them off enough for them to do so. 

 

They're both quite important in the grand scheme of pollinating all sorts of plants.  There's no reason to kill bumblees at all, and carpenter bees only if they're boring holes in something of value. 

[jhc77]

Female carpenter bees and bumblebees can sting, however it takes real effort to piss them off enough for them to do so. 

 

They're both quite important in the grand scheme of pollinating all sorts of plants.  There's no reason to kill bumblees at all, and carpenter bees only if they're boring holes in something of value. 

What if the bumbles, not carpenter, have come back and nested in my backyard (in the ground) for the second summer in a row? I have to keep about a 10' circle with the mower.

Edited June 26, 2015 by JHC77

[peejman]

What if the bumbles, not carpenter, have come back and nested in my backyard (in the ground) for the second summer in a row? I have to keep about a 10' circle with the mower.

 

 

According to this they'll be gone in a few months.  Fill in the hole this winter and they shouldn't be back.   You might also see if there's a local bee keeper's association.  They might have some advice. 

 

 

Bumblebee nests don't live for long, so the nest should die naturally within a few months. After that time, the new queens will have flown from the nest to hibernate in the soil elsewhere.

 

It is possible that a different bumblebee queen will find and use the same hole next year. The old nest will die in the autumn though, and all the bees will have left or died. If you don't want bees in the same place again you can block the entrance to the nest up after it dies down to prevent a new queen finding the nest site in later years.

 

 

 

http://www.honeybeesuite.com/how-to-move-a-bumble-bee-nest-2/

 

http://www.buzzaboutbees.net/bee-nest-removal-bumblebee.html

[enfield]

The bees are coming!   I saw them at the baseball field last week, but none here yet.  Finished my reloading for the year yesterday.  Now we wait . . . .

[Possumslayer]

#beelivesmatter

[enfield]

#decklivesmattertoo

[JohnC]

The last warm day we had, red wasps were swarming my parents house!

I knocked down 3 nests they were trying to build in various places.

That said, for wasps, the best luck I've had is in spring on cool nights or during cold snaps like now, find their nests and keep knocking them down before it gets hot.

You won't have to deal with them as much if you take out their nests now.

I have to get rid of them because I'm allergic to those big red wasps.

Last time I was stung by a red wasp, my hand swelled up like a half of a baseball on top. :meh:

[jtmaze]

I have a bunch of 32 long brass and no dies. Been saving the brass to load someday and this might be fun hunting.

[enfield]

As long as you can prime the brass, you're good to go. My reloading 'press' is a #2 pencil to seat the wads.

[jtmaze]

As long as you can prime the brass, you're good to go. My reloading 'press' is a #2 pencil to seat the wads.

I have a hand "primer" that I use for all my pistol rounds so that is not a problem. I may go home and play with this tonight when I get home.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[enfield]

Bumble bees are good, carpenter bees are destructive pests.

http://www.livingwithbugs.com/carpenter_bee.html