Bees....again

[beagle]

Thought the season for wood bees was over so I reworked the brass and put it up for the season. Monday I was mowing and noticed several bumble bees around the base of one of my trees. Pulled the zero turn over the hole and that stirred them up.
Had work to do so I put that thought on the back burner until today. Grabbed my Blackhawk and 27 left over loads and a folding chair and set up my "stand". They came in hot and heavy. Got 25 out of the 27 rounds and they were still piling in.
Went to my shop and loaded 50 more figuring surely this would be enough. Went out just as the sun was setting and blasted 50 rounds more and they were still coming in.
Now, I've killed, I know, 65 of the little rascals. I just wonder how many are in that nest.
I loaded 50 more rounds and tomorrow, I'll load another 100. Using the Blackhawk kind of makes me wish it was belt fed./beagle

[KenH]

Now that sounds like a LOTS of fun. What are you loading the BlackHawk with? This the .44 mag? Shot loads? #9 shot?

[mattw]

In the old days... with real gasoline... pour 1/2 cup in and let it vaporize and throw a smoke at the hole. They came out like flaming popcorn. Very satisfying. Normally I would get stung by 2 or 3 of the monsters while mowing, cleared out of the area and let them settle down and then burn the **** things out.

[jcren]

With wasp i had grest results using walnut polishing media for shot in a 38. Ulltra light 1.5 grain loads of bullseye wouldn't even hurt the paint on the house as long as you were more than 10 feet away. Hotter 2.5 grain loads would nicely obliterate them.

[KenH]

I like the idea of walnut polishing media - you don't have to worry about where the shot are going. Shoot in any direction and no way it's going to get to house next door. I just might have to get me some walnut media and play with that in .38 brass. I thank you for the idea and info..... not sure my wife will thank you {g}

[Eddie2002]

I muzzle load a pump action Bee Bee gun with tumbling media for carpenter bees. They let me walk up real close to get the shot. It also works on the big nasty coconut spiders we get around here. Boy are those things fast, even seen one outrun a squirt of wasp spray, eek.

[waarp8nt]

In the old days... with real gasoline... pour 1/2 cup in and let it vaporize and throw a smoke at the hole. They came out like flaming popcorn. Very satisfying. Normally I would get stung by 2 or 3 of the monsters while mowing, cleared out of the area and let them settle down and then burn the **** things out.

^^^ My Dad's preferred method as well.

[owejia]

Was at the barn doing a welding job yesterday and the red wasp were out and about, mostly in my face, so had some diesel in a hand sprayer which works pretty good but doesn't sound[boom] or smell[gunpowder] quite right. Told my wife would need to take my .38 down to finish the job. Beagle those bumble bees that live underground really hurt when they sting.

[james8719]

I have a pine sided barn and have been plagued by those devils for years! It cost a fortune to try to use bee killer on them and it doesn't work. I bought a Braztech .410 and started loading light loads of #12 shot with brass cases and started having a blast! Started loading shotshells for a S&W 325 and a S&W 629. I hate tose buggers but it sure is fun wing shooting them.

[beagle]

.38 Special brass. Card wad over powder, fill case with the crushed shell tumbling medium and add card wad with a slight crimp to hold wad in. 3.0 grains of Bullseve./works great up to about 6 feet./beagle


Now that sounds like a LOTS of fun. What are you loading the BlackHawk with? This the .44 mag? Shot loads? #9 shot?

[beagle]

I know. I ran into them in the barn before and tried things with a piece of laminated flooring. A .38 Special is better and more sporting./beagle

Was at the barn doing a welding job yesterday and the red wasp were out and about, mostly in my face, so had some diesel in a hand sprayer which works pretty good but doesn't sound[boom] or smell[gunpowder] quite right. Told my wife would need to take my .38 down to finish the job. Beagle those bumble bees that live underground really hurt when they sting.

[beagle]

Grits work quite well too but not as good as the tumbling stuff. The crushed pecan shells have a higher density and a little more range./beagle


I like the idea of walnut polishing media - you don't have to worry about where the shot are going. Shoot in any direction and no way it's going to get to house next door. I just might have to get me some walnut media and play with that in .38 brass. I thank you for the idea and info..... not sure my wife will thank you {g}

[Bmi48219]

Ground wasps, yellow jackets and the like are fair game as far as I'm concerned. I locate the nest exit hole & come back after dark (when they're all inside feeling safe) with a couple railroad flares and some rags. Light the flare & shove in the hole, then seal the hole with a rag. If the heat doesn't get them the fumes will.
I try to avoid killing pollinating bees unless they pose a serious threat. They are real important to our food supply and are being wiped out fast enough without my help.

[mattw]

Ground wasps, yellow jackets and the like are fair game as far as I'm concerned. I locate the nest exit hole & come back after dark (when they're all inside feeling safe) with a couple railroad flares and some rags. Light the flare & shove in the hole, then seal the hole with a rag. If the heat doesn't get them the fumes will.
I try to avoid killing pollinating bees unless they pose a serious threat. They are real important to our food supply and are being wiped out fast enough without my help.

Yup, would never hurt a normal bee! But those ground bees get really mad and OMG when they sting it hurts worse than any bug that has hit me... including a couple of brown recluse spiders when I was younger.

[Bmi48219]

Haven't had to worry about bees / wasps much since we moved to Fl. Wish there was a sure-fire way to get rid of fire ants.

[dogmower]

used to make my own napalm - diesel fuel and tide detergent - pour it into the hole/tree stump in morning when they're sluggish, and light 'em up. great fun and very satisfying. and i thought i was the only one ;);)

[owejia]

Shot less than 50 bee killers at the wasp yesterday. Exactly what purpose do the paper wasp serve? Cannot think of a useful thing they do. Found a nest in my roll around tool box. May shoot some more today. Good hunting.

[mold maker]

If nothing else, they teach us respect.

[JMax]

Haven't had to worry about bees / wasps much since we moved to Fl. Wish there was a sure-fire way to get rid of fire ants.
Ammonia poured in the nest works well to kill them including the queen.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Also if you sneak up at night (you want it COLD so they're immobile), on a ground nest with a crucible full of molten Aluminum, that'd do to knock the nest out. And you get a neat cast of the nest :P

[Wayne Smith]

For ground wasps, if you find the hole, simply put a glass bowl over the hole at night and they will fly up and not be able to get out, but because they can see the sky they won't dig another escape hole. I did it, it works. Just have to leave it until no more try to fly out.

[rmcc]

Another way, if you can find the hole. Wait till after dark when they are all in and pour a kettle of boiling water down the hole and cover it. Never had it fail yet.

[Grapeshot]

I was using brake cleaner on the wood boring bees. Hit them on the fly and they fly a ways and then pitch over and fall to earth dead as a door nail.

[uscra112]

I was using brake cleaner on the wood boring bees. Hit them on the fly and they fly a ways and then pitch over and fall to earth dead as a door nail.

Ordinary 90% rubbing alcohol works just as well. I've kept a spray bottle handy for this purpose for many years now. Lots cheaper than Bra-Kleen.

[beagle]

Guys, you're missing the point. Much more sporting with the bee loads./beagle

[uscra112]

YOU try hitting a wasp or bee in the air with a squirt gun ! I get about one in ten. ('course I cheat and nail 'em when they land.)

[Mr_Sheesh]

uscra112, Beagle is using 38 Special shot loads, a bit easier but still sporting :)

[OldBearHair]

Haven't had to worry about bees / wasps much since we moved to Fl. Wish there was a sure-fire way to get rid of fire ants. I use Permethrin 36.8%SFR mixed at .05% in a pump up sprayer with the nozzle straight stream and spray back and forth across the mound. At one point the top of the mound caves in, that is where you shove the nozzle downward until it stops , pull back a little and shove in a different direction all with the nozzle full blast. With a gallon of mixture eight or ten mounds can be killed out. Do research on the above name on Internet or EBay to get best price. . Now to our "Bees again" the op talked about. We had a hole in the ground near my anvil. I stood about twelve feet away and with a straight stream directed it on and around the hole. I suppose they did not know where the danger was coming from. The returning hornets kept going into the hole as before. Next day several were lying at the mouth of the hole. Done deal, no more hornets.

[Plate plinker]

Ordinary 90% rubbing alcohol works just as well. I've kept a spray bottle handy for this purpose for many years now. Lots cheaper than Bra-Kleen.

That alcohol and a lighter in front of the sprayer works very well.

[gwpercle]

You all be sure and kill all the bee's because them pesky pollinators ain't good for nothing... But after they are all dead and gone I don't want to hear any complaints abot food not growing...none !

[Minerat]

You all be sure and kill all the bee's because them pesky pollinators ain't good for nothing... But after they are all dead and gone I don't want to hear any complaints abot food not growing...none !

These are not honey bees that pollinate flowers. Here is a link so you will know what is being discussed. I found it rather interesting and am glad I don't have that problem.

https://entomology.ca.uky.edu/ef611.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Many ground dwelling bees/wasps are beneficial pollinators, specifically if they are one variety of the many, many varieties of Bumble Bees, some of which are ground dwelling. In fact, I have had a couple Bumble Bee nests in my yard over the years, they usually only stick around for 3 or 4 months..and are fun to watch when my gooseberry bush is blooming...they also hit the Raspberry blooms pretty hard as well. Anyway, myself, I wouldn't kill any, unless they were a nuisance.

[Minerat]

I have some ground bees that showed up in the spring for the first time. I processed some cruddy beeswax my father in law got me and scraped the bottom of the cake into my wifes flower bed (seemed like a good idea at the time). When it warmed up we had bees from all over getting the flakes and a colony of ground bees moved in and spent the summer. Swambo wanted them sprayed so I said yes dear and got my trusty pump sprayer and really gave it to them.....with straight water. Told her later the spray I had would not work but I would keep trying. Not sure if they will be back but if they can put up with getting flooded every two days by the sprinklers then they are welcome here.

[OldBearHair]

That nuisance factor really builds fast as you are getting stung by big red wasps as you walk from the house to the shop on two consecutive days or the ground dwelling hornets too close to the gate of the chicken pen. LOL And I like to watch as the bumble bees and other wasps are pollinating the pepper plants and the rest of the garden plants.

[farmbif]

44 mag homemade shotshells with no 12 shot is much more sporting than a spraycan

[owejia]

Saw my first carpenter bee Saturday. Loaded walnut media shells and ready for those suckers. Even sent couple hundred 357 mag loads to Texas with my nephew to use on them since they moved out in the country. Have fun, good hunting and shooting.

[Tom W.]

When I lived in Eufaula I had carpenter bees making holes in the back deck cover beams. I'd use a pellet rifle and sneak up on them as they landed and blow them apart with a blast of air. In the evening when they would go into their holes in the beams I'd get the caulking gun and pump the hole full. They never came back out...

[trails4u]

Carpenter bee season is just upon us here..... Me and the 12yo daughter have not yet brought out the C&B revolvers for a good shoot, but I'm certain we will soon. Dastardly things eat my entire house.....and we just can't have that. And...of course, watching your daughter blast them with a Colt Walker loaded with dry rice is most satisfying as well! :)

[Nazgul]

I have 2 Ruger Montados in 45 Colt. Load very light load of fast powder, wad fill with dry rice, glue a wad on to close. Makes a great way to spend the day shooting wood bees working on my wood work!!

Safety glasses required, rice bounces off the house.

Used this to introduce a non shooter and a young one to pistols. They laughed the whole time.

Don

[rsrocket1]

Here's a great video:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLNCmr7FZis

Only for the fact that he makes his own napalm.

The next video I'll look for is where someone makes his own fast breeder reactor to nuke 'em.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Don't need a breeder reactor, just a hot Cobalt source (And to be nuts enough to get NEAR the stuff!) I'd use molten Aluminum, for ground nests, that'd fix 'em.

[uscra112]

You musta seen the video. Molten aluminum makes some interesting art work.

[Markopolo]

You guys need help...

[AllanD]

Don't need a breeder reactor, just a hot Cobalt source (And to be nuts enough to get NEAR the stuff!) I'd use molten Aluminum, for ground nests, that'd fix 'em.


Agreed, cobalt is too rich a Gamma Source, but half a kilo of natural uranium should do the trick...
If you have a steady source of running water you should also be able to harvest about a Megawatt
from the steam generated...

[Mr_Sheesh]

Thought more on it and maybe the "Right" tool for the job would be a "Light Saber". LOL

[Pb Burner]

Like a few other people I use "shotshells". I use clays in 357mag brass and card wads cut from a cereal box. I use grits for shot, learned that on this forum. Wont damage gutters and such, lots of fun, the wife just shakes her head.

[beagle]

Speaking of bees. Was hanging a disk on the tractor this morning and a couple of wood bees are already out. Time to inventory my basic load for the spring season./beagle

[owejia]

Had a pretty good shoot this afternoon, around 50 rounds fired, not all hits but it usually takes a few times to get up to speed, or I may just be getting slower with age.

[trails4u]

Me and the kids had a good shoot this afternoon.... I did most of the loading, they did most of the shooting. :) Worked through a tin of caps....so a hundred or so downrange. Probably killed 30-40 or so. Good day!

[Uncle Grinch]

I like to catch the carpenter bees as they patrol their territory. They will often stop and hover as they guard their turf. Grab the old Red Rider BB gun and pop them in mid-air. My grand-daughter just loves to pop them bees.

[6string]

I guess I'm a bit "off season" but...
We had a problem with ground bees in one part of the yard a few years ago (before I heard all the great ideas here.) There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. They had a network of ground holes. When a couple holes were bored into veranda beams, that was too much.
Bug sprays were ineffective...no point going after them one by one at that pace.

So, I grabbed my propane tank and torch. Just set up a couple feet away. They got all excited just by being there. I could just fan the air wherever a bunch were flying and they'd curl up mid air, as they turned to crunchy little curled up balls, and fell to the ground dead.
There were so many piled up, I could rake them up.
After a couple days, they were all gone.
They came back two more years. I procrastinated a bit the second year. But, it still worked well.
The third year, I was ready. Got them all a day or so after they appeared.
That did the trick. No more have been here in maybe 8 yrs or so.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Friend gets "wood bees" up this way, they bore into house siding and keep boring holes...

He puts a "tired" shopvac so it's next to the hole, then runs it 3/4 of the time or so (too long on and they get suspicious at the losses.) Seems to solve his bee problem. Not as sporting, but inside city limits you can't do certain things, some claim :P

[flagman1776]

I've tried loading uncooked rice in shells for carpender bees. It seems to do the job if I can get in range.

[Alferd Packer]

I make coffee every morning.
I dump the grounds on newspaper and they are dried out by the next day.
I save them up in an empty coffee can and use them for my shot loads.
They blast the carpenter bees and wasps and unlike the loads that use grits and rice, don't leave bits of food to feed other bugs.
It just so happens that coffee is repellent to roaches, ants, termites, wasps and bees as well as flies.
If you can believe the internet.

[Nueces]

As a lad in the South Texas border country, our favorite method against the ubiquitous red ant beds was to equip with a BB gun, handful of the old red top kitchen matches and a 6 ounce Coke bottle of gasoline. Couple of ounces of gas down the ant hole, then load a match into the BB gun and let fly. The match heads would pop upon impact and light the gas. So, lawless shooting and arson in one go!

[flagman1776]

I guess I'm a bit "off season" but...
We had a problem with ground bees in one part of the yard a few years ago (before I heard all the great ideas here.) There were hundreds of them, maybe thousands. They had a network of ground holes. When a couple holes were bored into veranda beams, that was too much.
Bug sprays were ineffective...no point going after them one by one at that pace.

So, I grabbed my propane tank and torch. Just set up a couple feet away. They got all excited just by being there. I could just fan the air wherever a bunch were flying and they'd curl up mid air, as they turned to crunchy little curled up balls, and fell to the ground dead.
There were so many piled up, I could rake them up.
After a couple days, they were all gone.
They came back two more years. I procrastinated a bit the second year. But, it still worked well.
The third year, I was ready. Got them all a day or so after they appeared.
That did the trick. No more have been here in maybe 8 yrs or so.

Once upon a time, I worked at a marina. We had a spark ignition propane gun with a wide 6" nozzle for shrink wrapping boats. I wonder how that would do? I had a think about ground yellow jackets (I'm allergic) which used to make nests in the horse trails. Me and my horse got stung on too many occasions.

[ReloaderFred]

I make coffee every morning.
I dump the grounds on newspaper and they are dried out by the next day.
I save them up in an empty coffee can and use them for my shot loads.
They blast the carpenter bees and wasps and unlike the loads that use grits and rice, don't leave bits of food to feed other bugs.
It just so happens that coffee is repellent to roaches, ants, termites, wasps and bees as well as flies.
If you can believe the internet.

I guess that's why I never learned to drink the vile stuff.......:(

[beagle]

That works on yellow jackets. As a kid, we'd take a 1/5th bottle filled with gas. Set on ground in front of hole. Light a gas soaked rag and place next to hole. Take a hoe and dig about three licks to dig up nest. Haul buggy. Wait until the crowd gets to swarming good and shoot with shotgun. The resulting blast gives a napalm affect and instantly neutralizes all airborne participants and the nest. When it burns down, you can go in and dig the nest out and the residual flames get the remainder. Not for dry weather use.

For wasp nests, a 30/06 with a military blank is hard to beat. Back off about 18" and the nest and participants are vaporized./beagle


As a lad in the South Texas border country, our favorite method against the ubiquitous red ant beds was to equip with a BB gun, handful of the old red top kitchen matches and a 6 ounce Coke bottle of gasoline. Couple of ounces of gas down the ant hole, then load a match into the BB gun and let fly. The match heads would pop upon impact and light the gas. So, lawless shooting and arson in one go!

[trapper9260]

Another way, if you can find the hole. Wait till after dark when they are all in and pour a kettle of boiling water down the hole and cover it. Never had it fail yet.

Done this with ants also .

[Texas by God]

Old Regular (or Ethel if you wanted the good stuff) gasoline was our method throw a small glass of it on the red and paper wasp nests that were on the house. It killed them on contact- no fire required and don’t smoke AROUND the house for a few days.....

[owejia]

Bees are back. Shot a few today, trying to finish up my loads in 45acp for my S&W Brazilian 1937. Have plenty loaded in 38 spl and 357 mag.

[beagle]

Noticed a few at the barn today too. All loaded for the season. Will wait a couple of days as the main flight isn't in yet. Can't wait to try out the new recipes./beagle

[OldBearHair]

Overkill ????? Nauhhhh!! The way they hurt with their little sting thingy, maybe even more firepower

[Winger Ed.]

There's a kid on youtube that has a few videos of flying RC a drone up & around bee or wasp nests.
Its a hoot. Kind of tough on the wasps though.:bigsmyl2:

[Baltimoreed]

Every year or so since my retirement I’ve been fighting a battle with those big borer bees cutting holes in my deck and shed. I don’t shoot them though, I use a badminton racket. Two years ago I whacked 600, last year only a couple hundred, this year I’m up to 260 as of today. It’s not as easy as it looks. Good PT.

[djohns28]

I like to pop them with my henry lever gun and the Federal crimped top 22 shot shells. The blue cups break on the CCI trying to cycle them. Been meaning to load some up for my 38 special with shot cards.

[ScotMc]

You Guys are GREAT. Here in Washington state we have the red and black ants that build their nest above and below the ground in a mound. They are mean little buggers. A cup of good old #2 fuel oil (diesel) stops them dead. They will never rebuild there either.