Yellow Jackets Hanging nest.

[Talkenlate04]

I went to throw out my trash today and thought a fly landed on my head. Put my hand on my head only to find out there was a pile of yellow jackets on my head. 5-6 stings later I vowed to get them! I suited up in long sleeved everything, gloves and glasses. But in the end I got the whole thing. Check out how big this sucker was. Most yellow jackets here in oregon have nests in the ground, not these puppies. I dont think they are to happy in their new home.

 

[Sheri]

Damn, that takes more nads than I have, that's for sure.

As terrified as I am of them, I'm simultaneously fascinated beyond belief.

 

[Talkenlate04]

I hope you don't have nads.

Trust me It took me 45 minutes of running it through my head on how I was going to do it and even then it did not go as planned. I could not get the lid on in time cause I could see them pouring out of the nest, so I had to flip it over on the pavement then slide card board under and then get the lid on. Not to mention the pour spout let them pour out when they found it.
I want to freeze it and check out the innards of the nest. Being as we are in an apartment complex releasing them might not be a good idea. After all they sting the heck out of me.

 

[DrGigglez666]

cool

Yellow Jackets here in Virginia build nest in the ground. They are cool looking but man can they get mean and sting the crap outta you.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Oh I know all to well how mean they are, I have at least 5 welts on my head to prove it. I almost got another I put them in the freezer for 5 minutes, and they looked all calm but when I opened the container one flew right at me and bounced off my ear. I ran like a girl. They are back in the freezer again. More pics coming. I am hoping to feed some of the larva to my slings.

 

[DrGigglez666]

talkenlate04 do you any websites where you could buy bee uniforms like the white ones the dudes use to collect honey and stuff!!

 

[Talkenlate04]

Might come in handy if I were going to do this on a regular basis.
I have the queen seperated now. For some reason she exited the hive first and was close to 100% frozen, I took her with tweezers and a few works tried to murder me. They are ofcourse back in the dang freezer!

 

[Talkenlate04]

Here is a picture of guts of the nest. Oh and the body count was over 200. I liked how they thriple layered the nest to. Kind cool how insects can do things like that.

 

[Taceas]

Yeah, the ones here too nest in the ground. We have one on the bank by the road I have to mow, I always wait till after dark to mow out there without the mower lights on.

We have some wasp that does build a mini-hornet style nest, but its only got 2-3 females to it and maybe 10 cells in their nest under the outer shell. They always build up under the peak of the roof, a good distance up, so I'm not sure how they compare to the ground dwelling yellow jackets.

You definitely got more balls than me. I usually spray them with a hose and run like hell, and keep repeating till the nest falls down and I can smoosh it. But most I usually leave alone if I can as I'm sure they're beneficial in some fashion or another.

 

[Talkenlate04]

If the nest was not 3 feet above the trash area of 60+ other people I would have left it to. But once they stung me my mind set changed a little. :evil:
Even with the comb I have I could try to set them up somewhere else, the queen is still intact. And there has to be 80+ adults that are capped already and will emerge in a few days. Hmmm I dont know. Guess ill mill it over.
Anyone kept these guys before? Sounds kind crazy, they are nowhere near as tame as wasps.

 

[Stylopidae]

Had you not mentioned you were putting it in the freezer, I'd have bought the nest from you.

Not quite sure how shipping would have worked, though.

I do my fair share of waspkeeping, but I've never kept yellowjackets. It would be a fun challenge.

 

[Talkenlate04]

Had you not mentioned you were putting it in the freezer, I'd have bought the nest from you.

Not quite sure how shipping would have worked, though.

I do my fair share of waspkeeping, but I've never kept yellowjackets. It would be a fun challenge.

Short of taping up my coolaid pitcher and sending it in a box I have no clue how we could have shipped that.
I woke up this morning and found 15 workers or so on the nest. They must have hatched overnight.

 

[CID143ti]

Wow, you're more of a man than I am. I think it would be really cool to keep wasps or yellow jackets but i'm a little timid to try. Several years back, I remember a guy that kept them and placed colored sheets of construction paper in with them and ended up with multicolored nests. Ever since then, I've wanted to try that but I can't find the courage. Anybody else try that before?

Thanks,

W. Smith

 

[Stylopidae]

Wow, you're more of a man than I am. I think it would be really cool to keep wasps or yellow jackets but i'm a little timid to try. Several years back, I remember a guy that kept them and placed colored sheets of construction paper in with them and ended up with multicolored nests. Ever since then, I've wanted to try that but I can't find the courage. Anybody else try that before?

Thanks,

W. Smith

Here's a link to an article I wrote on how to keep polistes (paper wasps) in captivity. The link to the article I wrote before that is included in the article.

They really do make fascinating captives.

 

[jbrd]

My wife has been collecting these paper wasp nests for years now; She waits until a cool nite to collect them. She puts a heavy duty plastic bag over the entire nest from underneath and ties it off to the branch it is hangin from (with a rag soaked in pyrethrins in the bottom of the bag) Then she will hang it in the shed for a full calendar year.
If you you put colored paper near the nest they will use this to build there nests and you can make it whatever color you like for later collection. Wait to the end of the year around first frost before collecting to get the biggest nest.
This is not recommended for the beginner.
We have some very large nests decorating our home and are very beautiful to look at.

 

[DrAce]

My wife has been collecting these paper wasp nests for years now; She waits until a cool nite to collect them. She puts a heavy duty plastic bag over the entire nest from underneath and ties it off to the branch it is hangin from (with a rag soaked in pyrethrins in the bottom of the bag) Then she will hang it in the shed for a full calendar year.
If you you put colored paper near the nest they will use this to build there nests and you can make it whatever color you like for later collection. Wait to the end of the year around first frost before collecting to get the biggest nest.
This is not recommended for the beginner.
We have some very large nests decorating our home and are very beautiful to look at.

Oh, pictures, please!