Bees in your A/C?

[Vulcaneer]

SInce coming back from Florida in May, our trailer has been sitting in the driveway. Last week went up to clean the roof. Noticed a lot of bees flying around. But didn't really pay a whole lot of attention. But did notice pretty high activity. I AM allergic to bee stings.

It finally occurred to me they were flying in and out of the A/C. Sprayed it down. But the bees still came in and out. More spray. Less bees...but some. Wait til dusk...More spray. A few bees...More spray. A few in air shots. No stings...yet. Shooting from the ladder. Those 20 foot shooting cans are great.

Got the guts to remove the A/C shroud. That really got them going. Quick draw on the squirt can. This is WAR. Escaped by scrambling down the ladder. Feeling like a guy on a rattlesnake roundup. Squirt, step, squirt, step, etc...

A bees nest about the size of a volley ball. Really??? In only two months????

Call in the heavy artillary. In the bed of the pick up some 30 feet away. Hey...I ain't no sniper....Fire up the pressure washer. With the 0* tip. Blast away. One shot, 2000 Kills.

DW comes out..."Bob....Just what the heII do you think you're doing? " At least she won't have bees in the trailer when she lights up the A/C.

Yeah...Bob's a friggen bee killer.

Don't let this happen to you.

[CavemanCharlie]

Vulcaneer wrote:

CavemanCharlie wrote:

Is Benedryl compatible with people that have high blood pressure I wonder?

Check with your doctor. Don't take internet advice on this type of thing.

I have high blood pressure. But not all that high. It works for me. But then I need to measure the risk/reward factor.

For a little discomfort issue from a bit of itching, I doubt I would try a risky solution. Just tough it out.

BTW...Yeah...this hospital really sucks. But convenient. Next closest is an hour away. I could try the ambulance. But here's the deal. Takes them 10 minutes to get to you. They take you to the same hospital for triage. Another 20 minutes. Then if needed, will transport to another hospital by air ambulance. Another 10 minutes to get the helicopter there and then another 20 minutes to the hospital that is just an hour away if I just get in the car and drive there.

So add it up. An hour doing it that way with all that crap. And the ambulance ride is $1000. The triage is $5,000. The ER doctor is another $2,000 for Sunday service. The helicopter ride is another 12,000 with ER assistants. Then the last hospital has additional similar costs. So easily, a total cost of $50,000 before any treatment.

Sure maybe insurance will pay for some of it. But this is robbery...regardless. And even if insurance/medicare pays...who really pays? It is you. And me. And every other taxpayer in the USA.

All for a little hornet sting. Have we lost our minds?

I hear you. Sometimes I think we may have all lost our minds.

[Vulcaneer]

CavemanCharlie wrote:

Is Benedryl compatible with people that have high blood pressure I wonder?

Check with your doctor. Don't take internet advice on this type of thing.

I have high blood pressure. But not all that high. It works for me. But then I need to measure the risk/reward factor.

For a little discomfort issue from a bit of itching, I doubt I would try a risky solution. Just tough it out.

BTW...Yeah...this hospital really sucks. But convenient. Next closest is an hour away. I could try the ambulance. But here's the deal. Takes them 10 minutes to get to you. They take you to the same hospital for triage. Another 20 minutes. Then if needed, will transport to another hospital by air ambulance. Another 10 minutes to get the helicopter there and then another 20 minutes to the hospital that is just an hour away if I just get in the car and drive there.

So add it up. An hour doing it that way with all that crap. And the ambulance ride is $1000. The triage is $5,000. The ER doctor is another $2,000 for Sunday service. The helicopter ride is another 12,000 with ER assistants. Then the last hospital has additional similar costs. So easily, a total cost of $50,000 before any treatment.

Sure maybe insurance will pay for some of it. But this is robbery...regardless. And even if insurance/medicare pays...who really pays? It is you. And me. And every other taxpayer in the USA.

All for a little hornet sting. Have we lost our minds?

[CavemanCharlie]

Vulcaneer wrote:
More Hornets. Ground nest. Just like Dog Folks predicted. This time one got me. Trip to the hospital.

Last Sunday mowing the lawn on the tractor. A beautiful day. Mid 80's, low humidity, sunny. Me in a tee shirt and shorts/sandals. Almost done on the back forty. OUCH...SON OF A....!!!! Stung on right forearm. Put her into over drive. Choke down a few Benedryls. Wife screaming at me to not OD. Only got about 4 down before she grabbed the bottle out of my hand.

"OK...Honey. I'm off to the hospital." "Oh NO YOU DON"T STUPID!!!! Wait for me to drive you. You just doped up on Benedryl, A-HOLE. You ain't driving anywhere. All I gotta do is put on my eye makeup." "Yeah....alright....just starting to get a little itchy. So we got some time yet." Ten minutes later..."Hey Hon...we gotta go...NOW!!! Whats taking you so long?"

"What....you said we got plenty of time." "Yeah well I'm startin to swell up now." Getting the hives. Itching all over. And lips are getting numb. If you aren't ready, I'm taking off now. I'll call you when I get a chance." "Hold on there cowboy. I'm coming right now. Get in the car. And don't think about driving....Stupid!!!"

Get to the ER and they are LOADED. But rush me right in...on the FAST TRACK. Shove an IV into me. Nurses all over me. Watching me swell up and develop welts all over me. "You just lay still until we can get a Doctor to approve the IV. You did say you have insurance, Right?"

Lay there for two hours with no doctor and no IV. Itching eventually starts to subside. And welts are looking a little better. Finally, here comes the doctor.... "Hey whats the problem....You don't look so bad." All I need is a friggen shot. And I'll be outta here."

"OH no! No shot for you. Not at your age." "Then why are you keeping me then." What are you gunna do? We're gunna dose you up on steroids thru your IV. We'll need to watch you for a couple hours, tho'. But the steroids will take about 6 hours to take effect." "What ?? Six hours? Then why are you going to observe me for a couple hours?" Just to see how you handle the steroids." " Who is your insurance carrier? You got supplemental, right?"

"Wait Doc...I think the worst is over. Look my hives are almost gone. The itching has stopped. My lips are less numb, now. I think I don't need your treatment now. Appears the Benedryl is finally kicking in. Get a nurse to unplug me and I am outta here. " I knew I was on the right track, because my wife, and the nurses agreed with me.

And they did....And I did. So they really did nothing for me, in the 5 or 6 hours I was there.

Three days later and about 20 more Benedryl. And almost no sign of a problem.

Wow, quite the story. Glad it all worked out for you.

Sounds like maybe you might want to find a different hospital if you can. Around here they treat you first and worry about insurance later. We are not so booked at our hospitals that you can't get in to see a doctor either. Maybe I'm just lucky to live here. Although I guess I've never been to the emergency room. I know my luck will run out someday though. I'm 50 now and time will catch up to me soon enough.

I've heard of Benedryl , never had any. Don't have any allergies. I just now had to look it up to see what it was.

I wonder if it would help on those days when I have to power wash down the hog barn. The dust, dander, mold, and manure can make me feel like I have a cold and my eyes will swell up. I've learned to only wash for 6 hours a day and then take a long shower with lots of steam. I try to inhale the water through my nose. Then I sleep with a steamer on full of Vicks vapor rub. This keep me feeling at least kinda OK. I only have to wash the barn down about 3 times a year and I try to beg, plead, and pay some troubled teenager to do it for me. They will for a couple of times until they realize how bad of a job it is and then they quit.

Is Benedryl compatible with people that have high blood pressure I wonder?

[CavemanCharlie]

I have something called Cicada Bees , or something like that, that build lots of holes in the ground right outside the door of my house. They tell me there harmless but, they make me nervous. Been trying to figure out how to get rid of them for years. Haven't seen any this year yet. Might be too early, or it might be the really cold winter we had last year.

Funny thing is, this type of bee is supposedly only suppose to make one hole lay a egg in it and fly away. The ones I have are not like that at all. There are definitely different bees going in and out of the same holes. And,, They seem to have different groups of bees because I've seen them fight if the wrong bee goes down the wrong hole. Not sure what they are but, the exterminator refuses to come over and look at them. Just keeps telling me there harmless.

[Vulcaneer]

Now to kill the nest....Suit up...and observe. Find the hole and mark it. Locate the secondary escape hole. And mark that one too.

Walk into the house...."What the heck are you doin' dressed up like that? ....Oh no you don't! Don't be such an idiot." What if you get stung again? It only takes one." How can you be such an IDIOT? Next one could kill you."

"Yeah but the dogs go out there. Don't want them to get ganged up on do you? And what about the grand kids." "Yeah...I guess you're right. Just be careful...you dope. I did buy the stronger Benedryl yesterday. And the liquid is supposed to work faster, too. But if you get stung we're of to the hospital again. You can swig down the Benedryl on the way."

So I wait til after dark. Cover their holes with plastic, and weight it down so no escape possible. Hey...it worked on you tube I can see they are ready for a fight. But they can't get out. Cut a slit and plug with funnel with a good strainer. Pour in about a cup of Dawn dishwashing detergent. Followed immediately with 3 gallons of boiling soapy water. Then cover the hole. Few minutes later, flood with garden hose. See the water and larvae, and nest bits come up thru the secondary escape hole. A few suffering hornets too. But they cannot fly. The soap coats their wings.

Checked it out the following day. From a safe distance. Pretty much destroyed the nest. A big hole in the ground where the nest was. Some flyers buzzing around. Seems they weren't all at home last night. A few out hitting the bars, I guess. So I won't be mowing the lawn again out there for a while. Will watch them to see where they build their homes next. Who knows?....I might have another colony somewhere.

I can see this war is not over yet.

[Vulcaneer]

More Hornets. Ground nest. Just like Dog Folks predicted. This time one got me. Trip to the hospital.

Last Sunday mowing the lawn on the tractor. A beautiful day. Mid 80's, low humidity, sunny. Me in a tee shirt and shorts/sandals. Almost done on the back forty. OUCH...SON OF A....!!!! Stung on right forearm. Put her into over drive. Choke down a few Benedryls. Wife screaming at me to not OD. Only got about 4 down before she grabbed the bottle out of my hand.

"OK...Honey. I'm off to the hospital." "Oh NO YOU DON"T STUPID!!!! Wait for me to drive you. You just doped up on Benedryl, A-HOLE. You ain't driving anywhere. All I gotta do is put on my eye makeup." "Yeah....alright....just starting to get a little itchy. So we got some time yet." Ten minutes later..."Hey Hon...we gotta go...NOW!!! Whats taking you so long?"

"What....you said we got plenty of time." "Yeah well I'm startin to swell up now." Getting the hives. Itching all over. And lips are getting numb. If you aren't ready, I'm taking off now. I'll call you when I get a chance." "Hold on there cowboy. I'm coming right now. Get in the car. And don't think about driving....Stupid!!!"

Get to the ER and they are LOADED. But rush me right in...on the FAST TRACK. Shove an IV into me. Nurses all over me. Watching me swell up and develop welts all over me. "You just lay still until we can get a Doctor to approve the IV. You did say you have insurance, Right?"

Lay there for two hours with no doctor and no IV. Itching eventually starts to subside. And welts are looking a little better. Finally, here comes the doctor.... "Hey whats the problem....You don't look so bad." All I need is a friggen shot. And I'll be outta here."

"OH no! No shot for you. Not at your age." "Then why are you keeping me then." What are you gunna do? We're gunna dose you up on steroids thru your IV. We'll need to watch you for a couple hours, tho'. But the steroids will take about 6 hours to take effect." "What ?? Six hours? Then why are you going to observe me for a couple hours?" Just to see how you handle the steroids." " Who is your insurance carrier? You got supplemental, right?"

"Wait Doc...I think the worst is over. Look my hives are almost gone. The itching has stopped. My lips are less numb, now. I think I don't need your treatment now. Appears the Benedryl is finally kicking in. Get a nurse to unplug me and I am outta here. " I knew I was on the right track, because my wife, and the nurses agreed with me.

And they did....And I did. So they really did nothing for me, in the 5 or 6 hours I was there.

Three days later and about 20 more Benedryl. And almost no sign of a problem.

[Dog_Folks]

While we are on the subject: When arriving at a strange campground, and hooking up the shore cord, open the cover carefully.

A hornet/wasp/yellow jacket may have built, or started to build a nest there. They do not like to be disturbed.

Do not ask me how I know. 🙂

[mlts22]

Had a bunch of hornets in my A/C last year... was wondering why it was hard to start, until a basketball sized blob of paper got chipped out.

[Dog_Folks]

Vulcaneer wrote:
They are what we always called "yellow jackets". Maybe they are really classified as hornets. The nest did look like the photo Paul posted. Inside had some individual cells. I don't know. And I don't care. But those are the suckers that I am allergic to. You say TOMATO...I say POTATO. Can "BEE" be a generic term?

Doctor told me that the venom will always remain in my body. And if stung again, could be just as serious. Or more so. So I don't like to mess with anything that looks like a bee, and stings me.

Based on the picture, you ran into paper wasps, family "Vespinae" which does include hornets and wasps.

No I'm sorry, Bee cannot be a generic term, there is just too much difference between the insect families. They are as different as a car and a battle tank. Both are vehicles, but with big differences.

I won't go into why because I already know that you don't care, but it may be very important to some. And we need to keep from confusing people.

I certainly do not blame you for not wanting to tangle with any flying, stinging insect. It could kill you.

Considering your last allergic reaction I would seriously ask my doctor about carrying an Epipen. (epinephrine auto injector) It could literally save your life if you are stung accidentally.

[Vulcaneer]

They are what we always called "yellow jackets". Maybe they are really classified as hornets. The nest did look like the photo Paul posted. Inside had some individual cells. I don't know. And I don't care. But those are the suckers that I am allergic to. You say TOMATO...I say POTATO. Can "BEE" be a generic term?

Ever since I got one stuck in my motorcycle helmet when on a New England enduro. A timed trail ride. I was stung about eight times. And don't tell me they cannot sting eight times. I know better. About 30 minutes later after itching all over and starting to swell up. I left the trail and rode to the hospital emergency room. Started having a little bit of trouble breathing and my tongue was getting big. Doctor gave me a shot of Anti-histamine (I think). And gave me hell for driving there on my own. Now mind you, I was all sweaty, wet, muddy, and just real gross. They watched me for a few hours. They seemed to be pretty nervous for a while. I didn't think it was any big deal...at the time. Now I know better.

Doctor told me that the venom will always remain in my body. And if stung again, could be just as serious. Or more so. So I don't like to mess with anything that looks like a bee, and stings me.

[Dog_Folks]

Vulcaneer wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
If the mass of bees was shaped like a ball, as the OP reported, all this battle was completely unnecessary!

Vulcaneer wrote in the OP.... A bees nest about the size of a volley ball.

Not a swarm. A NEST.

First of all, bees do not NEST. They form "COLONIES."

It depends on what you saw that define as a "NEST." If there was any physical structure, then chances are they were not bees but rather some other insect in the group hymenoptera.

No structure, just lots of bees, more likely a SWARM.

In most instances the colonies are NOT VISIBLE, but rather buried in a crevice. You only usually see a few (Less than 20) bees outside the colony at one time. Not "a lot of bees flying around."

There really isn't enough information to make an trustworthy identification.

You wonder if insects could build a "nest" in two months. The short answer is, sure they can. That is not unusual, at least in Florida, depending on the number of insects and the specie.

Did you carry it back from Florida? Highly unlikely.

I offer this information so that maybe, people that are allergic to bee stings can recognize the difference between a SWARM and a COLONY and do not have to risk a sting killing a swarm.

I am glad it worked out for you, and that you were not stung.

[camperpaul]

Vulcaneer wrote:

Dog Folks wrote:
If the mass of bees was shaped like a ball, as the OP reported, all this battle was completely unnecessary!

Vulcaneer wrote in the OP.... A bees nest about the size of a volley ball.

Not a swarm. A NEST.

If the nest looked like this, they were hornets, not bees.

[Vulcaneer]

Dog Folks wrote:
If the mass of bees was shaped like a ball, as the OP reported, all this battle was completely unnecessary!

Vulcaneer wrote in the OP.... A bees nest about the size of a volley ball.

Not a swarm. A NEST.

[4x4Bob]

Around here we are blessed with two types of Wasp's that like our trailer. One builds nests out of mud and the other builds a paper nest. The paper nest is really dangerous if they get up into the exhaust vent of the heater or the refrigerator.

I have installed screens every where that I can and they still get in.

In June this year getting the TT ready for a trip I found six nests. One inside of each awning arm. Two inside the cover for the spare tire. Two up under neath the slide out and one inside the door of the hot water heater.

I know to be careful with the spray because if I don't knock them all down the first time they will give chase. So, I sneakly climb up the ladder to shoot down inside the awning arm and one out on patrol came back and nailed me on the side of the face. Luck no sting just an impact that caused me to dismount the ladder in record time.

Signed
Another wasp killing Bob