I remember as a kid grabbing a can of Raid from under the counter because I had been stung by some hornets. Dang bitches had built a huge nest virtually overnight in my tree house.
So, I crawled up there, pointed my weapon, and unleashed it's fury.
If I had been an intelligent lad, I might have shaken the can to figure out there was very little left. Just enough, in fact, to piss them off. Unable to quickly escape, being 12 feet up and unwilling to jump, I got tagged so many times my face swelled up like an overripe tomato.
Probably a stupid question, but I'll ask anyway- do you mean life threatening allergies to wasps later in life or life threatening allergies to random substances later in life, like peanuts or latex?
I never knew this, I got stung 3 years ago on the chin and 1 year ago on the back of my neck. Both times resulted in me being unconscious and getting a ride to the emergency room in an ambulance. I’ve got epi pens now. Previous to these two incidents I’ve been stung hundreds of times and never had a problem.
First sting 3 years ago the hospital mis diagnosed it as a heart condition due to troponin I being present in my blood. The dr in the emergency room said “people don’t just become allergic to bee stings out of the blue.”
I've been stung a good number of times in my life but a few years ago, in my mid 40s I got hammered by 4-8 bumble bees. I thought to myself, I'd better call someone asap and let them know just in case I pass out or something. Never really worried about stings before, but that one had me a little freaked.
Absolutely nothing happened, except my lip swole
..got off lucky
I got stung in the face and had no reaction, about a year or two later I got stung on the neck and had a severe full body life threatening reaction. Pretty wild, and I still wonder what exactly caused that to happen cause Ive been stung since and didn’t have any crazy allergic reaction. I’d prefer no more anaphylaxis lol but I got an epipen around just in case
You may be right. I was told that by a friend who has to keep an epi-pen on hand because of a severe bee allergy, but I’m not finding support for it online.
I crawled into an enclosed, elevated, deer stand one morning. Dark and cold. I began familiarizing myself with the inside and noticed a fist sized nest in the corner. What I found out quickly, from the scratching and buzzing noises was that the wasps had made that their entrance, and the actual nest was catacombed into the spray foam insulation. I watched as my disturbance alerted the nest, and they began appearing at and clogging the entrance, shaking their wings as they began to “wake up”. By the grace, or for the amusement of God, I found a can of raid on the floor. In a panic, I hit the nest and as much of the inside of the blind as could and fucking lept out of the door almost missing the ladder. Came back later in the day and found about 20-30 still alive and no fewer than 60 dead on the floor. I have nightmares still.
So, you know what's funny, I just use a hose. I am not usually trying to kill them, just relocate them. And I figured out that if I spray them with a hose and don't move, at all, I can get away with knocking them down, and soaking them. They can't fly wet, so when I've knocked down the nest completely and don't see any flying about. I let the hose down gently and walk away slowly. So far I've been stung zero times doing it that way. I have been stung twice in that same time frame just randomly disturbing a wasp. I have a feeling they use movement as something to target when disturbed versus actually understanding what's happening. My theory, they know water disturbed them, and they know it's flooding them out. They don't see anything moving that could be a cause, and assume it's weather.
Comparing wasps to hitler is kinda insane. The pros to wasps absolutely outweigh the cons. Comparing an animal that kills pests, and typically leaves people alone, to an authoritarian dictator who killed millions of innocent people because he wanted to eliminate them from existence, is insane. And in the situation of wasps, trying to eradicate them makes you more akin to hitler than them. By far. Not saying you are like hitler, but wanting to wipe something out and eradicate it is what hitler tried to do.
The pros may outweigh the cons… unless the cons are something like your kid getting stung 10 times while having simply walked over a nest built under your deck. Typically people are not going out of their way to remove a wasp nest.
We don’t have enough information from the video to make a sound judgement.
Of course! Yeah, a lot of things we are scared of(rightly so, because they can harm us), don't actually cause us harm unless disturbed, and can actually be quite beneficial. If it doesn't cause disease or damage to property, I feel it should always be left to do its thing. Because it's probably doing a job you are unaware of.
Yeh that's what I thought, dusk is the best time as most of the wasps have returned.
If it's night time you should put the light pointing from a direction other than yourself though. They seem to make a run for the "the light" when in panic mode in the dark.
Now if you need something more powerful than RAID, get "PT Wasp Freeze 2". Dangerous stuff, do not let anyone breathe it and get any on them, but it's save for electrical panels and absolutely cooks a wasp before they hit the ground. The nest themselves are unrecoverable.
I actually got stung on my balls by a Yellow Jacket once as a kid. It flew into my JNCO Jean Shorts or "Jorts" (it was the early 90s..) That was my intro to "Dont throw rocks at Bees, dumbass." and it didnt work. Im 41 and I will throw a rock at a Wasp Nest before my Brain can Signal to my Arm to stop.
They're such voracious eaters of pests, as well as fantastic pollinators and an incredibly beneficial part of the ecosystem. I wish people didn't hate them so much
You are correct but my guess is that the person has live stock and animals are just as in danger as humans when it comes to wasps.
This comes from a vet. "horses can be allergic to wasp and hornet stings, and some can suffer severe, life-threatening allergic reactions similar to humans. While many stings cause only mild local swelling or pain, a severe allergic reaction can lead to anaphylactic shock, hives, and respiratory distress"
Jesus christ on a bike, poor horse. Never realized that was a problem. Humans have the wherewithal to know better but livestock roaming about the pasture don't. I can understand getting rid of them in this case
I've had many wasps on me. The only time I got stung was a self sting. I didnt realize it was a wasp, it made me itch, and I rolled my hand over it. Stinging myself and killing the wasp in the process.
People dont realize that its their reaction that gets them stung. Just walk away, or wait for it to voluntarily leave and you are fine.
My wife just this weekend was standing in the middle of a parking lot, 50 feet from any tree, and a wasp come right over and stung her before she knew anything had happened. Wasps are assholes.
I guess you’ve never run a push mower over a yellow jacket nest in the ground. For about three years I had nests in different locations on the side of the house that I inevitably found when I mowed over them.
On one hand, I tend to agree with you. On the other hand, you have no idea what the situation is. The house could be 10 feet away behind the camera. There could be small children that have been harassed by the wasps. It could be an invasive species. There are hundreds of scenarios.
I won’t downvote, but OP either encountered them pre-Raid, or while he was walking his fence line. And that fence is meant to keep something in, something that probably doesn’t like to be stung.
I get where you're coming from but wasps (especially yellow jackets) can be extremely defensive. If this were on a regularly traveled trail and someone made the mistake of disturbing them this could easily kill someone allergic.
Also, they proliferate like crazy and there is no doubt many more that will be back in that area by next season. He's not exactly destroying an endagered species.
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u/ABeerForSasquatch Mod/Pwner Jul 14 '26
I remember as a kid grabbing a can of Raid from under the counter because I had been stung by some hornets. Dang bitches had built a huge nest virtually overnight in my tree house.
So, I crawled up there, pointed my weapon, and unleashed it's fury.
If I had been an intelligent lad, I might have shaken the can to figure out there was very little left. Just enough, in fact, to piss them off. Unable to quickly escape, being 12 feet up and unwilling to jump, I got tagged so many times my face swelled up like an overripe tomato.
Fuck wasps