Hornets in the mountains

[hamatime]

Anybody else noticing a higher than normal amounts of hornets in the mountains? Was up on Labor Day weekend and they were everywhere, we had to have one designated person fanning and hitting them away while boning out my dads deer.

 

[Hem]

I've had that happen during a mild early November.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Had a five hour drive across Az. with a boned out Bull Elk
in the back of a station wagon.All the windows down,haulin'Bolls.
And there were still hornets on some parts of the meat when we reached Phx.

 

[kmott]

Had a five hour drive across Az. with a boned out Bull Elk
in the back of a station wagon.All the windows down,haulin'Bolls.
And there were still hornets on some parts of the meat when we reached Phx.

nice! congrats on the bull!

 

[ClearCreek]

Anybody else noticing a higher than normal amounts of hornets in the mountains? Was up on Labor Day weekend and they were everywhere, we had to have one designated person fanning and hitting them away while boning out my dads deer.

Seems we are seeing more off the mountain also. While sitting out back of the house the hornets are buzzing around all the time.

ClearCreek

 

[Hummer]

Wasps and hornets are abundant in the mountains from mid August to mid September. It's a common annual occurrence at this time. They are efficient predators on biting flies, smaller insects and any carrion. Yea! But beyond any implied approval, I eliminate them around my house whenever possible.

Last week I walked into the forest to water the flowers and soon realized I was stepping on a ground nest of wasps. I got stung on the arm and hand before I could escape. It stung, swelled, hurt and itched for a week. Two days beforehand I found an 8" paper hornet nest under the eaves. I wiped out all inhabitants of both nests with extreme prejudice. and with no regret.

I'm cool with mountain lions, bears and bigfoot, too, but not so close to my home that they become a threat.

 

[LCH]

What species of hornet are you guys dealing with? We have bald-faced hornets around here, but I've never seen them become a nuisance on game.

I've also seen the tarantula hawk wasps in Arizona, they gave us half-hearted pursuit, I think for our sweat.

 

[wytex]

I believe they are talking about meat bees or yellow jackets.
They are only looking for a meal and won't really bother you.
Bald faced hornets, not so easy going.
Ground nesting hornets can be found in the forest and they are aggressive. Step on a nest sneaking in the darkness and you'll be running as fast as possible, been there done that.
Swat any of them and get the pheromones going and every hornet or wasp around will come check you out. That happened after the ground nest episode.

 

[tarheel]

Must be yellow jackets, they're the only stinging insect i know which usually nests in the ground. Hornets build paper nests in the trees, brown and guinea wasps build paper nests under overhangs and thick trees or shrubs. We do have a few cicada killers and Japanese hornets which lay their eggs in the ground in a single tube tunnel with cells which they've dug. Yellow jackets are the only ones I know which show up and become a nuisance when you begin skinning an animal.

 

[LCH]

Gotcha @tarheel @wytex.

Yellow jackets are a nuisance for sure. Been swarmed many a time. I consider the bald-faced hornet to be a legitimate safety threat though.

 

[hank4elk]

I used to deal with hornets/meat bees often in CA. I would hang a deer in tree/shade & wrap in sheets til dark,then work on it.
Got stung all the time working/relaxing/hiking.Hate those things. Nests in half the gopher holes in Parks. Dogs would find where bears had been in nests/logs,nose around & then all hell would break loose on a hike.....
Only been bothered by them a couple times here in NM, I have seen very few.
We do have Tarantula Hawks,but they don't bother you,luckily. Hate to get stung by one of those....

 

[dirtclod Az.]

We call them Meat Bees in Az.,they show up as soon as you
start Guttin' and Gillin'.They dont sting ,but sure are a pain
in the butt.They will land on you and start chewing and drinking your sweat.
Helps to tenderize your meat.Yours and the animals!

 

[BrentD]

I believe they are talking about meat bees or yellow jackets.
They are only looking for a meal and won't really bother you.

Sadly, a yellow jacket killed a friend of mine at his home a week ago last Monday. I don't worry about them, but I understand why others do.

 

[LCH]

Sadly, a yellow jacket killed a friend of mine at his home a week ago last Monday. I don't worry about them, but I understand why others do.

A couple years ago, my at-the-time 4 year old niece got stung 30-something times by a swarm. Her dad is allergic, it turned out fortunately that she is not.

 

[cedahm]

I thought I was crazy the last two weekends - like 10X ‘normal’ amounts of all the wasps/bees/flies (NW CO). Always some around camp, but even up on the mountain every time you’d stop, they were on you in minutes.

On Saturday my daughters boyfriend was coming up from town and we had him bring one of those Yellowjacket traps to hang over the camp kitchen as my nephew had already gotten stung twice and they were all over anything near the stoves. That trap was 4 layers deep by Monday.

 

[hamatime]

We had both bald face and yellow jackets everywhere, around the deer we had about twenty of the bald face hanging around and I couldn’t count the yellow jackets. At our camp we set up hornet traps and they were overfilled in a few days. It’s just nuts every place we hiked the forest was buzzing none stop. We’ve hunted this area for many years and it’s never been this bad before.

 

[Northwoods Labs]

So labor day my uncle, dad, and I were goose/teal hunting in a marsh. On the way out I gave them some crap as I cruised back to the launch in the kayak, while they toiled along in the jon boat loaded down with the decoys, dog, guns, etc. I get up on shore and almost immediately step on a yellow jacket ground nest. They are pissed and flying around everywhere while I am yelling (more like screaming), dancing around, and swatting the air. My dad and uncle watched in the canoe just laughing their butts off. My uncle yells out that they will take out on the other side of the bridge. I got stung about half a dozen times and was the butt of a few jokes about my not very manly antics while I was being chased by yellow jackets.

 

[wytex]

Well hamatime you're right. Hornets and wasps are very active right now. Should calm down some with colder weather coming, first snow this week.
Don't swat the hornets or wasps , the pheromone they put out will attract others to you.
Take Benadryl with you if you're allergic.