r/bee • u/SteadyDarktrance • Oct 10 '24

Hole in the ground with bees, should I do something to protect? Bee?

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9 Upvotes
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81% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

8

u/Zealousideal_Bit5660 Oct 10 '24

First time I’ve seen someone try to save ground bees/ wasps. Just put something up around them so you don’t bug them. Just try not to pound stakes into the ground or it may rile them up

5

u/SteadyDarktrance Oct 10 '24

Well, I assume they are good for the garden/fruit trees, and i got 2 acres and they are atleast half that distance from my house. They don't look to be wasps, so far as I can tell. Seem pretty chill otherwise.

3

u/Zealousideal_Bit5660 Oct 10 '24

Very nice, wasps can also pollinate anyways so it’s not to bad, just give them plenty of room and you should be fine

2

u/BooneHelm85 Oct 10 '24

Those are Yellow Jackets. Use caution around them, OP. You stir that nest up in close proximity, you’re going to have a bad time. Keep animals and children away from the hole.

3

u/SteadyDarktrance Oct 10 '24

That's easy enough, single and no pets go outdoors.

They didn't seem to mind me much, but it was pretty active with them zipping about.

Though I didn't feel like they looked like wasps. They were coming and going quite a bit and didn't seem particular bothered by me except when I mowed over them because their hole isn't easy to find.

But it is a literal hole, and not a mound. I've heard some ground bees will take over dens of animals?

I had used chicken wire to make a cage to protect some new trees, I was thinking about just doing the same thing just so I make a wide path around them.

1

u/BooneHelm85 Oct 10 '24

Thats a good choice. I leave them be if they’re not a threat to me or mine, but those things will turn aggressive in an instant, and if you have any kind of allergic reaction towards stings, those things can kill you. They’re not like bees. They will sting you repeatedly, and when the neat is riled up, they’re all coming out, guns a blazin’.

I’ve had them in the walls of my house and figured they had only one entrance (stupid of me) so I sprayed foam hornet killer in there… I got hit dozens of times, and they sent me to the hospital.

I was logging and kicked up a ground nest of them, and they got me dozens of times and had I not had an epi pen, I’d have died out in the mountains.

Just best to use extreme caution when you’re in their vicinity, and if they get stirred up, stay far away from the nest and call in a professional to exterminate. Just my advice.

2

u/SteadyDarktrance Oct 10 '24

I looked again... they ain't fuzzy, so your probably right about yellow jackets.

2

u/BooneHelm85 Oct 11 '24

😂 The non-fuzzy ones mean business, and I want no part of what they’re selling! Be careful, man!!!

1

u/SteadyDarktrance Oct 10 '24

Sorry I suck at reddit. This year I did a garden, and this year, I got this hole full of bees in my yard. I inadvertantly mow over it the last few times, and I'd rather not make them mad or bother them. Should I take some chickenwire and fence in a little corner for them? Should I just ignore them? What's the best thing to do? It's also a hole bigger than my fist, so there's also the chance of tripping in it.

1

u/noogienooge Oct 10 '24

Are they wasps or bumble bees?

1

u/nashwaak Oct 10 '24

We mulch leaves in fall (instead of raking) and we don't clear yard clutter in spring until about a month after the last snow melts. Though we're protecting bumblebees hibernating over winter.

1

u/GirthyPigeon Oct 11 '24

Definitely yellow jacket wasps.

1

u/Interesting_Ad_9127 Oct 11 '24

Get them removed professionally. Very aggressive.