yellow jackets

[Deadeyez]

Can you say m-80!

[fishman]

one about the size of a basketball fall out of my upside down canoe.

 
considering i have been on vacation for three weeks, and haven't moved the canoe for probably over a month, i might have to have a can of spray with me when i do move it

[phead lakeman]

hornets are nothing to mess around with.they can be dangerous but kinda of fun to fight them off.gl with that.

[trapper2000]

i was stung went into  shock ......now i have to carry a epi pen and  benydrl no fun be careful guys

[Stuck-on-Seven]

I saw a bee the other day that was about 2 inches long and had a huge white tail on it not sure what kind it was but this was the biggest bee ive ever seen no questions asked.....Any ideas on what it might be?

[tree-on]

Bald face hornet?  http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/grapeipm/images/Bald%20Faced%20Hornet_A.jpg
If it is they can be very nasty.

[Stuck-on-Seven]

looked kinda like that...it had the same tail but it was furrier and it didnt have a white face or black body it was a brownish body.....maybe some kind of hybrid if thats possible....i wish i took a pic

[bobk]

I saw a bee the other day that was about 2 inches long and had a huge white tail on it not sure what kind it was but this was the biggest bee ive ever seen no questions asked.....Any ideas on what it might be?

Check out European Hornet.  They are pretty sizable, bigger than bald faced hornets (darn near big enough to carry away dink perch!!) and becoming more common in New York State.
 
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/ent/notes/Urban/eurohornet.htm

Bet ya they would make great large-mouth bass bait. Could be a problem getting them on the hook!

[Jimmy]

I once saw a full-blown "Bumble Bee Hatch" on SUNY Albany's Dippikill Pond up in the ADKs...

It was nuts, the bass were WAILING on tiny bumblebees...

I returned the next year (Memorial Day Weekend) expecting more of the same, and armed with some small deer-hair bugs in bumblebee colors...  No dice though...

I've seen plenty of caddis/mayfly/yellow sally/stonefly hatches in my life, but never BUMBLEBEES!

Anyone else ever see anything like that?

[EAD]

looked kinda like that...it had the same tail but it was furrier and it didnt have a white face or black body it was a brownish body.....maybe some kind of hybrid if thats possible....i wish i took a pic

Maybe it was a Cicada Killer? The first time I seen one of those I near sh** myself.

Don't worry though, they don't really target people and I think it's really infrequent they sting. They look like they want to sting you though because they are so big that they are kind of clumsy.  They follow the hum of cicadas, paralyze them and leave them alive in their underground nests for the larvae to eat live (but immobile) when they hatch.  They are solitary bees. (They lives by themselves rather than in hives.)

Was this it?

[Stuck-on-Seven]

i looked at a few different pictures of that cicada killer and i think its safe to say thats what it was....it was big, ugly and nasty and id prefer to not see another one.....but the personality sounds right he didnt attack us or anything he just minded his own business and went the opposite way....Thanks

[jimmie333]

I have never had much of a problem with bees or wasps in the 20 years that I have lived here. In the past month I killed a smaller yellowjacket hive  on the back of my shed and I had one about the size of a basketball fall out of my upside down canoe. Now I have one in my electric transformer box (I have underground electric feed). The box is locked shut and can't be legally opened. so how do I go about getting rid of them?? Any suggestions??

Wait unitl after dark and a good cold night. They are not aggressive during that time. Spray the entry hole with wasp killer and run like hello!

[fishmaster13184]

i am replacing windows at my moms right now and just came across a nest of them in the window frame i have used 2 cans so far and am giving it a min before i check it out

[trapper2000]

there nasty this year just got 3 more cans of  spray for  behind my shutters  and   theres a  raised  shingle  at the peck of my house i just put fresh mouthballs in the boat too ..... first good frost will knock some of them down....good luck and  be careful boys and  if stung remeber anyone can react! it almost cost me my life  thanks to my pops  i'm still here 

[jimmyi]

I had a nest of white face hornets in my shed three years ago about the size of a basketball.  I put on my Carhart ice fishing suit with a ski mask, gloves and goggles.  Duck taped my wrist and ankles.  I used a cigarette lighter in one hand and a spray can of starter fluid.  It threw out a nice flame about three feet long.  Only problems was, I did start to catch the roof on fire.  Those things were hitting my like fighter planes and they will chase after you.  Someone told me they not only sting but can sting you many times and can bite also.  I don't know how true that is.  Be real careful with those guys.