Source: thehousingforum.com
There is a hostage situation going on in my yard.
Tomatoes, basil and other plants are crying out to be rescued.
Honey bees have taken up residence in large numbers in the gate to my garden. That is the gate I use to get inside to pick my crops. It’s the only gate into the garden which is surrounded by a 6 foot fence.
They are in the hollow tubing that surrounds the people door to the fence.
They hung around last year but they nested in the other side of the door. We were able to live in harmony.
This year they moved to the side where the latch is. That means I totally x@#? them off when I use the door.
At first there were only about ten and I was quick so they didn’t get agitated.
This weekend there must have been a bee convention because there were lots. I stopped by during happy hour except that they weren’t happy with me. I needed some fresh basil. They were practicing pick-up lines on each other.
I was quick but not quick enough. I was swarmed and consequently stung. Several times. It hurt. Like hell.
I swell up like a hot air balloon when I get stung. Hot pink balloon but no stripes!
My arms look (and feel) like sacks of cement without a wrinkle on my hand. It looks like I spent a fortune on injectables to “plump” out the wrinkles. The only sign that they are “older” hands are the few freckles (Some people call them liver marks, I call them freckles!).
It ended in an emergency trip to the doctor for a steroid shot and antibiotics. The pain and itching aren’t the worst part. I have to figure out how to get them out of there or there will be no veggies or fresh herbs this year.
The beloved husband recommended spraying. This is my organic garden. I fear some of the nasty spray will settle on my basil and parsley and we’ll die.
I hate killing bees. They do “good” (except for convention weekends when they all let their stingers hang out).
I wonder if I could ransom my garden for a pot of honey. (Perhaps I should try gofundme!)
Readers with a suggestion are welcomed.
Views and Mews by Coffee Kat 
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Kate … My only encounter with yellow jackets was in picnic areas. They are aggressive and I wish you all the best in getting rid of them. Hope you’re feeling better.
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I am but we had to spray. I hate using chemicals. We tried to preserve the honey bee population we have so we can have tomatoes. We sprayed the nest and so far it doesn’t seem to have affected the honey bees who are all over the catnip plants nearby.
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Glad you were able to isolate and contain the yellow jacket nuisance. Honey bees are good. 😉
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Wow Kate they sound like real aggressive bees Im happy ours aren’t like this and only sting if you step on one or it gets caught in your clothes on the line. I had one sting me this way carrying the washing in and it hurt for days. I can only imagine your pain after several stings. My husband is allergic but he loves bees and gardening. Good luck removing them, its a shame because they are so good for the garden.
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I had one of those conventions in my mailbox years go. Like you I was not invited either leaving me with a hand that resembled a baseball glove. I’m glad you didn’t spray anything to ruin your hard work at keeping your garden organic…well played! Hope you are feeling better now.
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Well, we did have to get rid of the yellow jackets with a spray. The newer sprays are a foam so it doesn’t dissipate in the air like the old sprays (or so they say) and we put it inside the tubular housing where they were nesting. Last night at dusk we closed all the openings in the fencing with duct tape and some electrical goo. I was very pleased to see the honey bees (the real ones) were still working on a big stand of catnip I have so they weren’t hurt by the whole deal. Hope they don’t gravitate to our mailbox!
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Yellow Jacket stings are HORRID! (Not that bee stings are a walk in the park). I see that yours are now toast. Good call!
When you’re in the mood, this blogger (who is new to me) shared a gym story with a twist and a twerk that you might get a kick out of:
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Oh I am so sorry you got stung by those nasty yellow jackets. If you haven’t already, try the spray foam stuff. It is so accurate, you will miss your herbs and veggies. In fact the aim is so true, they recommend keeping a can in your bedroom to ward off human intruders. You just aim for the eyes (of the human that is).
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That’s what my husband used because I was having a fit spraying anything near my garden. We have to do another spray but it’s been raining here. I will cover my herbs (because I’m neurotic) then we can close up the cavities they like. I am not bursting into your bedroom. I wouldn’t want that stuff in my eyes!
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Kate, sorry about you getting stung! That’s an incredible situation. We don’t have bees but we have some really aggressive wasps and CH handles them in different ways but they are in the workshop. You said they have been identified as yellow jackets now? CH was stung by yellow jackets 15 years ago and the memory is still pretty vivid for both of us. They chased him down! I am glad you are feeling better and I hope you find a solution soon.
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I can imagine! They did swarm me. At first I thought I had 4 bites but I must have had more. Both arms swelled like Italian bread. The garden is next to some grass and they tried to swarm my husband when he was mowing. Out came the wasp and yellow jacket killer. We are going to rid of the rest and seal the spaces in the fence tubing. They were there last year but in lesser numbers and we lived in harmony. For sure they weren’t honey bees!
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CH said they were in our west field last year and he followed them to their hole in the ground and sprayed the hole and he said he got the H E double L out of there! Yep, there is nothing sweet about them! Glad you are going to get them! The vision of your arms being that swollen makes me a bit weak in the knees!
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Yep, it was a lousy couple of days!
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Oh my! This is a really difficult situation given that we do need the bees. But you shouldn’t have to be attacked by them just to preserve a colony. If you do come up with a professional service set up to protect the bees (and remove them) that doesn’t end up costing you a small fortune, I’d like to know about it. I think that’s the question. If we want to do our best by the bees, agencies need to help us understand what we are supposed to do. In our city the police chief happens to be a backyard bee keeper and I understand that he will come and do bee hive removals so I would hope that you’d also be directed to someone with that special skill. What a strange occurrence, Kate! So sorry!
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There are a lot of beekeepers locally who would come out to remove honey bees. Unfortunately, mine were yellow jackets and they have no interest in them. They had been there for a while but became very aggressive in the last week. When they tried to swarm my husband while he was mowing, it was curtains for them.
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I’m so sorry about your bee stings. It must be painful and a little bit scarey. I haven’t had a bee sting in 15 or 20 years, but I have the feeling it would be worse now since I’ve become more allergic than I used to be. The mosquito bites I got on the 4th of July itched for about five days. I used to get over them within a few hours. A few days ago the lavender I was cutting was well populated with bees. Fortunately they didn’t attack. I suppose some bees are more aggressive than others.
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Usually bees don’t bother you if you don’t swat at them. I don’t. This is only the second time I’ve been stung and both times I blew up and got incredible itching. Both times required trips to the emergency center (not the ER) for steroid shots and antibiotics. The Benadryl for itching put me to sleep so I had a nice nap every 6 hours!
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Oh, so sorry you were stung! If the bee keeper doesn’t work out maybe your state Dept. of Natural Resources (that’s what it’s called here in Minnesota) could offer guidance. Or your local university extension service? Love the title of this post – so funny!
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You may love the title but so far no one has send any money!
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Oh no, Kate! That is terrible. A friend’s husband was just in the hospital with the same thing. Maybe there is an epidemic. Are they Africanized bees? We had a swarm INSIDE OUR LIVING ROOM a few years ago. We came home and saw them there in a mass on the wall and I almost died thinking of how they could have killed my cats.
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As the doctor was treating me he said that there are statistics on the number of people who die every year from bee stings! Your cats would have been smart to stay out of their way. As it turns out, they are yellow jackets, not honey bees.
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Yikes! That’s really a dilemma. Too bad there isn’t a bee-whisperer you could call in.
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Mr. Google was helpful in identifying the culprits as yellow jackets and not the beloved honey bees. There was no whispering.
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Ah. Well then. 😉
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Gracious. I’m glad that you’re doing okay, now… but what a thing to happen. Who’d of thunk it?
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Great way to ruin a couple of days!
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You need another entrance lol
But seriously, is there a local agent you can call to help move them to another location?
Sorry you got stung. Hope you are better now.
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The final answer is that they were yellow jackets and not honey bees so I no longer felt compelled to save them. Aggressive little buggers!
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Oh my! Lol. Yes those are agressive ! Had you given them the chance they would have moved onto your house too!
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Great! Just what I need! More critters!
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Hope it won’t come to that. Good luck 🙂
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Ouch, Kate! I remember when I was a teenager and I sat on a bee’s nest (it was hidden under some rocks). I got stuck a lot and it hurt like hell! But, no allergic reaction. Sounds like your stings were a bit worse. Hope you solve the problem, looks like just about everyone suggested calling a local bee keeper. Good info to have if I ever need it. Hope the swelling’s gone down.
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Much better today but it took 48 hours to get past the worst of it. Still a bit itchy and a little swollen. The bees were aggressive yellow jackets so there was no mercy.
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Oh, I’m so sorry. I mowed lawns at an apartment and golf course complex during my college summers. I lived in fear of bees and wasps and got stung several times. The boss was unsympathetic. I learned to just try to stay away from known areas, but you don’t seem to have that option. I hope this beekeeper idea might work for you.
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The final answer was yellow jackets so there was no compelling reason to save them although if they wouldn’t have been so aggressive I would have let them be. I can’t imagine getting repeatedly stung. I must have an allergic reaction to them.
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OUCH! I would definitely find a beekeeper to help you relocate the bees to a better spot for you and them.
Either that, or invest in a beekeeper suit to wear when you need to harvest your crops.
Hope you feel all better soon.
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They sting through the suit tho Nancy ;(
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The answer was aggressive yellow jackets so there was no mercy. Even yellow jackets when situated in an area that isn’t disturbed by people do good things but they are more aggressive. I must have an allergy to them considering my sting reaction.
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I am allergic to bee stings about 50% of the time so this is scary for me. Some years ago a bee colony took up residence under my roof with an entryway from my deck. I live in a condo and the other owners were not happy… yes, it was all my fault that I am so sweet the bees wanted to live with me. I didn’t want to use chemicals so we ended up having them smoked out. This had to be 10 years ago and the bees, with a very long ancestral memory, still come back to the same point of entry and buzz around on my deck. But they haven’t taken up residence again. Good luck and sayonara to the bees.
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I have had two instances of getting stung (and they were yellow jackets rather than honey bees) and both times I had a bad reaction. Not life threatening but I blew up and had systemic itching. I am careful around bees and I never swat. Normally I’m not stung but I’m sure it was opening the gate latch that agitated them. We are sealing off all openings in the tubing.
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Beekeeper definitely. Glad hand wrinkles are coming back — a snarky thing to say under other circumstances, but in this case well meant!
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Old lady hands are back although I still need an extra two notches on my watch band. Bees were yellow jackets and beekeepers were not interested so we had to eliminate them (or go without veggies this summer!).
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Another ouch. Eliminate them how?
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Toxic pesticide spray. The kind that will kill us too! Their ticket was punched when they tried to swarm my husband when he was mowing the lawn. He is not the bleeding heart liberal I am.
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Ouch!! Yes – call a local beekeeper and they can help remove the queen and the rest of the gang will follow!
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The answer was aggressive yellow jackets so no beekeeper was interested. We are getting rid of them and sealing off the openings in the fencing so we don’t have this problem again.
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Good to know the difference!!
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OH NO! I feel just awful for you. If there anything I can do to help, (besides calling Ehrlich) just let me know. I think the other suggestion about calling for a beekeeper is your best option.
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Turns out that they were yellow jackets and beekeepers weren’t interested. We will have to eliminate.
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Good luck Kate! I’d go with a local bee keeper, too!
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No luck. They were yellow jackets so no beekeeper was interested. We will need to eliminate and seal the openings where they were living.
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I’m so sorry that you were stung. That must have been awful! I also recommend calling a beekeeper. They will be happy to take them off your hands. Bees are way too important to our earth to harm (even though they didn’t treat you very nicely).
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The final answer was aggressive yellow jackets. No beekeeper was interested in those so out they went. I don’t like to eliminate anything because they all have a purpose but they need to let me in my garden if they want to live!
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Yes, I think there are local bee keepers who can help!
How did you even get out this post? Did you type with your nose? You are so dedicated!
Also, bee stings are used medicinally for some kinds of arthritis (I think? I saw it in passing on a show). So when you get back to gardening/ typing, I want to know if any aches/ pains are gone!
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Amazingly enough it didn’t affect my fingers. My hand was swollen from the palm to the elbow. You wouldn’t catch me doing that as a treatment for anything. Eyow!
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It’s MS, autumnasbough, not arthritis. The venom from the bee sting apparently slows down, or even arrests, the development of the disease — at least in several people I’ve heard about who’ve tried it. (Apparently the sufferer learns to sting himself/herself from specially ordered bees.) I don’t think it will have the same effect on the general aches and creakiness that come with the passing years.
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or crankiness that comes with passing years.
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Ah, I thought there were uses for arthritis and swelling also. My bad.
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Why “bad”? We all keep learning new things all the time.
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Call a local beekeeper and ask to have them moved. I think this is possible. A beekeeper can smoke them to make them drowsy and then move them.
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I’m going to try that.
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The final answer was aggressive yellow jackets and they had to be eliminated. The beekeepers (and we have a lot in this area) were not interested in yellow jackets.
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Yikes. Another reason I don’t go into nature – snorts! Those things would have a field day with this little oinker body. Be careful my friend. No recommendations except wearing head to toe combat covering. Now *that* I would like to see too. Rolls with piggy laughter. XOXO – Bacon
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Very wise pig!
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I hope you find a good solution. Bees are important for plants but they can be very pesky. Hope you recover soon. Ouch!!!
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I am feeling better. Hand wrinkles are coming back!
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