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Massive wasp 'super nests' in Alabama


Still Waters

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The last time something like this happened was 2006. Most years, Alabama sees only one or two wasp 'super nests': giant wasp fortresses that sometimes even professional pest controllers won't touch.

In 2006, things were different. Nature kicked into overdrive that year, and Alabama turned out at least 90 of these dangerous super-formations. Now, it looks like it's happening again – and 2019 might even be worse.

According to entomologist Charles Ray, the 2006 super nest outbreak only began in June that year. This year, these 'perennial' super nests – which can survive the winter, unlike usual nests – started to show up in May.

https://www.sciencealert.com/massive-wasp-super-nests-are-starting-to-appear-in-alabama-scientist-warns

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  • The title was changed to Massive wasp 'super nests' in Alabama
 

Those are both amazing and terrifying.

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Nope nope nope. Burn the entire house down 

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Selective evolution, the only wasps that had a measure of success in recent years are super wasps that builds super nests... 

~

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I had one of these several years ago. Perhaps it was in 06 or 07? The bug guy didn't believe me and turned up with basically some roach spray :(  I think he believed I was just a hysteric with a little nest on da porch, you know? I regret I never took a picture, but I really am not a picture sort of person. Never crosses my mind until later.

When he actually saw it on the side of my house, he refused to deal with it until I got angry with him. I suited up in my beekeeper suit and he stayed in his truck with the window up except for enough to stick his power sprayer out and we got it out of there that way. Jerk tried to leave by saying we needed a bee keeper to come out and verify it was not killer bees... idiot. I was a bee keeper and honey bees don't make paper looking nests like that in any world. The visible part of the nest was about 4 foot tall along the window side and maybe 12-18 inches wide the full length. 

I got stung 12 times anyway and still had to pay the coward the full 350 bucks for it, but without that stream of wet poison it would never have been beaten down and removed. We counted 12+ queens in the ruins and I cannot begin to tell you how many yellow jackets. At one point I was almost scared by them, but was too mad to back off LOL. They had found a tiny separation in the wall by a window and taken over the whole wall space of that bedroom. You could hear them chewing inside the room (it sounded like that, not sure that they do chew wood but it sounded as if they were)

Nice thing was that given so many stings, my sinuses were clear for days LMAO. When you are not allergic, that is the upside to bee and wasp stings..

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3 hours ago, Not A Rockstar said:

I had one of these several years ago. Perhaps it was in 06 or 07? The bug guy didn't believe me and turned up with basically some roach spray :(  I think he believed I was just a hysteric with a little nest on da porch, you know? I regret I never took a picture, but I really am not a picture sort of person. Never crosses my mind until later.

When he actually saw it on the side of my house, he refused to deal with it until I got angry with him. I suited up in my beekeeper suit and he stayed in his truck with the window up except for enough to stick his power sprayer out and we got it out of there that way. Jerk tried to leave by saying we needed a bee keeper to come out and verify it was not killer bees... idiot. I was a bee keeper and honey bees don't make paper looking nests like that in any world. The visible part of the nest was about 4 foot tall along the window side and maybe 12-18 inches wide the full length. 

I got stung 12 times anyway and still had to pay the coward the full 350 bucks for it, but without that stream of wet poison it would never have been beaten down and removed. We counted 12+ queens in the ruins and I cannot begin to tell you how many yellow jackets. At one point I was almost scared by them, but was too mad to back off LOL. They had found a tiny separation in the wall by a window and taken over the whole wall space of that bedroom. You could hear them chewing inside the room (it sounded like that, not sure that they do chew wood but it sounded as if they were)

Nice thing was that given so many stings, my sinuses were clear for days LMAO. When you are not allergic, that is the upside to bee and wasp stings..

Wow what a incompetent man lol

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Yup, keep believing that global warming is a hoax.

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Hankenhunter  One of the best reasons to think manmade global warming is a hoax is the dumb ass reasons people make up to 'prove' it.

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17 minutes ago, opit said:

Hankenhunter  One of the best reasons to think manmade global warming is a hoax is the dumb ass reasons people make up to 'prove' it.

You mean like the ice core data showing the average temperatures cooled when 90 percent of the North and South American Indians died off during the "Columbian Exchange"? 

Or the data showing the spike in warming during the Industrial Revolution?  

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I guess god is giving Alabama some payback ever since they decided women should have less rights when it comes to their bodies Gotchigasm

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Creepy to say the least.

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1 hour ago, opit said:

Hankenhunter  One of the best reasons to think manmade global warming is a hoax is the dumb ass reasons people make up to 'prove' it.

How DARE people use basic elementary school science to show the astounding fact that more CO2 in the atmosphere = not good for livable temps. It's like scientists want even the DUMBEST hill person to understand this VERY BASIC CONCEPT.

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10 hours ago, Still Waters said:

The last time something like this happened was 2006. Most years, Alabama sees only one or two wasp 'super nests': giant wasp fortresses that sometimes even professional pest controllers won't touch.

In 2006, things were different. Nature kicked into overdrive that year, and Alabama turned out at least 90 of these dangerous super-formations. Now, it looks like it's happening again – and 2019 might even be worse.

According to entomologist Charles Ray, the 2006 super nest outbreak only began in June that year. This year, these 'perennial' super nests – which can survive the winter, unlike usual nests – started to show up in May.

https://www.sciencealert.com/massive-wasp-super-nests-are-starting-to-appear-in-alabama-scientist-warns

That nest is beautiful ! Perfect anti-personnel  mine !

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4 hours ago, Daughter of the Nine Moons said:

@Not A Rockstar your experience is the stuff off nightmares

Nah.

Now, without the suit.... different story LOL. The stings were on my shoulders and upper arms where the hood ends and the weight of the suit is resting against the top of the body (especially when it is HOT and you are sweating in that mess). You have to expect that with that many thousands of stingers airborne. I don't mind wasps or bees a bit, though without the right gear I respect them. I never wear it for just bees, unless they don't act right and might have a new, bad queen making them hotter than they should be. Africanized are no joke and it doesn't take long for a hive to convert over.

A snake around here that I am not sure yet if it is non venomous? I am a wuss, completely, so do not be impressed a bit.

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8 hours ago, Not A Rockstar said:

They had found a tiny separation in the wall by a window and taken over the whole wall space of that bedroom. You could hear them chewing inside the room (it sounded like that, not sure that they do chew wood but it sounded as if they were)

Good for you you got it quick.  I had one outside my kitchen.  Every day I would find 4-5 in the kitchen when I came home from work.  Looks like they were enlarging a hole at the corner of the window frame.  Not fun.  I don't know what I could have done with 40-50 inside.  My bug guy was pretty smart. I paid him for a little OT but he came at the last of his day for two days and doused the thing with his sprayer at dusk.  Seemed to get most of them.  No more noise in the wall.

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5 minutes ago, Not A Rockstar said:

A snake around here that I am not sure yet if it is non venomous? I am a wuss, completely, so do not be impressed a bit.

Impressive enough I'd say.

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3 minutes ago, Tatetopa said:

Good for you you got it quick.  I had one outside my kitchen.  Every day I would find 4-5 in the kitchen when I came home from work.  Looks like they were enlarging a hole at the corner of the window frame.  Not fun.  I don't know what I could have done with 40-50 inside.  My bug guy was pretty smart. I paid him for a little OT but he came at the last of his day for two days and doused the thing with his sprayer at dusk.  Seemed to get most of them.  No more noise in the wall.

That room wasn't used then. I just happened to walk in for something and heard that odd faint chewing sound and walked outside wondering wth and saw it in disbelief. With that many queens it probably would have doubled in a month or so. Seriously bad stuff. I remember googling to try to sort what they were and finding that Alabama story of the old car full up with a nest and reached for the phone. I was shocked they did not have a clue what I was describing. A threat change like that would be basic exterminator news, I would have thought. They did not take it seriously and took a couple days to send a guy out for me at all and that only for that horrifically high paycheck in their effort to get me to call someone else. Extremely rural here so I never expect much service and am usually impressed as a result, but that was not one of those times. Still, there was no way in hell I would tolerate my Lady or daughter going anywhere around out there to give me a second set of hands to kill it off.

You are right, these are not to be messed with, they are mean at the best of times :) 

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13 minutes ago, Not A Rockstar said:

I remember googling to try to sort what they were and finding that Alabama story of the old car full up with a nest and reached for the phone. I was shocked they did not have a clue what I was describing. A threat change like that would be basic exterminator news, I would have thought.

They better get their act together pretty quickly.  There are going to be more of those plus fire ants in these hot dry summers.  Ticks too probably?

Were they yellow jackets?  I hate those b*****s they are so mean and territorial,  They nest in the ground a lot up here and can turn a day in the woods real bad very quickly.

On the bright side, they do have a few predators.   I was at a picnic once at a friends house.  About halfway through, the yellow jackets found us and started trying to carry off hot dogs and hamburgers.   He had a big hornet's nest about 60 feet up in a fir tree,  unreachable  except by a brave climber.

The hornets got wind of things and came down for the yellow jackets. They were big.  They wrestled the yellow jackets down flopped them over, stung them , picked them up and hauled them back to their nest.  Sitting there seemed way too much like driving through wildlife safari in a convertible.  We went inside for dessert.

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Yes mine were yellow jackets. I only knew them to nest in the ground until this event, so it was surprising and as I said, you would suppose a bug man would know about it.

Funny you mention those wasps as I have carpenter bees trying to set up house in my carport and am making a fake hornet nest to hang out there to run them out. I hear it works well so am gonna find out :) 

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3 minutes ago, Tatetopa said:

Do the wasps bother your bees?

Usually, no. I do not have many wasps about other than that one event years ago. Just a few smaller ordinary sorts and a good hive can take those out if they try to invade. A decent hive will have 60-120k bees inside so no problem.

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