This week I as stung twice by yellowjacket wasps.
The yellowjackets are a smaller wasp but are very aggressive. Wasps are valuable at they are scavengers who clean up much waste material. Wasps eat dead plant and animal material.
Yellow jackets become very numerous at this time of year. They also change their diet and go looking for sweet material. So at this time of year if we want to eat on the deck, patio or park, we have many yellowjacket visitors. They really like my coca cola. They also like steak. It's not pleasant to eat with several wasps buzzing around your food.
Every summer I have many wasps in my yard. I have a brick house and they are built with a space every four bricks on the first course. Yellow jackets think that in behind the brick makes a fine home.
I don't happen to think that behind my brick is a great home for yellowjackets so I try to discourage them and hope that they move on to another location I plug the spacing between the bricks and that usually does the trick and the wasps go to another location.
This year the wasps have decided to fight me and maintain ownership of their chosen home. So far they are winning the war.
So this week while I was fighting the wasps , I was stung twice. The sting doesn't hurt much. However the tissue around the sting swells up for bout seven days and is sore and itchy.
This is a good example of the dangers lurking around home. How about some bug spray in the spaces between the bricks? Hope the soreness and swelling goes away soon.
ReplyDeleteIt takes about 5 to 7 days for symptoms to disappear.
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteThose stings really hurt, I hope your hand is healing.
Take care, enjoy your weekend.
5 to 7 days and it's all over.
Deletei am sorry for this trouble you had with yellowjacket dear Red !
ReplyDeletephotos reminded me childhood when i along with my girl cousins would get stung during summer time and often .our common wasps are two ,one is yellow paper wasp and other is hornet ,they give tough time in towns specially and in small cities like ours ,yellow wasp makes nest in our garden area often ,we get bite once in a while but not much bothering thankfully
i hope and pray you feel better soon !
Thanks. I'm on my way to recovery. I remain calm amongst wasps and am very seldom stung.
DeleteI dislike wasp season. We had a nest under the porch a few years ago that we had exterminated (the wasps, not the porch).
ReplyDeleteWasps are particularly bad at this time. we don't want them close to where we work in the yard.
DeleteThey get aggressive here in late August. Hope the swelling subsides soon, Red.
ReplyDeleteYes, they go after my coke. They go for anything sweet.
DeleteI suppose you already know this but those gaps are weep holes. Since bricks are porous, the absorb water and it will run down the backside of the bricks. Those gaps allow the water to run out versus turn that area into a small pool of water.
ReplyDeleteRed might already have known it but I didn't, so I thank for explaining that, Ed.
DeleteI've lived in this brick house since 1970. the house has taught me many things.
DeleteOuch! That looks really painful, Red. Hope it goes back to normal soon.
ReplyDeleteThe swelling is big . It's not really an itchy feeling
DeleteThose Yellowjackets are such aggressive little bummers. They love to build their hives under our eaves. Roger knocks down them down, and they keep coming back to rebuild. I hope your very swollen hand feels better soon.
ReplyDeleteYou have to keep very calm around them. when I got stung , I was trying to block up the holes that they were using.
DeleteSo sorry you got stung! That looks painful! Does icing it help? Hope it heals up soon. Be careful!!
ReplyDeleteI iced it as soon as I was stung.
DeleteYikes! I'm glad it doesn't hurt too bad, but it looks terrible!
ReplyDeleteI was amazed at how much it was swollen.
DeleteOh my, that looks painful! I put a thick baking soda and water mix on stings and then ice them. Wasps are just plain mean. We get them around our house every year. Tom gets a wasp spray that is made to shoot about 6 feet or so of a distance so you can stand way back and spray them!
ReplyDeleteI did use ice. It's not so painful but it does feel funny.
DeleteMaybe antihistamines would help.
ReplyDeleteI never thought about that.
DeleteThat's a lot of swelling for one sting, and I'd also be worried that it occurred not at the site of the sting but further away. I know you are keeping an eye on it though. We have a lot of stinging insects around (different kinds) and I can't figure out where their nest is. Some of them can make their nests underground and then you don't find them except if you disturb them by mowing or walking around.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, they do have their job to do in nature, and I hate to eradicate them unless it's necessary. But there's the question - when would it be considered necessary? It depends on a number of things.
I was surprised at how much it swelled up. Not much pain with it.
DeleteWow, that really swelled up. One of my children got stung on the lip drinking from a soda can at the county fair. Beware!
ReplyDeleteThat would have been a terrible experience for both Mom and child.
DeleteThey are awful. I don't know if you remember my story of Izzy getting stung. We were hauling fireplace wood.
ReplyDeleteIt was in her sock, and we gave her first aid in the bathroom. There were scream!
I remember your post and it reminded me when my daughter was about 4 and she stepped on a ground nest. It was terrible to hear her screams.
DeleteOuch! I don't recall ever being stung.
ReplyDeleteYou're lucky.
DeleteThey are the worst of stings.
ReplyDeleteWhen I come to think of it I don't know what else stings.
DeleteThat's what happens to me if I get a yellow Jacket sting too. The itch is the worst.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess if we go poking around in plants we will run into wasps.
DeleteIf you drink Diet Coca Cola I think you will find that the wasps are not interested. It's the sugar in Coca Cola that they crave.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow! What a bad place to be stung! Your hand looks awful. I hope you're a southpaw. If not, it would have been an aggravating week with your dominate hand out of commission.
ReplyDeleteWasp stings are very painful. So far the wasp nests I have hanging up are working to discourage them from living near the house and garage. Try forming a paper bag into a funnel shape and hang it up and see what happens! Sorry about your stings:(
ReplyDeleteI've never had a wasp sting but I have had swelling and itching like this from bee stings. I once got three bee stings in three weeks, all from going shoeless while I hung washing
ReplyDeleteOuch! That’s terrible to be stung Red. Sounds very painful! I remember being at a picnic years ago. I had put an open soda on the table and went back to it a couple of minutes later. I heard the buzzing first and as I was about to put the can to my lips, a couple of yellow jackets crawled out. I tossed that can so far away!!! Here’s hoping they stay away from you from now on.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, I sent a comment through earlier but I was on my iPad and not sure it came through. When I pressed the publish button the icon was just going around and around and around, which sometimes happens when I am on my iPad. So, now I am on my laptop and if this is a repeat please ignore :) Sorry you got stung by a yellow jacket, sounds very painful! My one off-putting experience was years ago when at a picnic/ball game. I put my open can of soda down on a picnic table, and picked it up a couple of minutes later. I heard the buzzing first and as I put it to my lips two yellow jackets crawled out of the can. I didn't realize I could throw anything that far! I was supposed to throw the ball not the can and I got a lot of strange looks as it was supposed to be a friendly ball game with friends ;) Hope they leave you alone from now on.
ReplyDeleteHoly smokes, Red! That is just awful and looks so very painful. My mother is allergic to bee stings so it’s really scary.
ReplyDelete