I've never seen this before. I have 4' x 4' plastic hay feeders (retired grape harvesting bins) in my half acre field, which at present is mostly dry dirt. I feed orchard grass hay free choice. Suddenly this week those hay feeders are full of yellow jackets aka ground wasps or meat bees, busily doing something. It's a new hay delivery so although the hay looks just like last week's hay, it is apparently different. Higher sugar?
The horses carefully eat around them ... no stings yet. I have no idea where the nest is, but it can't be extremely close, because neither the horses nor the dogs nor I have been attacked in the field (they defend a perimeter around their nest).
August and September, the end of the dry season here, is the time of year that yellow jackets get really really cranky. They die off as soon as the temperatures drop and the rain starts, so this is their last hurrah. If you are going to get stung, it is probably going to be about now.
I put out some yellow jacket traps in the trees at the edge of the field -- they were instantly popular. But of course this is not going to solve the problem, only finding and destroying the nest or nests would really help with that.
I dumped out the hay on the ground, so at least the horses wouldn't have to put their heads into a box with swarming wasps. I can't think of anything else except waiting for the weather to change!
Ideas?????
The horses carefully eat around them ... no stings yet. I have no idea where the nest is, but it can't be extremely close, because neither the horses nor the dogs nor I have been attacked in the field (they defend a perimeter around their nest).
August and September, the end of the dry season here, is the time of year that yellow jackets get really really cranky. They die off as soon as the temperatures drop and the rain starts, so this is their last hurrah. If you are going to get stung, it is probably going to be about now.
I put out some yellow jacket traps in the trees at the edge of the field -- they were instantly popular. But of course this is not going to solve the problem, only finding and destroying the nest or nests would really help with that.
I dumped out the hay on the ground, so at least the horses wouldn't have to put their heads into a box with swarming wasps. I can't think of anything else except waiting for the weather to change!
Ideas?????
. Years ago I was mowing the back yard after the weather turned cold in an area I knew they had an under ground nest. I had a decent sized garden tractor and still almost lost the back wheel when it fell into their empty nest. They are a destructive lot in more ways than one.
