Since its the season for critters and bugs, I thought I would share my latest experience.
I was going to remove the vent on top of the bus to install a a/c unit in it place. One side I could reach the screws with the ladder. Once removed I had to crawl on to the roof to get the other side. I am removing screws when suddenly several mad wasps start flying around my head. Since I was on top of the bus I didnt have much of a choice but to sit and wait for them to calm down. Its really a helpless feeling sitting there with nowhere to run and praying you dont get stung. Lucky for me they calmed down and I was able to crawl down with no incident.
Just thought I would share this because you never know where the bugs and critter may try to build a nest.........and its a long way to the ground from the roof of the bus.
btw......wasp like to build nests under the handles for the bay doors too........(found that one the hard way >:()
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Ouch!!! I get nervous enough when I'm on the roof. I know a few guys my age that have fallen off shorter ladders and ended up in the hospital. Must have taken a lot to hold off the panic reaction to run.
If you catch the nest before it's too big you can use that spray insecticide foam. Wait until late evening when the wasps are inactive use the straw attachment and spray the foam deep into the nest. Happens so fast they can't get out and do you in.
Bryan
Reminds me of the old American indian joke where the chief says "Me check them for bees" ;D The rest of the joke will have to wait for a rally sometimes.
A garden sprayer filled with water and dish detergent will kill a wasp as fast as any spray on the market. I don't know why but they will ball up as fast as when you hit them with the spray. That is all I use now.
I have some of the industrial stuff that sprays up to 10 feet away that kills them and the others that return to the nest. I found with the soap and water it does kill them but others will return to the nest unless you knock it off.
jeff
I had a wasp nest under my eyebrow above my front windshield once. I took off on a trip from San Antonio to Jackson Wyoming. Being the rascal I am I left the nest on the eyebrow with the wasps in tow. I got to watch my "Nature" experiment all the way to Cheyenne. It was there that the last wasp lost his grip and was then displaced in Wyoming.
Who knows? I probably screwed up the entire ecosystem in Colorado and Wyoming by sending a few south Texas Yellowjackets out of their original territory. :o :o
I just had a similiar experience. I had took a roof unit off of a s and s, took it home, and didnt notice the nest til I already started to clean the unit. The nest was the size of a fist and none of the wasp ever left it.
They got froze when I did see them tho.
Hi demodriver,
In the first picture, it appears obvious where you were sitting!
We have a farm so lots of wasps and nests. I LOVE killing them. The weapon of choice is the spray foam that will shoot a stream 10-15 feet.
I had one that really pis*ed me off (as in stung me on the eyelid) a few years ago but the nest was 15 feet under a rafter and I didn't want to go up the ladder. So I taped the can to a 12 foot long pole and rigged a string to the trigger. Put the nozzle right into the nest and filled it with foam.
PAYBACK.I love it.
Now is the time to kill bees. They get aggressive the later summer gets, and by August they will tear you up. I always have a can of spray near by this time of year around anything that has sat still for a while, like my bus.
Wasp Posts... I was just banging on the side of a truck yesterday after I saw a wasp fly by the fire ext door... I dont mind wasps, unless one hits me in the side of the head when i am riding my goldwing...that smarts. I Just spray them with whatever is closest... like carb cleaner, starting fluid, etc... rattle can paint dont work too good... ;D
Quote from: chev49
I Just spray them with whatever is closest... like carb cleaner, starting fluid, etc... rattle can paint dont work too good... ;D
It may not kill'm but if ya use a bright color you'll see 'm coming back! LOL! ;D BK ;D
PS all carb cleaner does for the one around here is make 'm madder and meaner!
Me plus bee sting = EpiPen (carry it all the time) . Hate the little Bass turds .
Radiator access door, fuel door, under bay door handles been in all those places.
Carb cleaner,brake clean always handy when I'm in the shop. Mom used to have 50 beehives always wanting me to help, go figure ! :o
ED
I thought a sting was a sting. Had been stung many times by hornets/wasps, even bumblebees a few times, wasnt any big deal and figured honey bees would be simular.
In 2002 while working on a camper trailer we had on some property, I was working on the main power cord when honey bees came out of the cord hole and stung me three times. WOW! One got me on my eyebrow and my eye immediately swelled shut, and two on my hand pretty much disabled it. I learned real quick that all bees are not created equal, especially in the business end.
This thread should be taken seriously, as getting stung up there is a high possibility with all the vents and contraptions many have up top, and as the title says, theres no where to go but down. And as it seems most of us Busknuts arent 20 anymore, falling 10 feet or more to the ground wouldnt be good. Get stung enough and you may jump or fall simply trying to escape.
Quote from: artvonne on June 07, 2011, 08:29:53 PM
This thread should be taken seriously, as getting stung up there is a high possibility with all the vents and contraptions many have up top, and as the title says, theres no where to go but down. And as it seems most of us Busknuts arent 20 anymore, falling 10 feet or more to the ground wouldnt be good. Get stung enough and you may jump or fall simply trying to escape.
Paul
Your comments were the point of my post. Old or young its a long way to the ground. Sometimes the unexpected can hurt you.
jeff
I have found wasps in my air horns before. :) A couple of winters ago a guy 3 blocks away from us in Yuma was doing something on top of his rv and accidently stepped on a fan cover. Put his foot thru it, threw him off balance and fell off the coach and killed him.
I have found that Brake Cleaner in the red can works well to get the Yellow Jackets and others. It shoots far, evaporates on surfaces and is usually cheaper than the bug spray.
DEMOMAN
Guess life would really suck for a guy that owns a double decker VanHool, climbs on his roof, and bump into that big hive!
Luckily here in Vancouver we don't have that many wasps. Atleast none on my bus so far.
I'm with the guys who use starting ether. Growing up, we had 50 acres in rural southwest Michigan, and wasps/hornets were constantly building nests in our tractor. I used starting ether and it will knock them out of the air. I think it eats their wings. Prevention-wise, we use Home Defense and bugs are never an issue anymore.
Wal,
What mixture proportions do you use with the dish detergent/water system? I use mostly Gunk to kill them now but your systems sounds better. You have to be very careful where you spray Gunk, it sure melts foam insulation!!
I will never use insecticides, that stuff is as poison to humans as to wasps!!