Wasp Nest

[toot]

In my Great Grandparents/Grandparents house here on the farm there is a huge hornets nest. It was made flat against an inside wall about 4' wide x 6' high. You can get to it thru an access hole. A friend harvested a huge amount of the nest for wadding. It is old and doesn't work as good as a fresher nest but works fine. So nests are out there.

if I get a nest that rely dries out, I take a spray bottle of H,2O, and freshen it up!

 

[toot]

Winter's best to gather wasps' nests. Be advised paper wasp "babies" are dormant, not dead. Old cadillac limo had a nest under the dash. Friend found out the hard way. The large bald face hornet nests are abandonded when it gets cold, they go into the ground during winter. Within a short time, the large nest will deteriorate unless you get it quickly. The tricky part is to do this AFTER they've left.

The first hornet that stings leaves a phermone on the victim which signals others to attack the same person/animal, resulting in multiple stings. Never found a use for mud daubers' nests. It is amazing the short amount of time it takes hornets to "build" one of the large paper nests.

I have never heard of any one ever getting stung by a MUD WASP, they just seem to go to the mud puddles and just doo there thing. I also know that BUMBEL BEES can sting, but you rely have to piss them off to do it. jmho.

 

[toot]

You guys scare me. I am allergic to bees.

then don't go there. unless you have a EPPEPEN. or what ever it is called. stay safe, stay away.

 

[toot]

I just had a pest control guy come to my house to get rid of YELLOW JACKS that made a nest in the side of my house, chewed through the shingles, and he told me that that they do not do any thing fore the ego system, such as pollination, ETC, these just feed the QUEEN & and MAKE BABIES! I never thought of that.

 

[oldwood]

The price is high , starting with a few painful stings. (Oh , here we go w/ another story).
My little wife found this mysterious dark looking basket ball size mass in one of the holly bushes by our front door. I asked her to show me it for my analysis. Looking at the bush ,I said , I didn't see it. She reaches in and parts the holly bush , and there it was , a massive hornet nest . Grabbed her arm and we fled as the nest came alive with intense buzzing. Just goes to show ya , they can be anywhere. .........
What caused me from around 8 years old , to have a life long dislike for all things stinging , was a trip to West Va. , accompanying the kid I grew up with and his dad to check on a logging tract along the Cheat River , Preston Co. . This place was woods , 12 miles from the nearest hard top road , very isolated , and we had to walk in about a mile. Was a hot day and in the tract there was a cool water spring where we refreshed ourselves. Well this dumb kid , (your's truly , ) put his BB gun down by the spring to drink , and walked away. A little ways away , I remembered my precious anti-rattlesnake BB rifle and ran back to retrieve it. On the way back to my buddy and his dad , I saw a short cut through a huge freshly cut down oak tree top. I was so involved looking for timber rattlesnakes , I never saw the giant hornet nest I stumbled into. Over the next 24 hrs. I did learn I wasn't allergic to bee stings , because the about 10 stings I received didn't kill me. And so began , my life long vendetta began against hornets and yellow jackets and all wasps. .............oldwood

 

[oldwood]

Mud dauber wasps do sting. As kids , we were told they didn't , so my buddy broke open a mud tunnel they make and guess what he received for his curiosity. One of the black winged devils got him. ..........oldwood

 

[Reno]

I have carried hornets nest in my bag to use for wadding for a long time. Keep in mind that it holds a spark or ember. So it can be a fire hazard and if the conditions are dry and can be a concern. Just saying,

 

[Whughett]

On the subject of stings. Southern Ohio in the hot humid summers of the 40’s A favorite prank among us kid was to observe a sweat bee getting a drink off someone’s neck or arm and lightly touch the bee. They rarely sting but will if provoked. An older foster brother would nail me at least once a day.

 

[Springerpanhead]

On the subject of stings. Southern Ohio in the hot humid summers of the 40’s A favorite prank among us kid was to observe a sweat bee getting a drink off someone’s neck or arm and lightly touch the bee. They rarely sting but will if provoked. An older foster brother would nail me at least once a day.

I’ve run across Bumble Bees, Carpenter Bees, Honey Bees, Paper Wasps, White Faced Hornets, Mud Daubbers, Yellow Jackets, and Cicada Killers, but what pray tell is a Sweat Bee ???

 

[sportster73hp]

I’ve run across Bumble Bees, Carpenter Bees, Honey Bees, Paper Wasps, White Faced Hornets, Mud Daubbers, Yellow Jackets, and Cicada Killers, but what pray tell is a Sweat Bee ???

Its a tiny little bee/ bug that seems to annoy you during the summer when you are sweating . Not sure if it is a breed of its own or just a small version of another

 

[sportster73hp]

Just googled them. They are a pollinating bee that also feed on your sweat. Found mostly in eastern US. Usually don’t sting but can be provoked to do so.

 

[Stony Broke]

I pull down a nest from red wasps occasionally, and sometimes put them in a small sealed sandwich sized bag and put it in my freezer. When I get ready to hunt, I just pull them out for a while to warm up and they are ready to go. I like to put a chuck of nest over the powder to keep the patch lube off of the powder, and they work just fine. I've used it for years in a smoothbore also for shot or roundballs with with good results.

 

[Whughett]

Just googled them. They are a pollinating bee that also feed on your sweat. Found mostly in eastern US. Usually don’t sting but can be provoked to do so.

Yep. Such as being lightly nudged with a forefinger while sitting on someones neck lapping up sweat. Tiny little things not much bigger than a mosquito but bee shaped.

 

[toot]

Just googled them. They are a pollinating bee that also feed on your sweat. Found mostly in eastern US. Usually don’t sting but can be provoked to do so.

well now we know the rest of the story!! thanking you.

 

[toot]

I pull down a nest from red wasps occasionally, and sometimes put them in a small sealed sandwich sized bag and put it in my freezer. When I get ready to hunt, I just pull them out for a while to warm up and they are ready to go. I like to put a chuck of nest over the powder to keep the patch lube off of the powder, and they work just fine. I've used it for years in a smoothbore also for shot or roundballs with with good results.

on a reloading site, a guy evens shows' the nest being used in loading plastic shot gun shells with BP. and shooting them. so I had to try it and works just fine!! it is just the same as loading it in a smooth bore gun. give it a try, before you POO POO it!

 

[Flinter 2]

Well, I don't want to be a Debbie downer, but, getting back to the first few posts in this thread, the question "why" was asked, while many folks may have brushed it off as being answered in jest, but it was a valid question.
I can appreciate the want or need to be period correct by purist or by reenactors, especially in event demonstrations for the public, but the reality is that wasp nests doesn't work all that well as wading in smoothbore fowlers or shotguns, and even less so if used as patching for round balls in smoothbores or rifles.
There are other period correct natural resources that work better and are far less trouble to harvest, it's true that fiber and paper card wads for shotguns didn't make their appearance until later in the 1800's when shot shells were being offered for breach loading arms, however, before that smoothbores as well as M/L rifles were being loaded using other more easily gathered materials such as wads or patches being cut from thin hides, wool and vegetable fibers (Tow) were being used as wadding .
I've used them all at one time or another while attending period reenactments and events, but when I'm hunting I use contemporary materials to load my hunting arms, lubed cotton patching for my round ball rifles and lubed fiber cushion and paper card wads when building shot loads for my fowlers and M/L shotguns, because they deliver better patterns at longer ranges and greatly reduce the chances of loosing cripples to get away a die a painful and senseless death.

Just one man's opinion.

 

[Springerpanhead]

Well, I don't want to be a Debbie downer, but, getting back to the first few posts in this thread, the question "why" was asked, while many folks may have brushed it off as being answered in jest, but it was a valid question.
I can appreciate the want or need to be period correct by purist or by reenactors, especially in event demonstrations for the public, but the reality is that wasp nests doesn't work all that well as wading in smoothbore fowlers or shotguns, and even less so if used as patching for round balls in smoothbores or rifles.
There are other period correct natural resources that work better and are far less trouble to harvest, it's true that fiber and paper card wads for shotguns didn't make their appearance until later in the 1800's when shot shells were being offered for breach loading arms, however, before that smoothbores as well as M/L rifles were being loaded using other more easily gathered materials such as wads or patches being cut from thin hides, wool and vegetable fibers (Tow) were being used as wadding .
I've used them all at one time or another while attending period reenactments and events, but when I'm hunting I use contemporary materials to load my hunting arms, lubed cotton patching for my round ball rifles and lubed fiber cushion and paper card wads when building shot loads for my fowlers and M/L shotguns, because they deliver better patterns at longer ranges and greatly reduce the chances of loosing cripples to get away a die a painful and senseless death.

Just one man's opinion.

Makes sense. The smoothness ( flatness ) of the wad beneath the shot contributes greatly to the shot pattern staying together. A lumpy wad like compressed wasp nest would tend to blow the shot column apart

 

[Glenn A. Smith]

I bet a call to a local "Pest Control" person might produce some good leads to wasp and hornet
nests

 

[Mousegunguy]

When I’m up on the roof cleaning the chimney I’m able to collect enough to use for the year and give away to the few friends who shoot smooth bores.
I use them between the powder and shot and again to hold the shot in place.
Works like a charm.
The wasps are gone in the winter so collecting the nests from under the eaves is easy peasy.

 

[toot]

if I get a nest that rely dries out, I take a spray bottle of H,2O, and freshen it up!

that is good, because in time it turns into dust!