# My first time seeing fire ants



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I was at the sunbelt ag expo today watching some of the field demonstrations of the hay equipment. Someone said to me hey I wouldn't be standing there....I asked why and he said because your standing on a fire ant mound that was just cut off. I looked down and saw ants swarming around my shoes. I then paid attention to where I was standing and while walking I was looking down and I can't believe the amount of fire ant nests that were in the field, it was unreal. I'm sure glad we don't have fire ants in western NC....I would hate to be working on a piece of equipment in the field or picking up square hay that might have ants of them.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Do it all the time around here. Them little devils will sure get your attention. They like to climb a way up on ya, in side your pants, until about 1,000 or so get on ya. Then all start to bite @ the same time. Even if you are flat on your back under your equipment, they don't care!!


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

They're extremely aggressive. Stick a stick in their mound and they'll cover that stick in 15-30 seconds. It's like they go into attack mode.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Live around them very long and you develop an ant radar. Even your pets and livestock learn to avoid the mounds.

I have been on fire ant eradication all summer.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

I stay on it....never ending battle


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

FarmerCline said:


> I'm sure glad we don't have fire ants in western NC....I would hate to be working on a piece of equipment in the field or picking up square hay that might have ants of them.


Don't worry Cline.....you will have fire ants.....sooner than later. First time one of the East Tennessee queens gets a big Westerly wind under her wings you have them.....or a Southerly wind from North Georgia....you will have them. Actually, I bet they are there now and few know about it....give em time....they have a way of quickly establishing. Seems as if they like to settle in your best ag land.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Cline, how about a report for members on the expo.....and if you get a chance go by and look at the new Kuhn Generation 2 speedrake......SR108GII and SR110GII in particular.....gonna get one this spring. They have a wonderful way to pickup the front wheels so that you can finish a row when raking into headlands....great for triangular fields.

Regards, Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> Don't worry Cline.....you will have fire ants.....sooner than later. First time one of the East Tennessee queens gets a big Westerly wind under her wings you have them.....or a Southerly wind from North Georgia....you will have them. Actually, I bet they are there now and few know about it....give em time....they have a way of quickly establishing. Seems as if they like to settle in your best ag land.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Wish there was an unlike button for this. I do not want them things around here. I was hoping I was just a bit too far north....oh well.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> Cline, how about a report for members on the expo.....and if you get a chance go by and look at the new Kuhn Generation 2 speedrake......SR108GII and SR110GII in particular.....gonna get one this spring. They have a wonderful way to pickup the front wheels so that you can finish a row when raking into headlands....great for triangular fields.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 I haven't looked at that rake yet....the place is huge....I'll go by today and give a report this evening. I did see the new MF 1840 inline square baler. I asked what the main differences were from the 1839 and they said the auger turning a different direction and the feeder forks were shaped a little different. Otherwise that it is just a 1839 with some added features like knotter fan, longer bale case, larger twine box.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

That's cool......I will check into the knotter fan. That would be real nice......especially in legumes. Thanks for the report!

Regards, Mike


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## DSLinc1017 (Sep 27, 2009)

Tim/South said:


> Live around them very long and you develop an ant radar. Even your pets and livestock learn to avoid the mounds.
> 
> I have been on fire ant eradication all summer.


Please explain, how does one get rid of them? We have ant mounds here but not the red ones. We did have these Black and red ones in Wisconsin however, and they would attack and when they did it hurt like hell!


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Vol said:


> That's cool......I will check into the knotter fan. That would be real nice......especially in legumes. Thanks for the report!
> Regards, Mike


That 1840 was a badass baler, GFC had one hooked to a smaller Massey ferguson (closed center 25gpm) tractor while pulling the bandit. I rode in the baby seat, lol, and he was really stuffing the hay in, much faster than I can with the 1837, about 9-10 strokes per bale, just to show that the bandit could keep up, and keep up it did. It appeared to be more like the 1837 to me in terms of the feeding forks, but I didn't look really close as I knew my fire ant radar was sounding....

It's about the same size as the baler Hesston made that had its own engine maybe? Minus the engine of course, but much larger and longer than the 1837,1839.... For the diff in price, that's the one I would get in retrospect, think it came in at about 23k, with hydro pressure, but manual pickup head


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I went by and looked at the new Kuhn wheel rake, they had the SR110GII there. I have never really looked at all the different wheel rakes but it did appear to be built a lot better than of the ones I have seen. They told me the new features was the lift design where the front wheels raise before the rear, the windrow size could be adjusted by pulling a pin and adjusting the rear part of the frame that holds the rear two wheels on each side, it has a mechanical rake arm float position where the tractor does not have to have the hydraulics in float position and supposedly allows it to follow the ground better.

The field demonstrations are really the best part of the show. I watched different makes of equipment being demonstrated tedding, raking, mowing, and baling hay. If you were in the market to buy a new piece of hay equipment it is really nice to be able to see it run before you buy it. It's not as good as being able to operate it and be up and personal with it when it is running. Some of the equipment is larger than what an operation my size would be interested in buying (10 basket tedders)but you still get the idea how the design of the equipment works even if it is a larger model.

I also got to watch corn and soybeans being combined, cotton being picked, and peanuts being dug and picked. Most of that equipment was high dollar machines only the biggest operations could afford but it was still neat to watch. There was a cotton picker that also round baled the cotton before being dumped, it made a roll that had to be close to 8 by 8 and supposedly weighed 5000 pounds.

It is nice to be able to talk to the people at the equipment booths as they are much more knowledgeable about the product and helpful than a salesman who is normally trying to convince you to buy something different. If you have never been it is worth going to, I went the farm show in Raleigh NC last winter and it is sad compared to this show....I am much better off to take the longer trip down here.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

DSLinc1017 said:


> Please explain, how does one get rid of them? We have ant mounds here but not the red ones. We did have these Black and red ones in Wisconsin however, and they would attack and when they did it hurt like hell!


Ant poison.

I take one area each day and put fire ant poision on each mound. I keep it in a plastic milk jug and ride on a four wheeler sprinkling it on the mounds.

If I begin doing this in early spring when they first become active then they struggle to survive and do not spread all over the fields and pastures.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Tim/South said:


> Ant poison.
> I take one area each day and put fire ant poision on each mound. I keep it in a plastic milk jug and ride on a four wheeler sprinkling it on the mounds.
> If I begin doing this in early spring when they first become active then they struggle to survive and do not spread all over the fields and pastures.


Let me clarify, what Tim means is 10% die....the rest just move over to the next guys property....same desired effect lol

There is good poisons for fire ants and a lot of them, they are also a natural predator for army worms another problem for us, but if you have enuf fire ants to control a infestation of army worms, you have a much bigger problem on your hands.....


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

FarmerCline said:


> I went by and looked at the new Kuhn wheel rake, they had the SR110GII there. I have never really looked at all the different wheel rakes but it did appear to be built a lot better than of the ones I have seen. They told me the new features was the lift design where the front wheels raise before the rear, the windrow size could be adjusted by pulling a pin and adjusting the rear part of the frame that holds the rear two wheels on each side, it has a mechanical rake arm float position where the tractor does not have to have the hydraulics in float position and supposedly allows it to follow the ground better.
> 
> The field demonstrations are really the best part of the show. I watched different makes of equipment being demonstrated tedding, raking, mowing, and baling hay. If you were in the market to buy a new piece of hay equipment it is really nice to be able to see it run before you buy it. It's not as good as being able to operate it and be up and personal with it when it is running. Some of the equipment is larger than what an operation my size would be interested in buying (10 basket tedders)but you still get the idea how the design of the equipment works even if it is a larger model.
> 
> ...


Thanks Hayden, great report. I sure want to get down next year......that new GII Kuhn sounds like the real deal....I saw one that had the center kick wheel for just under $6K on tractorhaus.

Regards, Mike


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

urednecku said:


> Do it all the time around here. Them little devils will sure get your attention. They like to climb a way up on ya, in side your pants, until about 1,000 or so get on ya. Then all start to bite @ the same time. Even if you are flat on your back under your equipment, they don't care!!


Years ago I heard a guy call into a gardening talk show and ask how to tell the difference between fire ants and the regular kind. The host told him to stick his finger in the nest...."If it hurts real bad they're regular ants, but if it burns like fire, they're fire ants. Who cares, just kill them!"


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> Let me clarify, what Tim means is 10% die....the rest just move over to the next guys property....same desired effect lol


Or they move to a fence row.

One time I used a propane burner, one of those with the long handle used to scorch weeks. I would disturb the mound and let them attack. Then I would burn them. Sort of giving the ants a taste of their own medicine.

I know it did not get the queen and they probably reproduced the roasted ants on a day or so.

But it sure made me feel good.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Well, when we was younguns.....so long ago....there was no better fun than when they came out with the plastic milk jugs, you could stir up a nest and light that milk jug on the end of a stick and it would burn for several minutes, all the while dripping them aints with hot liquified plastic, man was that fun, kinda like "exactin some kinda revenge" type a feelin....he sound the drips made were too cool, somewhat similar to a bomb dropping, way cool.....thanks for bring back the memory Tim


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Mike120 said:


> Years ago I heard a guy call into a gardening talk show and ask how to tell the difference between fire ants and the regular kind. The host told him to stick his finger in the nest...."If it hurts real bad they're regular ants, but if it burns like fire, they're fire ants. Who cares, just kill them!"


The guy who said that ain't never been bit by many fire aints.....I wouldn't stick my finger in a suspect ant bed to investigate....now I might tell some Yankee to do that........just foolin y'all


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

Yep, they feel like fire on you. Will burn/sting for a while, then that little puss bump will show up. I find rubbing alcohol helps some with the sting, & don't seem to swell quite so bad.

When my 17yo was about 3 he came running to me hollering "FIRE ON ME! FIRE ON ME!" He had rolled in a bed & was covered.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

somedevildawg said:


> Well, when we was younguns.....so long ago....there was no better fun than when they came out with the plastic milk jugs, you could stir up a nest and light that milk jug on the end of a stick and it would burn for several minutes, all the while dripping them aints with hot liquified plastic, man was that fun, kinda like "exactin some kinda revenge" type a feelin....he sound the drips made were too cool, somewhat similar to a bomb dropping, way cool.....thanks for bring back the memory Tim


That brings back memories. Where I grew up we had an almost 2 acre pond and that's the way I used to burn the weeds around the edge of the pond. That was before Dad bought a weedeater. I still remember the sound of those drips ;-)


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

urednecku said:


> Do it all the time around here. Them little devils will sure get your attention. They like to climb a way up on ya, in side your pants, until about 1,000 or so get on ya. Then all start to bite @ the same time. Even if you are flat on your back under your equipment, they don't care!!


What urednecku stopped short of mentioning is that, after inadvertantly standing on a fireant mound, it's not funny to have to kick off your work boots, shed your pants, begin wiping these little devils off your legs, brush them off the outside of your pants, turn your pant legs inside out, bursh them off again, check your arms from when you reached inside your pant legs to turn them inside out, and finally check to ensure that your boots are clean of ants, all the while standing there in your underwear hoping no one comes down the road to see you in such a rediculous situation. After all this, now you have to bear the pain and welts that occur from the bites.


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## urednecku (Oct 18, 2010)

vhaby said:


> What urednecku stopped short of mentioning is that, after inadvertantly standing on a fireant mound, it's not funny to have to kick off your work boots, shed your pants, begin wiping these little devils off your legs, brush them off the outside of your pants, turn your pant legs inside out, bursh them off again, check your arms from when you reached inside your pant legs to turn them inside out, and finally check to ensure that your boots are clean of ants, all the while standing there in your underwear hoping no one comes down the road to see you in such a rediculous situation. After all this, now you have to bear the pain and welts that occur from the bites.


And when you finally get all the little devils out & get dressed again, 3 or 4 more will show ya you missed them, but they didn't miss you..


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

vhaby said:


> What urednecku stopped short of mentioning is that, after inadvertantly standing on a fireant mound, it's not funny to have to kick off your work boots, shed your pants, begin wiping these little devils off your legs, brush them off the outside of your pants, turn your pant legs inside out, bursh them off again, check your arms from when you reached inside your pant legs to turn them inside out, and finally check to ensure that your boots are clean of ants, all the while standing there in your underwear hoping no one comes down the road to see you in such a rediculous situation. After all this, now you have to bear the pain and welts that occur from the bites.


Or you run to the nearest water hose thinking you can wash them off your now naked to the skivies body. Then discover they dig into hairy legs when drenched, almost impossible to wash off. It does tend to take their mind off dining on more of your fresh meat.

You get them picked off your legs and decide to shake them out of your pants.

Grab your jeans by the waist band and give them a solid whip only to discover you just transplanted the infestation on your neck, head and back.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

I got nailed today by about 8-10 Fire Ants. My wife was washing the Drill and dropped the garden hose nozzle right in a small mound of Fire Ants, I wasn't paying attention and picked up the nozzle and was rinsing something off and they nailed me good. Felt like I stuck my hand in a fire for about an hour. I actually tried hosing them off my hand and they were dug in and to knock off my hand. I hate those little bast.... ! Must have been put here by the Devil himself because I can't see what positive purpose they could possibly function.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Grateful11 said:


> I got nailed today by about 8-10 Fire Ants. My wife was washing the Drill and dropped the garden hose nozzle right in a small mound of Fire Ants, I wasn't paying attention and picked up the nozzle and was rinsing something off and they nailed me good. Felt like I stuck my hand in a fire for about an hour. I actually tried hosing them off my hand and they were dug in and to knock off my hand. I hate those little bast.... ! Must have been put here by the Devil himself because I can't see what positive purpose they could possibly function.


 I take it the freeze we had didnt kill them or do they survive the freezing temperatures underground to come out and about on the warm days?


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> I take it the freeze we had didnt kill them or do they survive the freezing temperatures underground to come out and about on the warm days?


Yea the fire ant is fairly adaptable creature, however, freezing is not something it does well with, but their mounds go deep in to the ground and it's very warm inside the mound with a few ants running around. Extended periods of freeze will take care of em however.

I bet you have a bunch of "pimples" on your arm/hand today grateful....don't pop em, better if left alone, but it's hard not to.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Ya know all this talk of the fire ant got me to thinkin, a pic paints a 1000 words, these are fire ant beds after being hit with the disc mower. If ya look real close, you can see the pita little critters. These mounds that you can see very plainly will stand about 8-10 " higher than the ground level, no problems seeing them....even a Yankee can avoid something like that , nope it would be the ones that are invisible to the naked eye that makes the "ant radar" go off and save your butt. The one pic is one of those, that's the ones that will get ya...


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Yeah that is what the mounds I was standing on at the expo field demonstrations looked like....sure glad the guy next to me was kind enough to let me know what I was standing on before they got on me.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

FarmerCline said:


> Yeah that is what the mounds I was standing on at the expo field demonstrations looked like....sure glad the guy next to me was kind enough to let me know what I was standing on before they got on me.


Southern hospitality.....which is growing in shorter supply as the years move on.

Regards, Mike


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

So one advantage of actually having winter, no fire ants.


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## Coondle (Aug 28, 2013)

Loved reading the stories about fire ants. I sure am glad we do not have those here. The ant here that grabs your attention is known as a sargeant ant or an inch ant. You guessed it about an inch long with huge mandibles (jaws), "all the better to grip you with my dear" to misquote the much maligned wolf.

They have liquid fire in their tails and my son discovered when very young that they can hurt even when deprived of their head!. Luckily they do not like cultivation and pretty well only colonise around two species of eucalypt (gum trees). However the most frightening things about them is:

they climb the trees and have been known to drop in on one standing underneath only one or two at a time at most.

at breeding season they release the flying ants to go forth and set up new nests, and these are lookalikes for the usual walking type. Havent tried to see if their sting is as potent. Quite happy to leave that to someone else and rely on their report.

Hitting the mounds with the mower would do a power of good to the machine.

Talking of picking up hay and excitement from unwanted passengers:

Years ago a cousin was atop a load of sheaf hay when a snake came up with the sheaf, result was 2 broken ankles from jumping/ falling from the load. Come to think of it it was the same cousin who in the late fifties was lying under the combine harvester (a reale combine machine because it had a straw baler fitted too) and he raised his head with a start when a snake slithered over a leg. Knocked himself out and the snake went on its way unmolested.

Have baled a snake into a bale which brought a reaction from the person catching the bale at the top of the loader. He exhibited signs of nerves for a while after that. Do not understand why some people are so flighty, the snake was in two halves in two biscuits of the bale.

Most snakes around here are very poisonous either dugite, gwarda, or occasional tiger and grow up to 6 feet in length, though usually topping out at the 4 to 5 foot range. Seen 3 so far this season at about 3 to 4 feet and have one unseen so far, that has taken up residence in my hay shed judging by the tracks in the dust outside.

From the descriptions you folk give, I will be happy to settle with my exciting critters rather than be blessed with fire ants to cause a focus of my attention at unwanted times.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Not actually an Ant but a Wasp, I saw one of these about a month ago, the Red Velvet Ant.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_occidentalis

It's nickname is "Cow Killer" because of the painful sting it puts on you. The thing was nearly an 1" long. Glad I didn't try and pick it up.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Grateful11 said:


> Not actually an Ant but a Wasp, I saw one of these about a month ago, the Red Velvet Ant.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_occidentalis
> 
> It's nickname is "Cow Killer" because of the painful sting it puts on you. The thing was nearly an 1" long. Glad I didn't try and pick it up.


Yeah, the Velvets do have a powerful sting....I have been stung by one once. Bumblebees also have a very potent sting....they will leave a sore on the skin for weeks and after the sore heals there will be a red spot for months.

Regards, Mike


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

View attachment 1259


click

This is a Bumblebee nest that was made in loose hay under my tractor carry all. There were several hundred mature Bumblebees defending this nest and it took two cans of spray to dispatch them. The very dark spots(black) in the nest are dead mature Bumbles that were killed on the nest. There were several hundred eggs, as you can see....about the size of a regular marble. I got stung four times before all were killed. Bumbles make a bird like nest and this nest was about 3 inches deep. My hand is for size reference. I found this one in July in my largest hay storage building.

Regards, Mike


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## Mike120 (May 4, 2009)

Grateful11 said:


> Not actually an Ant but a Wasp, I saw one of these about a month ago, the Red Velvet Ant.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_occidentalis
> 
> It's nickname is "Cow Killer" because of the painful sting it puts on you. The thing was nearly an 1" long. Glad I didn't try and pick it up.


Thanks! I started seeing those things occasionally about a year ago and didn't know what they were. They looked pretty mean.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Mike,

I have never seen a bumblebee nest that large.

I had on built in my square baler a few years ago. it was nothing compared to the one you have.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Grateful11 said:


> Not actually an Ant but a Wasp, I saw one of these about a month ago, the Red Velvet Ant.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dasymutilla_occidentalis
> 
> It's nickname is "Cow Killer" because of the painful sting it puts on you. The thing was nearly an 1" long. Glad I didn't try and pick it up.


I have only seen these a few times. I did not know what they were or could sting.

I shall be on the look out for them now. Thanks for the info and heads up.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

We have those cow killer wasps/ants, better get a shovel to kill em, stepping on it just don't seem to get it unless you happen to be on concrete.....

Mike, I guess I've never seen a bumblebee nest, interesting.... I know a few farmers down here started using bumblebees instead of honey bees, seems the honey bee has figured out the system, turned democrat and stopped working hard.....


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

Mike I've never seen a Bumblebee nest either, seen lots of Bumblebees but never knew they made a nest like that. We have more Boring/Carpenter Bees around here now than BumbleBees. Those little sh!ts will bore into almost any kind of wood and make a nearly perfect round hole.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I found out about a bumblebees sting after I removed a nest from a bluebird house....didn't realize what it was until I grabbed it and heard buzzing....only got stung twice. I always have been told bumblebees won't sting....I guess not unless you mess with the nest.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> I always have been told bumblebees won't sting....I guess not unless you mess with the nest.


The "bumblebees won't sting" comes from people confusing bumblebees with carpenter bees. Only one of the carpenter bees has a stinger, either the male or the female. I believe it is the female.

The two type bees are still confused with each other around here.

Bumblebees will eat you up. Bumblebees and yellow jackets were always something I dreaded when bush hogging.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Grateful11 said:


> Mike I've never seen a Bumblebee nest either, seen lots of Bumblebees but never knew they made a nest like that. We have more Boring/Carpenter Bees around here now than BumbleBees. Those little sh!ts will bore into almost any kind of wood and make a nearly perfect round hole.


Have ya seen the carpenter bee trap? Real basic, works great, the bee always seems to bore on the side of the building that warms first. If wood peckers catch wind of the bees in the wood, it's trouble.....they will tear that wood to pieces to get at the bees.


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## Grateful11 (Apr 5, 2009)

somedevildawg said:


> Have ya seen the carpenter bee trap? Real basic, works great, the bee always seems to bore on the side of the building that warms first. If wood peckers catch wind of the bees in the wood, it's trouble.....they will tear that wood to pieces to get at the bees.


I saw one at Agri-Supply, looked like it would be easy to make.


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

somedevildawg said:


> Have ya seen the carpenter bee trap? Real basic, works great, the bee always seems to bore on the side of the building that warms first. If wood peckers catch wind of the bees in the wood, it's trouble.....they will tear that wood to pieces to get at the bees.


There is a guy who makes and sells them online.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Carpenter Bees here fly into open buildings and bore into the rafters/purlins. Don't seem to bother with the sides.

Regards, Mike


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## vhaby (Dec 30, 2009)

mlappin said:


> So one advantage of actually having winter, no fire ants.


What an educational Thread! Keep it coming.

There are other "advantages" to living with these pests, compared to several feet of snow and 40 below winter temperatures. A couple of other "advantages" are 100 + summer heat and feral hogs rooting up hay fields, pastures, and even residential yards. If you don't already have the hogs, better hope you never get them in the Midwest. Would hate to see what they can do to those extensive fields of corn and beans.


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