Bees!
- Thread starter Treelimbjim
- Start date
okay, i was away for a few days.
I'll get right on that when I get some time.
Cicada killers just moved into my yard last week or so, cool. Maybe I'll take some pictures of bees these next few weeks.
just looking into my photo files to see if I had anything
found this picture of something that looks like a bee, but i think they are NOT considered a bee. I should probably look this up first before I post, then I could act like I'm smarter than I am.
I'd call this insect a horntail. It has no waist like a wasp does. These guys lay eggs in dieing trees. Larvae eat through the wood.
The good guys, the Ichneumon wasp larvae feed on these horntail larvae.
Well, I think that's all right. Anyway, pretty sure this is a horntail. Not sure what exact one, I'd have to look that one up.
Found three of these guys with their ovipositors stuck in the bark of a 95% dead beech tree when I stoped by for a removal estimate. Looked like a good picture.
Noticed a yellow jacket nest in the yard today as I was mowing the grass tonight. I'll put a glass bowl over the hole someday soon. I like killing a hive in the ground that way. Ever do that? They keep trying to get through the glass and never just crawl under it. Use a big clear glass bowl. (or an old aquarium) They often get frustrated and chew up every peice of vegatation inside the bowl also. Sun kills a lot of them on a hot day. Then a combination of sun and starvation will usually kill off the whole hive. Takes 2 to 7 days usually.
I'll get right on that when I get some time.
Cicada killers just moved into my yard last week or so, cool. Maybe I'll take some pictures of bees these next few weeks.
just looking into my photo files to see if I had anything
found this picture of something that looks like a bee, but i think they are NOT considered a bee. I should probably look this up first before I post, then I could act like I'm smarter than I am.
I'd call this insect a horntail. It has no waist like a wasp does. These guys lay eggs in dieing trees. Larvae eat through the wood.
The good guys, the Ichneumon wasp larvae feed on these horntail larvae.
Well, I think that's all right. Anyway, pretty sure this is a horntail. Not sure what exact one, I'd have to look that one up.
Found three of these guys with their ovipositors stuck in the bark of a 95% dead beech tree when I stoped by for a removal estimate. Looked like a good picture.
Noticed a yellow jacket nest in the yard today as I was mowing the grass tonight. I'll put a glass bowl over the hole someday soon. I like killing a hive in the ground that way. Ever do that? They keep trying to get through the glass and never just crawl under it. Use a big clear glass bowl. (or an old aquarium) They often get frustrated and chew up every peice of vegatation inside the bowl also. Sun kills a lot of them on a hot day. Then a combination of sun and starvation will usually kill off the whole hive. Takes 2 to 7 days usually.
Attachments
- Location
- Seattle WA
anybody ever seen one of these guys? (sorry if the pic is big) we have lots of baldfaced hornets around here, which i've been pursued by more than once, and at first i took the big one to be the mythical baldfaced queen. then this littler (still pretty dang good sized!) guy buzzed me, and he's definitely not a baldfaced hornet, at least not the one i'm familiar with. sorry for the blurry pic. there's a long ovipositor and a smaller stinger (maybe?) under it. i squealed like a little girl when the big one buzzed me. shudder. ID anyone??
Attachments
- Location
- balancing on the edge . . . .
I tried this last fall, as I dug up a ground hive. We put a piece of plastic over the area, they just dug a different entrance to get in and out.
For what ever reason they did not come back this year.
I've heard several different method on how to kill them. BUT yours sound like the most entertaining.
thanks
jz
For what ever reason they did not come back this year.
I've heard several different method on how to kill them. BUT yours sound like the most entertaining.
thanks
jz
- Location
- Retired in Minneapolis
Kathy,
YOu, of all people, can "squeal like a little girl"
One day I was teaching a climber cabling and bracing. When he got to the ground he walked away from the trunk and pulled his rope. While he was coiling he stepped on a next of ground bees. He went running like a crazy man, cursing and bellering! He almost ran off the back of the yard where there was a four foot retaining wall. I hollared to him to tell him to go LEFT!!! The bees gave up and he was very embarassed about cursing. It was nothing to my ears...I was happy that he didn't take a dive off the retaining wall.
YOu, of all people, can "squeal like a little girl"
One day I was teaching a climber cabling and bracing. When he got to the ground he walked away from the trunk and pulled his rope. While he was coiling he stepped on a next of ground bees. He went running like a crazy man, cursing and bellering! He almost ran off the back of the yard where there was a four foot retaining wall. I hollared to him to tell him to go LEFT!!! The bees gave up and he was very embarassed about cursing. It was nothing to my ears...I was happy that he didn't take a dive off the retaining wall.
funny, talking about taking pictures of bees.
first day of work after my post, today:
customer asked me what all the dirt pile in her yard was from. I told her it must be a Cicada Killer and explained not to worry about it.
A few minutes later, she landed with a fresh Cicada and crawled down the hole.
Thinking of my promise to take pictures, i ran to my truck and got 2 pictures before she disappeared.
Also, in the ground, at the base of a large oak removal, I was clearing the ground of briers and such. I looked back where I was and there were hundreds of yellow jackets swarming around. Suprized I saw them before I got stung. Not stung yet this year, a record. Usually I get stung way before any of my guys do, but I'm doing good this year.
Post a pic of the cicada killer and yellow jackets tomorrow night, if it's not too late. Got in too late tonight, 14 hour day.
first day of work after my post, today:
customer asked me what all the dirt pile in her yard was from. I told her it must be a Cicada Killer and explained not to worry about it.
A few minutes later, she landed with a fresh Cicada and crawled down the hole.
Thinking of my promise to take pictures, i ran to my truck and got 2 pictures before she disappeared.
Also, in the ground, at the base of a large oak removal, I was clearing the ground of briers and such. I looked back where I was and there were hundreds of yellow jackets swarming around. Suprized I saw them before I got stung. Not stung yet this year, a record. Usually I get stung way before any of my guys do, but I'm doing good this year.
Post a pic of the cicada killer and yellow jackets tomorrow night, if it's not too late. Got in too late tonight, 14 hour day.
- Location
- Seattle WA
[ QUOTE ]
Kathy,
YOu, of all people, can "squeal like a little girl"
[/ QUOTE ]
Kathy,
YOu, of all people, can "squeal like a little girl"
[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
customer asked me what all the dirt pile in her yard was from. I told her it must be a Cicada Killer and explained not to worry about it.
[/ QUOTE ]
If someone mentioned to me the words 'Cicada Killer' and 'not to worry' in the same sentence, I'd be inclined to worry...gun toting gangster or whatever - it just has to be bad news!
...Its all in the name
customer asked me what all the dirt pile in her yard was from. I told her it must be a Cicada Killer and explained not to worry about it.
[/ QUOTE ]
If someone mentioned to me the words 'Cicada Killer' and 'not to worry' in the same sentence, I'd be inclined to worry...gun toting gangster or whatever - it just has to be bad news!
moss
Been here much more than a while
- Location
- Carlisle, Massachusetts, U.S.
[ QUOTE ]
anybody ever seen one of these guys? (sorry if the pic is big) we have lots of baldfaced hornets around here, which i've been pursued by more than once, and at first i took the big one to be the mythical baldfaced queen. then this littler (still pretty dang good sized!) guy buzzed me, and he's definitely not a baldfaced hornet, at least not the one i'm familiar with. sorry for the blurry pic. there's a long ovipositor and a smaller stinger (maybe?) under it. i squealed like a little girl when the big one buzzed me. shudder. ID anyone??
[/ QUOTE ]
Those are Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba, same insect that theXman posted earlier in the thread. They don't sting but are scary looking. They have the uncanny ability to know that a tree is about to be totally dead and drill a hole through the bark with their ovipositor to lay eggs. Eggs are deposited with a fungus package which softens up the wood for the larvae to get a head start when they hatch. Here's one photographed drilling a hole in the base of a nearly dead Mountain Ash, the trunk was vertical but the camera was not:
Pigeon horntail photos
Tree is on the ground now.
-moss
anybody ever seen one of these guys? (sorry if the pic is big) we have lots of baldfaced hornets around here, which i've been pursued by more than once, and at first i took the big one to be the mythical baldfaced queen. then this littler (still pretty dang good sized!) guy buzzed me, and he's definitely not a baldfaced hornet, at least not the one i'm familiar with. sorry for the blurry pic. there's a long ovipositor and a smaller stinger (maybe?) under it. i squealed like a little girl when the big one buzzed me. shudder. ID anyone??
[/ QUOTE ]
Those are Pigeon Horntail, Tremex columba, same insect that theXman posted earlier in the thread. They don't sting but are scary looking. They have the uncanny ability to know that a tree is about to be totally dead and drill a hole through the bark with their ovipositor to lay eggs. Eggs are deposited with a fungus package which softens up the wood for the larvae to get a head start when they hatch. Here's one photographed drilling a hole in the base of a nearly dead Mountain Ash, the trunk was vertical but the camera was not:
Pigeon horntail photos
Tree is on the ground now.
-moss
- Location
- Seattle WA
yeah, that might be him. cool, thanks moss!
okay, here we go.
Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus).
1 1/8"-1 5/8" (30-40mm)
throughout North America
Adult drinks nectar, Larva feeds on cicadas that are in a live but paralized state (from a female's sting).
Several females may work together to build nest tunnels in light soils. She makes 2 to 3 cells at the end of a long tunnel. 1 to 2 cicadas are placed in each cell.
Cicadas are alive, but can't move due to being stung. This keeps the "meat" fresh. An single egg is laid on the last cicada in a cell.
Here is the picture I took in a customers yard. Killer is dragging a cicada. Other pictures I took today at my house are better, but no cicada.
Cicada Killer (Sphecius speciosus).
1 1/8"-1 5/8" (30-40mm)
throughout North America
Adult drinks nectar, Larva feeds on cicadas that are in a live but paralized state (from a female's sting).
Several females may work together to build nest tunnels in light soils. She makes 2 to 3 cells at the end of a long tunnel. 1 to 2 cicadas are placed in each cell.
Cicadas are alive, but can't move due to being stung. This keeps the "meat" fresh. An single egg is laid on the last cicada in a cell.
Here is the picture I took in a customers yard. Killer is dragging a cicada. Other pictures I took today at my house are better, but no cicada.
Attachments
last pic on the Cicada Killer.
I let her crawl onto my hand for a few pictures.
I've never been stung by one, but I bet it would hurt bad.
If they give a big enough sting to put down a cicada fast, I bet it's powerful.
I've always been curious though, someday I'll probably make one sting me to see what it feels like.
I let her crawl onto my hand for a few pictures.
I've never been stung by one, but I bet it would hurt bad.
If they give a big enough sting to put down a cicada fast, I bet it's powerful.
I've always been curious though, someday I'll probably make one sting me to see what it feels like.
Attachments
I'll try to post some pics and info these next few days/weeks on Giant Hornets (i dislike the most), Golden Northern Bumble Bees (actually tie the giant hornet for "mean" in this area), yellow jackets, bald-faced hornets, paper wasps, and Giant Ichneumon wasps.
- Location
- Wisconsin, USA
Thank you Xman
I look forward to seeing the rest as well.
I look forward to seeing the rest as well.
- Location
- Dallas, Texas
Bee ID chart of sorts. Those aggies must know a little something.
http://honeybee.tamu.edu/bee_id/id_chart.html
http://honeybee.tamu.edu/safety/bee_safe_quick_guide.html
For you Star Trek fans,
Dr. McCoy: "Dammit Jim, I'm and arborist not an apiarist."
http://honeybee.tamu.edu/bee_id/id_chart.html
http://honeybee.tamu.edu/safety/bee_safe_quick_guide.html
For you Star Trek fans,
Dr. McCoy: "Dammit Jim, I'm and arborist not an apiarist."
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