This afternoon I looked at a scary elm takedown. The Siberian elm, I haven't seen one marked for DED for years, will be an easy takedown. The problem is the swarm of bees in the crown!

All over the crown, but not out on the branches where the leaves are, only on the woody parts, there are two kinds of bees/hornets/wasps. They are all the same when they are stinging! The little ones I have seen before during August. They are not a problem as long as I don't cut into a nest, did that many years ago! They will not bother me. The ones that I am concerned with are bigger. I got two today while I was studying the tree.

They are about 3/4" to 7/8" long, single wing, not fuzzy, mostly black with a yellowish-white patches. The ends of the abdomen, on one, the last two sections on the other the last three sections, they are yellowish-white. The part of their body (thorax?) where the wings are attached has a black triangular pattern surrounded by the same light colored patches.

When i was on the job I grabbed my can of wasp/hornet spray, I carry at least one full can in every vehicle, and started to spray the trunk and out onto the limbs as high as I could spray. This seemed to keep both zappers away. I would like to know if there is some other way of clearing the tree when I go back to take the tree down. My plan would be to use a bug headnet, thick baggy clothes, taped at neck, wrists, and ankles. This one is mine because I won't put my crew in this position. People that I have talked to have used the foggers that use propane to burn for clearing the yard of mosquitoes. would that work for these zappers?

Is there a website with pictures that I could go to to ID the two corpses that I have? I will save them in case I need to send them in for ID.


Tom

Reply to post by Tom Dunlap, on August 12, 1999 at 20:05:57:

Tom, My guess is that they are feeding on the secretions of sucking insects, or the insects themselves, that are on the leaves. I suggest waiting until the season is past, the tree gets washed down by some rain, and the weather cools, and you will be a happier removalist.

Reply to post by Peter Torres, on August 12, 1999 at 20:05:57:

Peter,

I found out last night that the big fellas are bald faced hornets. A friend of mine who used to raise bees warned mea bout these bad boys. Both the bald faced and the littel ones are in the woody part of the tree. There may be some bugs in there secreting. Waiting for a good rain sounds like a good idea. Since the tree has DED we are under a time deadline.

Tom

Reply to post by Tom Dunlap, on August 12, 1999 at 20:05:57:

http://www.msue.msu.edu/msue/imp/modc1/82595011.html

Reply to post by Mark Goodwin, on August 12, 1999 at 20:05:57:

http://www.netside.net/~jb/images/baldfaced.html

Reply to post by Tom Dunlap, on August 12, 1999 at 20:05:57:

Tom, I think the first thing you need to do (if you can't wait till Winter) is find out if the critters are residents or transients. The biggest risk will be from residents protecting a nest or nests. I've always seen bald faced hornets make paper nests out in the open, should be easy to spot. I don't know if they will build a nest in a cavity. Honey bees, bumble bees, yellow jackets I've found inside cavities or structures. Known nests are also the easiest to deal with. Load up a good old fashioned tree sprayer. You'll do a most effective job with an insecticide, but if you're opposed to that you can blast a nest apart with plain water. You can also do a lot of washing down as Peter suggests. Exposed nests are easy. Cavity nests will require insecticide or getting the nozzle up close enough to to get pressure inside. My experience is that they get so confused by the nest being blasted apart they don't pay that much attention to you... be prepared to switch from blasting stream to a fogging spray as they hover about, fog them. With a good insecticide you'll see them drop right out of the fog, crash and burn. The transients may be tougher because they're coming from an undetermined number of nests elsewhere. Washing down the tree may be of some help. Residual insecticide on the surfaces may help.

The time it takes to do all this will probably more than offset the extra time and risk of climbing with the critters and working in cumbersome protective gear.

Reply to post by Tom Dunlap, on August 13, 1999 at 00:47:35:

If one starts to buzz you, and you ignore it, then it gets more. When several are buzzing you and you ignore it, you are about to get hit multiple times. If you can't wait wait for cool weather, I suggest washing the tree down with the appropriate pesticde before proceeding, and have a cell phone in the crew. Regards, Peter