BigYellaStella
Well-Known Member
Bumblebees are living in, around, and under my driveway... They say they don't sting unless they or the hive feel threatened, and we've had a live-and-let-live, don't-start-nothin'-won't-be-nothin' type of relationship... Until 2 days ago
They started it...
I was in the driveway, working on Stella, minding my own beeswax(ha!), when one of the little bastards decided to flex his muscles, show off, or maybe just was in a bad mood for whatever reason, and decided to get in my face. I did not swat at him or anything of that nature, simply blew him away with a sharp blast of Mtn. Dew Code Red breath, and I guess that was all he needed to take things to the next level.
Next thing I know, bumblebees start rising from the crack in the driveway in a very pissed off fashion looking to see what the supposed ruckus was all about. My dog was outside with me(had to have someone there helping me work on the car, right?), and they start to harass her. One got in her ear and made her freak out, which then prompted my lady and the kid to come out to her defense. The bumblebees decide that the dog is no longer interesting, as there was now bigger fish to fry. They started to swarm around my lady(who's allergic), whilst the kid runs back inside and LOCKS THE DOOR BEHIND HER, to keep the bees out she says.
My lady runs off with a dozen or so of the buggers following, and the dog chasing her, frantically biting at the bees to save mom(she's a good dog), while another 8-10 focus their attention on me. Thinking quickly, I grab the shop vac hose, turn it on with lightning speed, and begin swatting at and sucking up these "gentle and necessary insects" with the accuracy of a drunken ninja, while my lady is screaming incoherently from parts unknown.
The kid FINALLY unlocks the door, and my lady frantically gets inside with only one semi-serious battle wound to the upper thigh. Break out the epi-pen just in case, and then she and the kid and the dog (now safely inside) watch me fend for myself with the shop vac and are shouting orders through the screen window as to this now furious hive of bees respective positions all around me, dive bombing me and wreaking havoc all over.
I take out a good 30-40 with the shop vac, and in the heat of the battle I managed to cover the main entrance to their base with a pb blaster soaked rag. This only slowed them down (and made them less prone to corrosion, no doubt), so I made my escape, simultaneously turning off the shop vac, closing the garage door (can't have them hiding out in THERE) and sprinting to the door to get to safety. They had locked the door AGAIN, to keep the bees out they say.
I've been hit 17 times by this time by my count, and I consider myself lucky that I wasn't worse off, all things considered. I tend to my wounds, change my shorts (just in case), grab my keys, and high-tail it to my local hardware supercenter, where I armed myself more effectively for battle.
I procured PestStop expanding foam, fogger bug spray, and some ointment, and returned home. I quickly filled every crevice with the foam, encasing a few of the bastards in it in the process, while also spraying the fogger to keep the airborne ones at bay. When they hit the ground, my size 13 Nike was then introduced to them with extreme prejudice. Things begin to calm down, & I assess my new found situation.
I now have what amounts to a bumblebee Jonestown with bodies and remnants thereof littering my otherwise nice driveway, and expanding foam slowly growing as the minutes tick by. A shop vac full of bees, some alive, some not, and a dog with a swollen ear.
After its all said and done, the carnage and experience now in the near-past, I'm now considered a monster and a "meanie-head" because of my bee eradication, and her garden now, in her mind, won't flourish because of the pollinating capabilities of the bumblebees.
FML....
They started it...
I was in the driveway, working on Stella, minding my own beeswax(ha!), when one of the little bastards decided to flex his muscles, show off, or maybe just was in a bad mood for whatever reason, and decided to get in my face. I did not swat at him or anything of that nature, simply blew him away with a sharp blast of Mtn. Dew Code Red breath, and I guess that was all he needed to take things to the next level.
Next thing I know, bumblebees start rising from the crack in the driveway in a very pissed off fashion looking to see what the supposed ruckus was all about. My dog was outside with me(had to have someone there helping me work on the car, right?), and they start to harass her. One got in her ear and made her freak out, which then prompted my lady and the kid to come out to her defense. The bumblebees decide that the dog is no longer interesting, as there was now bigger fish to fry. They started to swarm around my lady(who's allergic), whilst the kid runs back inside and LOCKS THE DOOR BEHIND HER, to keep the bees out she says.
My lady runs off with a dozen or so of the buggers following, and the dog chasing her, frantically biting at the bees to save mom(she's a good dog), while another 8-10 focus their attention on me. Thinking quickly, I grab the shop vac hose, turn it on with lightning speed, and begin swatting at and sucking up these "gentle and necessary insects" with the accuracy of a drunken ninja, while my lady is screaming incoherently from parts unknown.
The kid FINALLY unlocks the door, and my lady frantically gets inside with only one semi-serious battle wound to the upper thigh. Break out the epi-pen just in case, and then she and the kid and the dog (now safely inside) watch me fend for myself with the shop vac and are shouting orders through the screen window as to this now furious hive of bees respective positions all around me, dive bombing me and wreaking havoc all over.
I take out a good 30-40 with the shop vac, and in the heat of the battle I managed to cover the main entrance to their base with a pb blaster soaked rag. This only slowed them down (and made them less prone to corrosion, no doubt), so I made my escape, simultaneously turning off the shop vac, closing the garage door (can't have them hiding out in THERE) and sprinting to the door to get to safety. They had locked the door AGAIN, to keep the bees out they say.
I've been hit 17 times by this time by my count, and I consider myself lucky that I wasn't worse off, all things considered. I tend to my wounds, change my shorts (just in case), grab my keys, and high-tail it to my local hardware supercenter, where I armed myself more effectively for battle.
I procured PestStop expanding foam, fogger bug spray, and some ointment, and returned home. I quickly filled every crevice with the foam, encasing a few of the bastards in it in the process, while also spraying the fogger to keep the airborne ones at bay. When they hit the ground, my size 13 Nike was then introduced to them with extreme prejudice. Things begin to calm down, & I assess my new found situation.
I now have what amounts to a bumblebee Jonestown with bodies and remnants thereof littering my otherwise nice driveway, and expanding foam slowly growing as the minutes tick by. A shop vac full of bees, some alive, some not, and a dog with a swollen ear.
After its all said and done, the carnage and experience now in the near-past, I'm now considered a monster and a "meanie-head" because of my bee eradication, and her garden now, in her mind, won't flourish because of the pollinating capabilities of the bumblebees.
FML....
