Hoovered Hornets
Editor:
“The Hornet Whisperer” (July 15) reminded me of my 2007 encounter with a yellowjacket colony.
The first exterminator couldn’t find them. The second said the only option was putting poison dust on their entry hole and hoping the workers tracked in a lethal dose. With our vegetable garden downwind? Not.
Friends said wait until fall then seal the hole. But the critters were getting more aggressive, and we had a niece coming to visit.
I tried commercial and home-made traps but nothing worked until a “hornet whisperer” I met online suggested this: Get up before dawn (before they’re active), duct-tape the nozzle of a shop-vacuum near the hole and run it for two hours at mid-day (when they’re foraging). A week should suck in enough workers to starve the colony.
Through binoculars, I watched bugs being swept down the nozzle. But after a week of daily vac-attacks, their numbers seemed undiminished. Another look through the binoculars showed they’d found a second way in.
A friend came over with two bee suits and we patched up their new entry. After two more weeks, they were finally gone.
→ post a comment
seven-o-heaven
Old Town Arcata
Will Plaza Point put the kibosh on Arcata whippersnapper shenanigans?
Today
Label GMOs Signature Gathering Training
meetings / 4 p.m. Sun Yi's Academy of Tae Kwon Do, 1215 Giuntoli Lane, Arcata. Help gather valid signatures to get the 'California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act' on the 2012 ballot. E-mail northernhumboldtlabelgmos@hotmail.com. 223-0424.
Open Celtic Music Session
music / 3 p.m. Cafe Veritas/Mosgo's, 180 Westwood Center, Arcata. Informal monthly gathering of musicians playing Irish and other Celtic music. Hosted by Seabury Gould. seaburygould.com. 845-8167.
Nonviolence Action Camp
etc. / 10 a.m. Chinmaya Mission near Piercy. Weekend-long direct action orientation features workshops, role playing, seminars, ceremonies and field trips. Bring food, bedding, warm clothes, signs, banners, bikes, drums, acoustic instruments. Pre-register. saverichardsongrove.org. 932-5898.
Audubon Society Field Trip
outdoors / 9 a.m. Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge, 1020 Ranch Road, Loleta. Meet at Refuge Visitor Center off Hookton Road. Leisurely, two- to three-hour trip intended for people wanting to learn birds of Humboldt Bay area. 822-3613.
More →
0 Comments