# Spring is here, getting rid of stinging insects



## LetAGrlShowU (Mar 25, 2009)

I love fall and winter, the bugs disappear. I can deal with flies, and can even deal with horse flies... but wasps, and bees and anything stingy makes me lose my mind.
It hit 71 here last week and when I went to the barn there were wasps everything. They were redish black and seem to make nests inside the holes in the wood in the barn. 
There was one in the feed room crawling on the hay. I squished it with the feed scoop, HARD. It didnt die. I put my foot in the scoop and twisted it. It didnt die. It took me at least 5 minutes and all my strength to kill it. So i thought... until i came back in for the hay and it tried to attack me!

I did finally kill it by disconnecting its head from its body but the next day i was throwing hay out to the horses and there was another one between the pads. I can hear them buzzing around the barn. I have a serious phobia.

I went home shaking terribly, begging my fiance to let me trade doing dishes on night i cook, for him to feed the horses throughout the spring. It has since dropepd back into the 40s-60s and they have gone again.

What can I do to rid the barn (safely) of these things? I remember last year I had a very hard time getting feed and my tack out of the barn in fear of being stung. I used to wait until dark to run in and grab my tack, andkeep it on my atv until i rode the next time. 

I might sound chicken but i'm allergic and terrified. Suggestions?


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## LetAGrlShowU (Mar 25, 2009)

Pllleeeaassseeee??


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

i am allergic too... it sucks in the spring and summer time....

my dad will go out once a week and spray areas that have a bees nest etc with that wasp/hornet stuff and we put up bee catchers... similar to fly catchers but there designed for bees

when it comes to the hay area with the pallets i try my best before putting hay on them to lay tarps down over them and tuck them in..that way what ever is under there cant come out and nothing new can get in...

other than that i wear long sleeves and pants if i know i am going into a general bee area... i have extra long sleeve/hoodies in my barn area just for that reason 

welcome yucky buggs


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## Lockwood (Nov 8, 2011)

My son is deathly allergic to them. 
Every year when the weather warms up and I get a non-windy day, I arm myself with multiple cans of wasp spray and spend quite a few hours "hunting" for nests and activity. I look under all eaves, crevices in the barn, hidey holes behind boards, and just about anywhere a nest could be.
I use the foaming kind beacuse it squirts into cracks, holes, and the like much better and it sticks really well.

I really hate harsh chemicals, but this is one time I don't have a choice. 

Last summer I had a nest inside one of the arms of my tractor. Everytime I would fire it up, I would get attacked, but I couldn't figure out where they were coming from.
Finally I went out and from a distance watched the tractor and saw them crawling in and out of a small hole that went down inside on of the steele arms of the front loader. 
After it got dark (they go "to bed" when it is dark) I emptied about half a can of foam into the hole. 

For an everyday trap- a bucket of really soapy dish water with fruit floating in it will draw them to eat the fruit and the soapy water suffocates them when they fall in. Since I have fruit trees and berry brambles this works really well for me.

Also, if you have problems with stink bugs, squirting them with a spray bottle of really soapy water will kill them as well. :twisted:


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

ya gotta get the feed and hay out, the close it up and set a couple foggers off.


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