Originally Posted by TouristTrap (Post 5047690)

I am like that. Went to a bbq the other day at a friend's campsite, and the no see ums ate me alive. Took over 2 weeks to get rid of the rash. :eek:

Originally Posted by AdobePinon (Post 5047706)

Sounds like a hornet, Sod. And quit acting like a Yank - yellowjackets and hornets are wasps, not bees. ;)

Originally Posted by Adnams (Post 5047715)

Quit? Isnt that an Americanism in itself, stop acting like... surely?? :)

Originally Posted by Adnams (Post 5047557)

OMG what if there's a nest of them!!

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5047551)

Seems like everything is this country has got something and wants to bite something else, how did these people cope when they first got here? I'd have been on the first scurvy ridden, rat infested leaky old boat back to the filth of London and a good old fashioned dose of religious bigotry.

Originally Posted by cindyabs (Post 5047769)

I have thought of that since I've lived here in the South. Can you imagine coming over here in those heavy woollen clothes-several layers worth and then not to have AC???!!! :ohmy: No wonder they died off like flies.

Originally Posted by AdobePinon (Post 5047706)

Sounds like a hornet, Sod. And quit acting like a Yank - yellowjackets and hornets are wasps, not bees. ;)

Originally Posted by Bradford Lass (Post 5047892)

So glad its not just me have had 2 visits to ER with infected bites,

I went out this week to sit in my new gazebo - thought it might stop em, huge swollen bites next day.

Even OH who is native came in from grass cutting tonight with big welt on his arm from some bite.
Lily white friends visiting next week from UK its hard to explain that sitting outside is not a good idea.

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5047923)

Mrs Sod got a bite on her arse last summer while sitting on the jetty watching me jet ski (yes, those were the good old days) it swelled up as big as a footy ball. I was saying we should go to A n E while her family were just saying things like - oh rub a bit of cream on it/rub some spit on it/get bit again to get immune - generally no big deal. In the UK I would have had her booked in at the bleedin morgue!!!!

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5047360)

Help Michiganders!!!

I have just killed the biggest bee type creature I have ever seen in my life. It was in our yard when I pulled up and almost flew in the car widow. It seemed pissed right off by the car and kept dive bombing it. I ran away leaving the keys in the car. I had to attack it with a broom and it took some killing.

It is about an inch long dead, alive it looked as big as my thumb. I have googled it and am wondering if it could be a queen yellowjacket? A site I found said they tend to be half inch long while the queen is almost an inch (this is an inch at least). What I am wondering is - and this may sound dumb but I have a total phobia of bees and especially wasps and even more especially dinosaur sized wasps!!! - is there any way it's buddies could know it is dead and start looking for revenge or something, I mean like, do they give of any distress chemicals and stuff. I am sitting here shivering and imagining them crawling all over the house.

Anyway, anyone had experience of these gargangtuan monster insects and am I right to be fearful?

Originally Posted by Silly Sod (Post 5047923)

Mrs Sod got a bite on her arse last summer while sitting on the jetty watching me jet ski (yes, those were the good old days) it swelled up as big as a footy ball. I was saying we should go to A n E while her family were just saying things like - oh rub a bit of cream on it/rub some spit on it/get bit again to get immune - generally no big deal. In the UK I would have had her booked in at the bleedin morgue!!!!

Originally Posted by Jerseygirl (Post 5047941)

Sounds like a carpenter bee...I had a problem with them last year. The male guards the nest while the female bores through the wood. Don't worry the male may look threatening but it is harmless...it cannot sting. The male doesn't stray very far...so take a look around for a round hold about 3/4" dia in the woodwork...if will usually be facing downwards. The female will be in there laying eggs...the problem is the young will return each year.

They freak me out because the male fly right up to your face...glaring at you.