Bee's Nest

[boneaddict]

Some of you guys noticed the nest in one of my bigbuckdown shots.  It is "mounted" in my living room.  Here was teh originl out in the woods.

[boneaddict]

Not a real good one of the final outome
.

[bucklucky]

. Hornets nest?

[tlbradford]

Was it abandoned?  If not, how did you get the bees out?

[boneaddict]

Mostly.  It was a dry fall which is whatsimportant.  usually by this time of year, they are brought down by wind  and rains.  Yes, it was a hornets nest.  There were a couple left, but most had long been dead.  It was nervy bringing it home because my wife wouldn't allow it in the truck and I was in Nroth Idaho, so bombing down the freeway at 79, I figured there would be nothing left.  It made it though.

[Alchase]

That is a cool decoration, beats any dink doyly the wife could come up with, lol

[Head-shot]

That is a cool decoration, beats any dink doyly the wife could come up with, lol

[rackattack]

Bone, that's awesome.  Care to share some tips on how your preserved it? 

[boneaddict]

PRetty easy really.  One thing is to freeze it or leave it out somewhere to make sure if any bees come out, it won't bother you too much.  If it stays dry it will last forever.  I then drilled a hole in the wall, which about gave the Mrs a heart attack, and put the stick in and then mudded around it to help secure it.  After hanging it, I went down to the craft store to buy fall leaves.  I tried to get a couple different versions to mix it up and make it look more realistic.  Different versions meaning brands, not variety of trees.  I left a couple of the natural leaves on that were dried and curled as that added even more realism.  I used hot glue to put most of them on and then made sure there was no residual glue which often happens with the stuff.   Thats it.  I use one of those air cans to blow it off once in awhile to keep the dust down.  I'm obviosuly careful around the paper with it, but its amazingly tough stuff.

[Hunting Cowboy]

One thing is to freeze it or leave it out somewhere to make sure if any bees come out, it won't bother you too much. 

I talked to a guy who once found a nest during a winter feeze and threw it in the back of his crew cab pickup. On the way home, with the heat on high.....you guessed it. The bees came to life and he about wrecked trying to get pulled off the road and out of that truck.

I have a few I've found over the years and was always going to incorporate them into a taxidermy scene. Maybe I will use them someday. I sure like how yours turned out Bone! Sometimes they're not in very good shape when you run across them.

[bucklucky]

I have been told to kill any bees that may be in the nest to put it in a plastic bag and spray carefully inside and close the bag and let sit for 24 hours or something and the fumes will kill any live bees in it. I dunno if it works.

[boneaddict]

Most of the time you can't see them before the leaves drop, and by then the big fall storms have ripped them.  I've seen a few good ones though.   Thanks Huntingcowboy.  I enjoy it.  Gives some color to th eroom and interest.   

Kind of why I used the line, put it someplace where you don't mind when it warms up.  I had a buddy who layed it on his bed...went out got drunk, came home and crawled into bed.    he was wishin he'd found someone else to crawl into bed with I am sure.  Bee stings are curable though, no penicillin needed.

[boneaddict]

That might work bucklucky.  I hear folks crabbin about the smell of WD-40, let alone what bug spray smells like though. 

[bucklucky]

Good point, dont know if that smell would stick around or not.

[boneaddict]

Do you do exotics at all, or I guess I should say horned game.   I know lots of folks use wd-40 to shine up the horns.    Big variance in taxidermist opinions on this.  I suppose thats a hi-jack, but since its my own thread, oh well. 

[PacificNWhunter]

Looks really good up there next to the big bucks!

[boneaddict]

Thanks.   It gives non- hunters something to talk about and I look the woodsie part of it.   

[boneaddict]

Found some more this fall.  I collected 5 and probably will get two really good ones out of it.

[boneaddict]

I found this one while chasing moose on Hangman.   I left it and was going to pick it up after I was done...well a big storm came through and obliterated it.   

[boneaddict]

This is another one I wanted to collect.   Probably no way to get it intact though.    I though it was really cool becasue its the first one I have seen in a pine tree that high up.

[boneaddict]

[boneaddict]

After the first big freeze, birds, usually FLICKERS, tear into these.  They dig out as much larvae as they can get and dead and or lethargic and dying hornets.    You can see where a bird tied into this one.    I used another nest to repair it and am seriously thinking about hanging it in my new office.  When I get it hung, I'll get a pic of the finished product.

[Huntbear]

Very cool Bone.. love those hornets nests hanging on a wall like that.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, I know where there is a big nest.. I am going that area next week.  I may have t see if it is still intact and if so, can I get it down in one piece.  I took pics of it in September, gonna have to find those.

[boneaddict]

Not many left with the birds and rains etc. But if its protected enough......     Find them and post em up.  I love seeing them.  They are all different.

[mulehunter]

Wow neat.  Cool

[Skyvalhunter]

I remember finding on along the river in Nov one time. I started packing it to my truck on a mild weather day. Damn yellow jackets came out and I got stung once. I tried to teach them how to swim but they didn't do so well.

[Huntbear]

Here is the one I saw this fall.  It is on the East side, so hoping it is still intact.

[Buckmark]

I have a bee suit you can borrow, kinda homemade but it worked for me 

[boneaddict]

It might be Huntbear.  I see that big pine behind it, it might be dry as a bone under it.   

[Jerbear]

Bone, how high up are these things.  The one in the tall pine is of great interest.  That is usually an indicator as to what the snow level is going to be.  Just thought I would ask.

[boneaddict]

It was about 30- 35 feet up.   Most aren't that high, probably about 5-6  feet average.   You know walking along, not paying attention run your head into height.

[Goomsba]

That is a cool decoration, beats any dink doyly the wife could come up with, lol

[True Sportsman]

I love the preserved nests. It looks great. Ive seen a lot of aerial nests this year. I was even fighting one in my yard that was giving me a hard time...

I took some pics of the biggest nest I have seen. It was south of the Swift resevoir, east of Cougar. I was happy I saw it before walking under it. It looked to be about 15 inches in diameter and a little longer than that.

[Huntbear]

It might be Huntbear.  I see that big pine behind it, it might be dry as a bone under it.

Gonna see if it is sometime after the 1st.  Have to get over there first.

[Elkaholic daWg]

I love the preserved nests. It looks great.

 Used to be a BIG one above the pool table at the old Orient Tavern. Wish that place was still open.

[boneaddict]

That certainly looks like a monster True.

[Clancy]

I bumped into once last weekend during late buck that was still intact. nice pics.

[True Sportsman]

That certainly looks like a monster True.

What's the biggest you have seen? I hate those nests, but I like seeing pics of them.

[boneaddict]

The one in the pine tree was pretty big......haven't measured the two that I have here but they are also pretty good sized.

[big wood]

i would put it behind the seat of my buddies truck for about 6 months and if you dont hear anything from him it is ok to put inthe house.

[Kowsrule30]

Found an above ground yellow jackets nest in my back yard..... Maybe 10" diameter... Pretty big for over here..... Sprayed it late summer a few times...... Was trying to save it... After first freeze I figured all was good over a week ago.... Not so much.... Nest is smashed into shreds..... I didn't get stung..... I'm sure it was only because it was still a little chilly for them... They look sweet though.... I've been wanting and trying to get one for a while.... Either the birds get before me or I mess it up......

[Whitpirate]

Here's one I found during late buck up in 117.

Too bad it was 1/2 gone.

[Roger]

Here's one that I had a call about from a neighbor. I titled it as "Firefighter Hazard".

[boneaddict]

Oh wow, thats unique...


Growing up we had one on our living room window, a big picture window, in the upper corner.   One of the best science projects I ever had.   We normally nuked the things, but credit ti Idabooner, I learned alot by watching it expand and grow.  VERY COOL

[quadrafire]

This was an oddity for me this year. This thing was the size of a grapefruit. The area I was hunting late buck (North of Mt Spokane) I literally saw probably a couple dozen of these in 2 days of hunting. They all were in this good of shape. Kinda cool.
None were over 3 ft off the ground, most were about 2ft.

[Idabooner]

Growing up we had one on our living room window, a big picture window, in the upper corner.   One of the best science projects I ever had.   We normally nuked the things, but credit ti Idabooner, I learned alot by watching it expand and grow.  VERY COOL

As you recall the nest was like a half nest on glass, from the inside of the window you could watch the inside of the nest, egg laying, feeding the pupul, hatching into young bees, dutys of the young until they were a few days old, and the building of the nest.  Just watching them build the nest was very amazeing how they do it.  It started the size of a marbel with one bee and by fall frost it was bigger than a basketball with thousands of bees.  It was by the eating table, it provided live intertainment while you ate all summer long.

[quadrafire]

Growing up we had one on our living room window, a big picture window, in the upper corner.   One of the best science projects I ever had.   We normally nuked the things, but credit ti Idabooner, I learned alot by watching it expand and grow.  VERY COOL

As you recall the nest was like a half nest on glass, from the inside of the window you could watch the inside of the nest, egg laying, feeding the pupul, hatching into young bees, dutys of the young until they were a few days old, and the building of the nest.  Just watching them build the nest was very amazeing how they do it.  It started the size of a marbel with one bee and by fall frost it was bigger than a basketball with thousands of bees.  It was by the eating table, it provided live intertainment while you ate all summer long.

That would be cool. My wife probably wouldn't allow it as she is highly allergic to stings.

by the way my daughter got stung on the finger last sunday, in the damn house while watching TV. Must have come in on the firewood. Can't believe a bee sting in Dec.