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.