I just spent an hour completely taping over the fireplace in my apartment.

[JTG of the PRB]

Why you ask? Because some yellow jackets have decided to build a nest in the flue up in the chimney, and they've been venturing through the building. I called a girl at the apartment office, and apparently a lot of the buildings in the complex are having this problem. She said the bug guy was coming on Friday to spray them.

he's coming on Friday. It's currently Sunday. There are yellow jackets invading apartments.

I have just one question for you, DU...

Why the FUCK isn't the bug guy here TODAY?! If this is a widespread problem with numerous building affected, why isn't he here TODAY? Or at the very least, TOMORROW?!

My fireplace looks ridiculous. I completely taped over every slot, every opening, the entire thing. I ran out of packing tape, of course, so I have to improvise and tape a sliced-up cereal box over the remaining opening. Hopefully this will keep those fuckers out.

I removed two yesterday and another nine today. I REALLY don't want to have to go through this all week. x(

Edit to add photographic proof:



My patented Bee Shield 3000® seems to be working so far.

[JTG of the PRB]

1. Kick, because now there's a picture.

[azmouse]

2. No plastic sheeting or newspapers to help cover the area?

[JTG of the PRB]

3. Nope. Gonna pick some of that up tomorrow.

I wanted to get something up right away so that I didn't have to catch and release one yellow jacket after another to keep from pissing them off.

[azmouse]

5. I hope the tape doesn't pull off the black paint when you remove it.

[JTG of the PRB]

6. As far as I can tell it's just black metal with no paint on it at all.

Still, I hear that.

[Curtland1015]

4. Hey, that looks suspiciously like MY patented Bee Shield 2999®!!!

I'll see you in court, pal!

:D

[JTG of the PRB]

7. Pfft. The Bee Shield 2999® is an outdated piece of junk.

Believe me, I'm doing you a favor! :P

[madamesilverspurs]

8. Tell the property manager that

they can get bee-sting kits for each of the tenants for about $15-$20 each, gotta be cheaper than calling the paramedics and paying emergency room bills. Or you can ask to store any small 'intruders' at her place until the bug guy gets there.

[Gormy Cuss]

10. +1

I like the way you think.
;)



For the OP: It is unacceptable to be expected to just live with them for five days. Whenever one enters your living space call the building manager. Get your fellow tenants to do same.

[JTG of the PRB]

11. That was my big concern. I'm not allergic, but what if somebody is?

It's a tragedy waiting to happen, and it doesn't make sense that they would wait nearly a week to get somebody in to spray the little bastards. Get somebody in ASAP and get rid of the yellow jackets!

It's just an annoyance to me, but to somebody else it could be a life or death thing at some point. There are a LOT of kids that live in this apartment complex...

[madamesilverspurs]

22. Monday morning

give the city a call, maybe code enforcement? Failing to deal with this in a timely manner is putting her tenants' well-being at risk. Can't believe that in a city the size of Boulder there isn't someone available immediately.

[Sebastian Doyle]

9. Hope you get this resolved soon

If those bees are still there on Xmas Eve, Santa Claus is fucked!

[JTG of the PRB]

13. ...

:spray:

Okay, that was funny.

I think in terms of my place I'm alright. I'm going to reinforce my defenses tomorrow, but for now everything should be okay. Hopefully the spraying of the little buggers won't cause bigger problems - like driving panicked yellow jackets into somebody's home.

[flying rabbit]

12. Why dont you build a fire?

:shrug: might get rid of the bees

[JTG of the PRB]

14. I would, but I'm worried it might cause other problems...

Such as angry bees, smoky bees, burning bees... Besides I think I'll just stick with my current defenses and reinforce them tomorrow when I get home.

[quakerboy]

21. That was my thought

Smokey bees are passive bees. dead bees are even more passive.

[nolabear]

15. I am allergic, and I'd be freaked out.

I guess if the guy can't come the guy can't come, but the landlord should be taking some kind of measures to help.

[merh]

16. You did do an admirable job of taping your fireplace opening.

I hate to ask you this but wouldn't it have been easier and less visible if you had simply blocked off the area inside the fireplace just after the damper.

My old house had a decaying chimney. I couldn't afford to fix it and I couldn't use the fireplace because it was in such sad shape. The damper let in the cold air (and bats) so I blocked off the inside of the fireplace at the opening to the chimney/damper with foam from an old hard pillow. You couldn't see it and I could decorate the fireplace with plants and flowers.

I hope the bug guy makes it out to your place soon so that you don't have to worry with those yellow jackets.

[JTG of the PRB]

17. Well thank you! I pride myself on my taping abilities.

As for your question, I suppose I could have, but there were still yellow jackets coming in through the fireplace as I was taping it up. I'm not worried about the appearance, because I almost never have company over, and if I do, I can just pull my dinner table in front where it usually goes and block it from sight.

[merh]

18. I am allergic to most of those flying critters

I don't blame you for wanting to keep them out of your apartment.

You could always put a trap in the opening and tape it back up.




Make a simple Water Trap
Use a razor knife to cut the top from a 2-liter plastic pop bottle. Cut just above the shoulder of the bottle. Discard the screw top. Fill with water about halfway. Coat the neck with jam, invert it and set back on the bottle. Use two small pieces
of tape to hold it in place.

The rest of the directions here http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natwasp_control.htm


Good luck while you wait on the bug guy. :hi:

[MajorChode]

23. The frosted flakes box is a nice touch....

but I think it would have been much more aesthetically pleasing had you used duct tape.

[Skittles]

19. aw come on, you did a great job!

very colorful and lined up :D

if I was you I'd add a solid strip of tape all the way around it, then mark a think black line in magic marker so it looks like it is framed; yes INDEED!

[ohheckyeah]

20. The Frosted Flakes box lends a

nice pop of color. :-)

[Bertha Venation]

24. It's outrageous! You're right - the bug guy should be there

today. Does your landlord have a history of dragging his/her feet like this?

[Demoiselle]

25. We had honey bees in our house a few years ago...

They set up housekeeping in a corner (stone) wall. We began to wonder why we were finding dead honeybees at our windows. (They got in, headed for the light of the windows, couldn't get out...)
The mystery was solved for me one afternoon when I heard buzzing (yes, buzzing!) in the wall of a second floor corner room. And then, out of a little opening near the window frame, popped a bee. Said bee then hovered, glowering at me. And then I heard more buzzing. And another bee, glowering, came out of the same opening.
OK, so I'm exaggerating about the glowering.

I rushed off to the hardware store and found a wasp killing aerosol thingie that fires a stream of nasty hard enough to reach high into trees.
Fired said stream into the little hole. And THEN, of my goodness! This corner room has two windows ...and through both windows (CLOSED, thank goodness) I saw an enormous swarm of bees. A very very angry swarm of bees, moving away from the wall.
I called an exterminator who came right away and smoked the bees. And then killed them.
I still feel awful about killing them...but they were constructing their hive in our porous old stone walls. Sooner than later, the hive would have made the wall crumble.
And the sensation of hearing my walls buzzing and then producing angry bees was pretty terrifying.
I don't know whether yellow jackets are as much of a structural hazard...but they certainly pose a danger, especially to those with allergies. I hope you can get that
bug man MUCH sooner. There has to be more than one exterminator in Boulder.
I love your bee proofing.

[dugaresa]

26. aside from a bug bomb where you have to leave, how the hell will he get them

where are they building their nets? they are hard to get rid of with just spray.

perhaps you landlord is also waiting for a really cold snap to kill them which is also why the bugs are in a hurry to find a place to overwinter.

[dysfunctional press]

28. start a fire in the fireplace?

[backwoodsbob]

27. three logs..some paper..a match

problem solved