Butthole Bees

Bumblebee Tuna has been a popular brand in the US for decades. They have a trademark jingle with the words “Yum Yum Bumble Bee, Bumble Bee Tuna…” As kids we would sing along, slightly changing the words to “Butt Butt Butthole Bee, Butthole Bee Tuna…” To our little grade school minds, we found this to be very amusing.


Fast forward to the present...

REAL BUTTHOLE BEES!

I was painting the house and happened to notice a couple of yellow jackets enter a spot where the wood siding mates up with the concrete of the front porch. After seeing about 20 bees come and go I realized I had a problem and decided to take the offensive.

The way the house is laid out, I could look out the rec room window and see the entrance to the colony a couple feet away. I bought some of those wasp nest killer cans that will shoot a poisonous stream about 20 feet. I quickly opened the window, fired off the can, and then closed the window. It killed several and really pissed off the rest. After things calmed down in the evening, I took an aerosol can of insulating foam and sealed up the entire space between the siding and the porch.

A couple days later, we noticed yellow jackets back around the front door. (Annette got stung by one.) Upon close inspection, I found the back door to the colony and repeated the previous procedure.

The insulating foam expands quite a bit, and so once it hardened, I took a knife and trimmed up the excess. Unfortunately, I cut one little section a bit too thin. The next day I found a small hole in the foam and yellow jackets coming and going. The hole was about a quarter inch in diameter. I stuck the probe of a can of wasp killer into the hole and discharged the entire contents. Next, I dumped a can of insulating foam into the hole. This finally took care of the problem.

While the fight was going on, I had set three yellow jacket traps in the yard. I stopped counting after reaching the 300 mark.

This summer is much calmer, and our flowers are full of bumble bees.