Can you guess who may have painted this eagle’s head?
Here, let me move back a little further for you.
Still can’t guess? Let’s move back a little further still.
Still can’t make it out?
You do realize, though, that it is a work art?
Alright, let’s move way back.
What do you mean you don’t know what it is?
It’s the inside of my next door neighbor’s bedroom valence where a batch of industrious yellow-jackets built and painted this humongous hive! What you’re looking at stands about two feet tall and is attached to the inside of the external wall of his house. I think they just incorporated the “eagle’s head” portrait for fun.
How I happened to be able to snap off these shots all began back on October 17th. You remember, back right before I wrote Weekends Happen about my tarp-flying escapade atop my dad’s house? Well, what I didn’t tell you in that post was that the next day I was up there with an even bigger, heavier tarp, wind blowing even harder, trying to strap things down a little better.
My neighbor, Jeff, happened to hear the loud flapping of the tarp, looked up and saw me wrestling with it and came over to lend some assistance.
Once we had battened down the hatches, we were all sitting at Dad’s dining room table warming up with a cup of coffee when Jeff starts wondering if, being a keeper of honeybees, I knew anything about yellow-jackets because he thinks he’s got some in the roof of his house.
Well, I really didn’t know much about them at all, but I offered to gear up and come investigate, or if he’d rather, I would just loan him my veil and gloves.
Jeff said he’d let me know if he needed any of that and I didn’t hear anything from him until day before yesterday when he sent his friend Jose over. Jose said that Jeff thought I might be interested in taking a look at what they found and I told him I’d be right over with my camera.
The rest is, as they say, what you see in the shots above.
When I left, I once again offered my protective gear since Jose said they were getting ready to remove the hive. As of yet, I’ve had no request for the gear and I’ve not heard any screaming from within the house next door. I trust pray that all is well.
I’ll keep you posted.
You’re in Boardman Country!
Make yourself at home, but keep the RAID handy.
Brad
Holy cow! No screaming yet??? Maybe you’d better go check LOL! Seriously I hope your neighbor is okay! Yikes!
.-= Theresa Cahill´s last blog ..The FTC On MLM =-.
Hey Theresa! Nope. Not yet.
However, I do know that Jeff is alive because I sent him this post and he emailed me back. We’re banging strategies back and forth.
Thanks for coming by!
I’d have never guessed that to be a yellow-jacket hive! I think he should call some-one for help! That is too huge to mess with!!
Hi Barbara.
Yep, Jeff calls it the Cysteine Chapel of yellow jacket nests. I’ve not heard yet what the disposition will be, but I’m sure he’ll take the necessary precautions.
That is a huge hive! No screaming from the neighbor means he must be pretty brave! Don’t yellow jackets kinda sleep during cold weather or slow down?
Hi Linda.
Like the rest of the bee family, I believe they do go a bit dormant during the winter, but these are in such a nice warm space I don’t think it would take much to wake them up. I think a can of RAID in each hand would be my approach if I were doing the removal.
Wow, that is quite the hive!
That is absolutely huge! Hope no one in the family is allergic to bees!
.-= corrin´s last blog ..in a van down by the river =-.
That is huge. I am a kind of surprised to see this
I have never seen a bee hive that like that! It’s kind of cool that they are able to build something like that,but it’s a scary thing to have attached to your house!
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Oh my gosh! What is he going to do with that come spring?
Well I’m having to take an educated guess, because I have never heard of a yellow-jacket, that it must be a stinging insect. Related to wasps maybe. Whatever it is, that is an enormous nest! I wouldn’t like to have to tackle it.
Yes, A., a yellow-jacket is a type of bee and in this case they did an amazing job of building a home. It’s just in the wrong place.
That is one scary looking hive. I won’t even look at it anymore. I’ve scrolled down to leave my comment. My husband is highly allergic to stinging insects so my fear is real.
.-= ConnieFoggles´s last blog ..Traditional Italian Christmas Eve Dinner =-.
Isn’t it amazing what nature provides? Awesome.