The Attack of the Yellow Jackets

OK, so you guys are not going to believe this one.

I'm not sure you can tell because the above picture is, well, terrible, but that is my hummingbird feeder, about 2 feet from my back door, covered in YELLOW JACKETS! Seriously, all of the dark area on the red hummingbird feeder is yellow jackets, like 25 of them. Ick.

At this point in the post I feel that I should share some personal information with you. I, in fact, am allergic to insect stings. You know, the bad kind of allergy where I have to carry an epi-pin. Several years ago when I was still teaching school, I was stung at recess one day and had an anaphylactic reaction. Oh, it was loads of fun.

So, my new dishwasher ended up being delivered yesterday instead of Friday, which is GREAT, but I had to take everything out from under my sink in order for the guys to be able to install it. I was taking things out when I ran across a container of hummingbird juice or food, or whatever it's called. I have to admit that I am not the world's best when it comes to the feeding of the hummingbirds. The biggest problem there is that my feeder is very deep and the hummingbirds have a hard time getting to the liquid if the feeder isn't completely full. But, it has been pretty sad lately when the hummingbirds come for their nourishment, and, alas, there is no nourishment to be found. So, I decided yesterday would be the day I ended their hunger.

I took the feeder down and filled it to the brim. Actually, I filled it OVER the brim, which meant I had red, syrupy liquid all over me, my countertop, the floor, AND all over the outside of the feeder, which is an important part of this story. I finally went out and tried to hang it up, again spilling it all over me and all over the patio. Yeah, it was pretty.

So, apparently what I didn't realize is that there was a yellow jacket nest somewhere in our back yard, which is a little scary to begin with. A few minutes after hanging the feeder I walked out back to do something and in flew a yellow jacket. My mom was here at the time, and between the two of us, we killed it without knocking either one of us out with the broom.

About an hour later I happened to glance out my kitchen window and the picture above it what I saw: about 25 yellow jackets all over the hummingbird feeder and about 10 or so more flying all around it. I almost bit through my tongue.

So, then I got a little freaked out. Could the yellow jackets get into my house under the door? How about down the chimney? What would I do if either of those happened? And what about Cassie? I couldn't put her out there with those killers! I kept replaying these horrifying scenes from B-grade Sci-Fi movies where people have indeed been eaten to death by insects. So, I finally broke down and called Robert. That's Hubby, I'm tired of him not having a name, too.

So, after talking to Robert, I felt better. He told me that there was no way the yellow jackets could get into the house without me opening the door, and he advised me not to open the door. And I didn't. By the time I got home from church, he had taken the feeder down and washed the outside off for me. I'm keeping him forever!

My take: apparently, the yellow jackets around here are moving in on the hummingbirds' grub! Maybe someone should invent a yellow jacket feeder...no, that's dumb, who wants to encourage yellow jackets to nest 2 feet from your back door?