Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/10/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Several weeks ago, I discovered a Yellow Jacket nest in my back yard. I kept a wary eye on it, but worried that my lawn maintenance guy might get stung. On Friday, the local newspaper, The Tullahoma News, ran an article on a Winchester, TN resident who traps Yellow Jackets, Hornets, and Guinea Wasps, and freezes them, eventually packing them in dry ice and shipping them to the lab of AKL Source Material in Pennsylvania. There, the venom sacs are extracted by hand and used to create anti-venom. I gave him a call and told him about my nest. He arrived yesterday afternoon as I was watching a football game. I decided to document the process. The first photo shows the nest entrance as I found it, essentially a hole in the ground laid bare by the passage of many insects. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Yellow+Jacket+Nest.TIFF.html Pete Waldenmaier's "BeeBusters" truck. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Bee+Busters+Truck.tif.html The vacuum trap, essentially a tank vacuum cleaner with a special collector trap. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/The+Vacuum+Trap.tif.html The trap in position at the nest hole. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Trap+in+Position.tif.html Final adjustments. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Final+Adjustments.tif.html After about an hour, the insect stream slows, so Pete hammers on the ground to disturb them, and more start flying out. The vacuum captures most of them immediately. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Hammering+on+the+Ground.tif.html His truck is filled with support equipment, including a freezer and bottles of carbon dioxide. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Support+Equipment.tif.html The final product is a bottle of Yellow Jackets. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Yellow+Jackets.tif.html Pete stuns the insects with carbon dioxide before placing them in the freezer to die. To be usable, the insects must remain frozen until the venom sacs are harvested at the lab. http://www.gallery.leica-users.org/v/OldNick/Stunning+with+Carbon+Dioxide.tif.html While he had this operation going on at my house, he had a parallel operation going on about 15 miles away. I'm told there are only about 40 of these collectors nationwide. Comments and critiques welcomed and appreciated. -- Jim Nichols Tullahoma, TN USA