Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2016/10/02
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Hi Jim, Very interesting and well documented, we have usually these wasps here and as far as I know there are not such prevention care? Lluis > El 2 oct 2016, a les 19:31, Jim Nichols <jhnichols at lighttube.net> va > escriure: > > 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 > > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information