Posted on 06/25/2013 10:45:41 AM PDT by nickcarraway
‘This is the largest nest I've ever seen in my entire life. I've been doing this for over 20 years. They're all over me,’ says Jonathan Simkins. Luckily he was wearing a sting-proof suit.
The Southern Yellow Jacket nest towered more than 6 feet, five inches tall and 8 feet wide. WFLA
The Southern Yellow Jacket nest found in the woods of Central Florida towered more than 6 feet, five inches tall and 8 feet wide. Not everything in the South emits southern hospitality as chilling video taken by a death-defying entomologist reveals.
The terrifying encounter between a Central Florida entomologist and a Southern Yellow Jacket nest towering more than 6 feet, five inches tall and 8 feet wide has been captured on film showing the man narrowly escaping with his life.
"I have never seen a nest this large in my entire life," said Jonathan Simkins while harrowingly filming his recent encounter in a protective full-body suit. "This is the prehistoric nest from the dinosaur ages."
In the video obtained by WFLA Simkins estimates he had come upon thousands of queens and millions of workers.
Those workers being Southern Yellow Jackets are at all times poised and ready to attack within 2-3 seconds' of provocation, he explained.
Jonathan Simkins has been working in the industry for more than twenty years but said he's never seen anything like this. WFLA
Jonathan Simkins has been working in the industry for more than twenty years but said he's never seen anything like this. RELATED: HONEY POPPING UP IN DARK SPIRITS
"A provocation can be as simple as a guard smelling the odor of a mammal, or vibrations from walking nearby," Simkins' website All Florida Bee Removal explains.
Once their attack is decided a pheromone is released and in Simkins' case that afternoon, it sent millions of deadly wasps swarming in his direction.
"It looks like they're already coming to check me out," Simkins says in his video before the wasp nest is even in sight.
Within minutes, audio from Simkins' camera captures the millions of wasps pelting the device like a steady stream of hail.
Before fully approaching the nest Simkins covered up in a protective head-to-toe suit but revealed that it didn't stop all the yellow jackets from finding a way inside to sting him. WFLA
Before fully approaching the nest Simkins covered up in a protective head-to-toe suit but revealed that it didn't stop all the yellow jackets from finding a way inside to sting him. "This is amazing. The size of this nest. The numbers flying around here, this is the largest nest I've ever seen in my entire life. I've been doing this for over 20 years. They're all over me," Simkins enthusiastically belts out from inside his head-to-toe suit.
"OK one sting so far, right in the chin. I just got a little irresponsible here," he admits while huridly turning between the camera and the nest.
The entomologist said he used a spray as well as his own technique to kill the nest.
Later, while recounting the episode from the safety of a parking lot he revealed that there were a few times he had to had to momentarily break away in fear of losing his life.
Simkins, seen after eraticating the insects from a private property used by hunters, revealed that there were a few times he worried for his own safety. WFLA
Simkins, seen after eraticating the insects from a private property used by hunters, revealed that there were a few times he worried for his own safety.
"I have to be honest with you, I was terrified at one point, and there were several times that I had to pull out and get a breather. My heart rate was racing, I had hundreds of them on my veil," he told WFLA. "I had so many yellowjackets on me, they kept finding a way in."
The nest was reported to Simkins after its discovery on private land used by hunters.
"...if somebody comes across this, you're not going to get away," he chillingly said of the nest.
"You can see in the video, I run a hundred yards away and I still have thousands of yellow jackets chasing me, all over me, trying to kill me."
Following up his video Simkins returned the next day, suit off, to show the result of his pest control.
There the remains of the nest stood, empty, not an audible buzzing or humming heard.
Some Yellow jackets had the misfortune to start a nest inside my electronic bug-zapper. I don’t normally like being cruel to any living things but I just couldn’t resist turning it on and watching them come out one by one and meeting the electric grill.
It was quite a light show and it lasted more than an hour.
Had to be awhile. I noticed a hornet's nest about the size of a basketball in a cedar tree on my property last fall. Went back and checked this spring, and it looks like over the winter the woodpeckers found it and opened it up while they were dormant. No more hornets.
Hang it over a fish pond or a chicken run...
The other night, I was sitting around minding my own business when in through the window flies a hornet - I believe - the size of a zeppelin. I’m exaggerating, of course, but it was the biggest hornet I’d ever seen. Twice the size of a bumblebee at minimum.
It flew around the room and departed out the window after a minute.
Made me a little edgy, to be sure. I would’ve used the flyswatter, but it was big enough that it would’ve grabbed it away from me and started chasing me with it!
What’s the story behind that photo...why?
Somewhere in rural China - beyond that, I have no idea!
Yep, I read that. I had not had the misfortune to run over a nest with my mower yet. I can only imagine that they were extremely mad about that.
The ones in my door would become enraged just by my opening the door. I could not even get to my lawn mower lol.
These are some nasty tempered insects, but I sure loved hosing them down with wasp spray. Got their nest too HAH!
I only got one actual sting out of the whole ordeal with them, but damn it really did hurt quite a lot. meat tenderizer really helped.
You’re lucky it didn’t fly off with your car keys...
You’ve probably been stung at some point in your life, even if you didn’t realize it. So, if you don’t know that you’re allergic by now, I doubt you are.
The bald faced hornets (their close cousin) aren't much better. They nest in the trees in football sized nests.
No, never been stung. I wasn’t tested because my allergist at the time didn’t have a crash cart on hand.
Ok...just wondered.
The neighborhood might not have been left standing.
I've got this picture of me standing in the smoldering ruins of my front yard, hair singed, covered in soot, laughing maniacally.
But the yellow jacket nest would be kaput.
How could you NOT laugh maniacally after lighting one of those off?
One time I was riding my motorcycle on the freeway at about 75 mph and a yellow jacket blew down my shirt collar and started nailing me in the middle of my lower back. I did my best to keep calm, pull off the freeway and get rid of the little b-——d. Another time, I had one blow into the padding on the inside of my helmet, next to my temple. He was wiggling all over and I was just waiting to get stung in my temple before I finally got stopped and got the helmet off. No sting.
Too bad he killed them. I would have paid to have it shipped to the US Senate. It sure would have livened up their illegal amnesty debate.
I was in the Boy Scouts when I lived in the Philippines, and we were sitting around a campfire one day cooking lunch, when two of the scouts in our troop came running right through where we had our fire.
At first, I thought they were horsing around, one chasing the other as they screamed and yelled.
Then, as they ran by, one of them fell to the ground, and he had some kind of yellow jackets attacking him, and they were all over his neck and arms, but even worse, they had flown up his pant legs and down his shirt.
When we realized what was happening, we tore his clothes off him to kill all the hornets. It sounds funny now, but it wasn’t at the time. I remember what it felt like as we were whacking his trousers and shirt, and I could feel them underneath as I killed them. Makes me shudder.
I found out later it was some species that lived in holes in the ground, and they had simply walked over the top of them, and up they came.
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