On Wed, October 26, 2005 8:06 pm, jon@dakota-truck.net said:
>
> Yep, just be aware though that the queens are probably still in
> the nest, and won't leave it. They are already fertilized, so after
> they come out of hibernation all they need to do is lay the eggs
> and you've got the same problem all over again, if they decide to
> lay them in the house.
But wait, it gets better (or worse). I looked up some pictures on the
Intarnetweb of what the queens look like. I think they're already starting to
come out, probably due to the warmth inside the house. The last several that
I've vacuumed up look like the pictures I see of the queens. From what I've
read, the ones with the individual dot markings are the queens, and the
workers have solid stripes.
So, if there are a bunch of queens hatching out and getting in to our house,
we have a serious problem that's going to need a professional. I'm killing
every one I find, but who knows how many more have gotten back behind
bookshelves or under furniture where I can't see them. It won't take many of
them laying new nests to get the place to the point where we're going to need
the Air Force to bomb it from above to get rid of them all.
I'm going to leave the vacuum bag outside overnight to make triple sure
they're all dead (I doubt they'd survive being pulled through the vacuum fan
blades, which is how our vacuum works, then I've made double sure by spraying
Raid in the vacuum hose while it's running, so I'll make triple sure by
leaving them outside in the cold). Then I'll see if I can recover any of them
and see if they really are queens. They'll probably be a bit chopped up from
the fan blades, but there might be enough there to figure out if they're
queens or workers.
Sigh... must be October.
-- Jason Bleazard http://drazaelb.blogspot.com Burlington, Ontario his: '95 Dakota Sport 4x4, 3.9 V6, 5spd, Reg. Cab, white hers: '01 Dakota Sport 4x4, 4.7 V8, Auto, Quad Cab, black
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