so I go back Tuesday to finish my work with the washer. I went to the big hive I found and doused it heavy with wasp/hornet killer spray. only saw a couple flying around there, so problem solved. 2 in the afternoon I was done and had my hoses all stretched out to drain and while I was down at the far end of the yard untangling my garden hose, a perfect 2" hole in the ground caught my eye. as I stared at it for a few seconds dozens of yellow jackets start pouring out of the hole. I was about 6 or 8 feet away and had not been any closer, luckily. I backed off and started walking away from the hole. I'm a good 50-60 feet away from the hive and noticed one of them buzzing my head, then several more, then got nailed on the back through my soaking wet shirt. I ran up the yard and they retreated. this hole was about 50 feet from the one I uncovered up by the lattice the day before. those fuckers were hyper-aggressive for some reason as I did not even get close to the hive. I remembered later that lawn guy mowed a couple of hours earlier. he must have agitated them badly with the mower or something. the folks I'm working for are 80 somethings, so I warned them about the bugs and showed them where to avoid. they had their exterminator out yesterday and I showed her where to spray. she was putting on a beekeeper suit when I left. heat index about 105 degrees. f that.
this is actually the first time all summer I've had to tangle with bugs enough to amount to anything. when it rains it pours, I guess. I hope the exterminator did her job because I'm going to be working there for a month or better.
