By Kim Lemmon

This is the hole I discovered in a bale of hay. You can see the insects flying in and out of it.

For several weeks, I had been noticing a large number of what I thought were bees buzzing and flying around the entrance to my horse barn. They weren’t bothering the horses but they were becoming more bold and increasing in numbers. The insects were located near where I store my grain so I had to make multiple trips past them to feed the horses both morning and night.

After several weeks of failed searches for their nest, my investigation and bravery finally led to the discovery of a hole in a hay bale. The insects had bored a hole for easy entrance and exit into the stacked hay.

I wouldn’t let my husband look for their nest himself because I feared he might be attacked. The insects were becoming more and more aggravated by our human investigations. My husband called a friend who has bees and the friend agreed to come over and take look.

Our friend discovered a large nest of yellow jackets between two bales of hay. He believes the insects had been working on the nest most of the summer. Our friend put on his beekeeper suit and went to work and we now have a yellow jacket free barn.

I guess if it is not skunks, raccoons or opossums it is insects trying to make my barn their home. I just hope all these critters are polite enough to leave a little room for my horses.

Yellow jackets made a large nest between two bales of hay in my barn.