This time of year is particularly dangerous for me.
If you live in the same area that I do you’ve probably noticed that things are extremely intense outside. Don’t get me wrong, the outdoor climate has finally chilled-out since our extremely hot and humid summer season. That is a nice bonus for this period of the year. However, with the gradually decreasing outdoor temperatures and decreasing humidity comes a whole new problem. Bees. For a month or two every fall we have insanely aggressive yellow jackets that start swarming every outdoor location. It’s difficult to accomplish anything outside as you try to prepare for the cold winter season because you are constantly fending off irrationally angry insects who want nothing more than to sting you. I think they noticed that the air gets cold and go into survival mode for the winter. Unfortunately, this irritability results in a lot of unnecessary stings as they try to find warm places in your home to nest. It’s bad enough that they have been trying to crawl in through the tiny gaps in my doors and windows which need to be resealed and re-insulated. However, it has gotten much worse since they started infiltrating my central heating and cooling system. Apparently, there is an opening from the HVAC system to the outdoor exhaust vent that the yellow jackets have managed to pass through. I found this out the hard way yesterday when I saw about a dozen yellow jackets emerging from my air vents and discovered their growing nest in my ductwork. I guess they like my heating system. I hate this time of year.