Yellow jackets...

[WebSlave]

About a week ago, I was outside pulling up grape vines and their attendant root network when apparently one of the roots went through a yellow jacket nest. Luckily only one of them got me, but still, not exactly an experience I want to experience very often, if at all, again. So I broke out some general insect spray we had sitting around and sprayed the nest. Must have worked, because I haven't seen any more yellow jackets around there.

So today I was putting some sections of watering hose together, and noticed some yellow jackets in back of the house flying into a hole right next to the house foundation. Damn... The hole is in through rocks that we had bordering the foundation wall, so spraying poison into it and sealing the hole so the suckers don't come at me will be a bit more difficult.

I've heard that tackling them at night is the best bet, as they can't see very well at night, but then again, neither can I. I don't think having bees pouring out of a nest and me and them running around blindly in my back yard would be a whole lot of fun.

The spray poison I used wasn't really designed for bees, as they seemed to keep flying around quite a while after being sprayed. Don't think I would want to get stung by bees also carrying around a load of insecticide besides their sting. I think that sucker that got me also bit me, as when I saw him on my forearm, at first I thought it was a yellow fly hunkered down taking a bite.

Anyone tried any yellow jacket nest removal that worked well for them? The nest is in the ground, obviously. I've read people using boiling water, gasoline, even flour, to do the job. I've read that the nests can get VERY large by the Fall months, so I don't want to wait until I have some huge colony of these suckers to have to deal with. I wouldn't be real keen on neither Connie or myself getting stung multiple times if they just get aggitated over something. Years ago I had a few sting me apparently because they got aggitated over the weather. Stong winds from an approaching hurricane seemed to get them as concerned as it did us.

[Lucille]

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=144794&highlight=yellow+jackets


I think I remember making up some permethrin, you can get 10% permethrin at the feed store and dilute it down.

[deborahbroadus]

I had some build a nest right over the front door, and in the mailbox. Because they attacked my grandson (luckily he was not allergic to them) and even got me a couple of times...I went to the hardware store and researched... I found:

SPECTRACIDE

It really does kill those suckers on contact and has an up to 27ft Jet Spray!

However, since you say your nest is in the ground...perhaps there's some way to spray this in the hole and spread plastic over the opening.

I would try spreading plastic over the opening best as I could with rocks, tape or whatever to hold it in place and then through a slight slit, I would spray the insectide down the hole and all around the sides of the plastic.

[Clay Davenport]

I have nests in the ground here every year, usually in the fall. People around here say the bees are "going to ground" before winter. I don't know the mechanics of it, but I rarely find nests in the ground before mid to late August.
The closer to cold weather it gets, the more irritable they are. I usually find a nest after getting stung while mowing.

I use gasoline to kill them. It doesn't take very much at all, and you don't light it. The fumes being heavier than the air travel down into the nest.
What you have to look for is the back door. Your particular bees may be different, but here nests in the ground always have two openings. One main entrance they work and another 3-5 feet away. You find the back door by capping the main entrance if you can't locate it visually.

I find the openings in the day light and mark them. Then I wait until a couple hours after dark. Bees work during the day so the only way to eliminate the nest completely is after dark when they've all gone in for the night.
I pour a cup of gasoline in each opening and cover it with a rock. The fumes from the gas permeate the nest much better than the fumes of bee spray. I use spray for above ground nests, and it's very effective, but won't get them all if they're under ground.

Finding the back door of the nest, if there is one is the main thing though or else you leave them with an open escape route.

[WebSlave]

I would think capping the one hole to try to find the secondary hole would tend to get them pretty riled up. Probably lifting the plug on that first hole could get pretty exciting trying to pour or spray something into it while those pissed off bees come pouring out.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that there are some old plastic horticultural pots around that hole as well. Connie had some pineapples in them that didn't make it. So I will need to get them out of the way to give myself some elbow room.

I have a container of old gasoline I could use, but not sure it would be a wise idea pouring gasoline into a hole right next to my house.

[lauraleellbp]

My dad got a few hundred stings once after running the lawnmower over an underground nest. He spent a day in the ER and now has a serious reaction any time he gets stung.

He later poured gasoline over the nest and burnt it out. But I guess that won't work up close to the house... I'd probably try permetrin, too. Maybe try and smoke them first just to slow them down before getting close in with the pesticide?

[WebSlave]

I checked on the nest today and yellow jackets are all over the back of the house. This has to be a real recent development, as I have been back there quite a bit lately, and they weren't there till real recently. Wonder if that nest I thought I killed just migrated to this new location?

Regardless, they have to go. Even doing anything to the pool pump is too close to that nest for my comfort. As is the hose valve I've been using to water a couple of plants back there.

I guess I'll be running out tomorrow to get some wasp spray. That stuff tends to paralyze bees on contact, so I want to knock them down before they come at me. Even at night, as warm as it is here, I'm sure they will still be a bit active. Since I'll have to have a flashlight to see what I'm doing, that will likely be a target for any sentinels on duty during the night shift.

I will have to move some plant pots out of the way surrounding the nest hole so I can put something to cover the hole once I spray it, so I'll have to spend more time than I would like right there in the vicinity. I've still got a mark on my arm from that sting/bite last week, so no way I want a bunch of them getting me.

[Lucille]

I did a search and include one thread just for the inventive methods some have used, one lady claims success using a vacuum cleaner, I would not use that method myself
http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/bees/msg0214121831932.html

[Casey Hulse]

I had a big nest right next to the house, I took a NEW "NO PEST STRIP", one of those yellow plastic strips that kill all bugs if they are new, I think they are Vapona.
Anyway, I pinned it to the inside of a 15qt tub, and put it inverted over the hole with a rock on top, they were all dead within a day or two...

[lauraleellbp]

I had a big nest right next to the house, I took a NEW "NO PEST STRIP", one of those yellow plastic strips that kill all bugs if they are new, I think they are Vapona.
Anyway, I pinned it to the inside of a 15qt tub, and put it inverted over the hole with a rock on top, they were all dead within a day or two...

You know, that sounds like a good idea...

I'd be tempted to suggest setting a bomb off under a bin like that, but I'd be worried they'd just come out another entrance, all riled up (possibly even find a way into the house if they're inside the walls??) Trapping them into some of that bug tape would keep that from happening, though.

[Casey Hulse]

You know, that sounds like a good idea...
thanx! It did work great.
A bug bomb might work the same way..
I had a nest in our lawn a couple years ago, and got nailed badly the second pass, so I parked the mower over the hole for a while for revenge. It did not kill them, so I flooded them out one night, that did the trick....

[Lucille]

I checked on the nest today and yellow jackets are all over the back of the house. This has to be a real recent development, as I have been back there quite a bit lately, and they weren't there till real recently. Wonder if that nest I thought I killed just migrated to this new location?

Regardless, they have to go. Even doing anything to the pool pump is too close to that nest for my comfort. As is the hose valve I've been using to water a couple of plants back there.

I guess I'll be running out tomorrow to get some wasp spray. That stuff tends to paralyze bees on contact, so I want to knock them down before they come at me. Even at night, as warm as it is here, I'm sure they will still be a bit active. Since I'll have to have a flashlight to see what I'm doing, that will likely be a target for any sentinels on duty during the night shift.

I will have to move some plant pots out of the way surrounding the nest hole so I can put something to cover the hole once I spray it, so I'll have to spend more time than I would like right there in the vicinity. I've still got a mark on my arm from that sting/bite last week, so no way I want a bunch of them getting me.

I was thinking of how it would be to have a huge nest right near the house. Just be careful, maybe get the Vette out and ready in case you need to leave while the spray is working. Good luck.....

[WebSlave]

Sheesh.... Connie went and removed those pots around the nest hole today. I about had a heart attack when I noticed they were gone. I actually looked around the back yard thinking I was going to see her laying there stung to death. She said she just moved real slow and did one at a time and the yellow jackets just ignored her.

Maybe yellow jackets just don't bother her. I remember an incident many years ago when we were snake hunting together in southern Maryland. She was poking through an old mattress stuffed with these cubes of foam rubber. I'm a bit away from her and when I looked over at her I saw that she was completely surrounded by a swarm of evidently pissed off yellow jackets that apparently had a nest in or under that cushion. She was oblivious to them and I had to yell for her to get out of there QUICK. She just walked away like nothing was the matter and didn't get stung even once.

Yeah, she's going to give me a heart attack for certain one of these days.... :ack2:

[rcarichter]

Unlike bees or wasps, these guys release pheromones that cause them to attack en masse. You can kill (or try to kill) hundreds, and not make a dent. My folks had a nest professionally removed last year. The exterminators came with 'space suits' on, and had to dig down about 3 feet to get the whole nest. The nest was about 2x2 feet. Then they treated the ground, and came back a week later to spray one more time. I remember them telling us that you can plug up one entrance, and they just dig another from underneath. I don't know what the cost was, I can ask, but it was well worth it.

[deborahbroadus]

Unlike bees or wasps, these guys release pheromones that cause them to attack en masse. You can kill (or try to kill) hundreds, and not make a dent. My folks had a nest professionally removed last year. The exterminators came with 'space suits' on, and had to dig down about 3 feet to get the whole nest. The nest was about 2x2 feet. Then they treated the ground, and came back a week later to spray one more time. I remember them telling us that you can plug up one entrance, and they just dig another from underneath. I don't know what the cost was, I can ask, but it was well worth it.

I think this ^^^ is the safest option. :yesnod:

[Gordon c. Snelling]

Honey bees and many other wasps also release attack pheromones. DO NOT use the flashlight at night, at least not in your own hands, get someone you don't like because they are going to be attracted to the light and is a sure way to get nailed bad.

[polasian]

I'm starting to think that I'm in the wrong business. It seems that these would be in high demand...

mseXCMfBlYI

Throw some honey and half a dozen of those in the hole and call it a night. Problem is, once they've done your dirty work, you'll probably have to drop a grenade in the there to get rid of those goliath's.

[WebSlave]

The cure might actually turn out to be worse than the original disease. Those big hornets look like a commercial bee keeper's worst nightmare.

Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it looks like the yellow jackets might be gone. Connie removed the garden pots around the hole leading to the nest the other day (some day that girl is going to give me a heart attack!), and someone on one of my other forums said there was some studies done indicating that changing the landmarks of a nest entrance could confuse the bees wanting to return and they might not be able to find the entrance again. Not sure if this is the case or not, but it sure appears that the yellow jackets are gone.

Of course, the worry now is that if they have just relocated, where the heck are then now?

[Lucille]

Of course, the worry now is that if they have just relocated, where the heck are then now?

I dunno, but I'd keep a can of bug spray handy just in case. You have a big property, it is scary to think that you might take a misstep way in the back while doing some project and suddenly be surrounded by POed yellow jackets.

[Clay Davenport]

Hopefully they've relocated further from the house. A couple of years ago I had yellow jackets build a nest built inside the house.
My house has a finished basement and there's a space of 12" or so between the ceiling downstairs and the floor upstairs. Plumbing goes through this space including an exterior faucet which has a small gap beside it outside where the siding was pieced in.
They came in there and built a nest between the floors above the snake room.

I opened the snake room door one day and two or three dozen of them were flying around in there. They had made their way to the electrical box for the ceiling light and came into the room through the wiring knockout.
That left me in a tough spot, how to kill the bees without risking hurting any of the snakes or the tortoise that was in there.

I finally eased in and moved slow so as not to further agitate them and took the roaches out of the room. Then I used Black Knight to knock them down.
Surprisingly BK is not as effective a killer of bees as it is roaches and other things, but it messed them up enough so I could kill them without getting stung.
You don't want them gaining access to the house from a nest lol.

[lauraleellbp]

The cure might actually turn out to be worse than the original disease. Those big hornets look like a commercial bee keeper's worst nightmare.

Anyway, I'm not exactly sure what happened, but it looks like the yellow jackets might be gone. Connie removed the garden pots around the hole leading to the nest the other day (some day that girl is going to give me a heart attack!), and someone on one of my other forums said there was some studies done indicating that changing the landmarks of a nest entrance could confuse the bees wanting to return and they might not be able to find the entrance again. Not sure if this is the case or not, but it sure appears that the yellow jackets are gone.

Of course, the worry now is that if they have just relocated, where the heck are then now?

I'd keep a super close eye out next time you've got the lawnmower going... :ack2:

[WebSlave]

I'd keep a super close eye out next time you've got the lawnmower going... :ack2:

Most of my property is heavily wooded, so hopefully they relocated out in the woods and away from anywhere Connie and I will be walking. We are clearing the underbrush and vines away from the house gradually (the place got pretty wild and wooly while we were tied up with the reptile business), but with the temps getting into triple digits, we're really not pushing things. But I am DEFINITELY keeping my eyes open for anything that comes flying up from the ground. I am READY to just drop the tools and RUN.

The areas that we have put in grass we used centipede grass, which naturally stays low to the ground. The lawnmower we have is a manual push mower. We've only used it maybe three or four times here. Before pushing the mover over a patch of grass, I will just eyeball it for anything suspicious looking.

I took a look today where the nest was and didn't see a single yellow jacket. Looks like they are gone. Hopefully they will keep their distance so I don't have to kill them.

We have a lot of hornets in the raised bed garden that Connie set up, but it appears that they are seeking out the worms that she finds on her tomato plants. They don't seem to be concerned about us, so I'm not really concerned about them. I just persuade them to not build nests underneath the porch on the house.

[deborahbroadus]

I had most of the trees on my property cut down., and the most heavily wooded area is a fenced off section of another property, so I've pretty much cleared my area while I was younger. :thumbsup: As I get older, I am less willing to take unneccessary risks..thus I have yard boys to take care of the yard. :) It's a great investment!

After having been stung by those suckers, I have absolutely no desire to risk it again. It's not like a bee sting!:ack2:

Most of my property is heavily wooded, so hopefully they relocated out in the woods and away from anywhere Connie and I will be walking. We are clearing the underbrush and vines away from the house gradually (the place got pretty wild and wooly while we were tied up with the reptile business), but with the temps getting into triple digits, we're really not pushing things. But I am DEFINITELY keeping my eyes open for anything that comes flying up from the ground. I am READY to just drop the tools and RUN.

The areas that we have put in grass we used centipede grass, which naturally stays low to the ground. The lawnmower we have is a manual push mower. We've only used it maybe three or four times here. Before pushing the mover over a patch of grass, I will just eyeball it for anything suspicious looking.

I took a look today where the nest was and didn't see a single yellow jacket. Looks like they are gone. Hopefully they will keep their distance so I don't have to kill them.

We have a lot of hornets in the raised bed garden that Connie set up, but it appears that they are seeking out the worms that she finds on her tomato plants. They don't seem to be concerned about us, so I'm not really concerned about them. I just persuade them to not build nests underneath the porch on the house.

[Cheryl Marchek AKA JM]

I've not been nailed by a yellow jacket Thank God, but shortly after we moved here I stumbled into a nest of what my neighbor calls guinea wasps~ big red suckers that build their nests in the undergrowth. WOW!!! Did that hurt!!!! Never felt anything like that before. I've been nailed a couple times since then, but not often. I've learned to buy that spectricide in bulk packs and always have a can near me. I even keep one in my van after a particularly nerve wracking two hour drive with a wasp in the van with me, I pulled over at least two dozen times trying to get him OUT of the van but he wouldn't leave and I didn't really have the nerve to try to make him! That will keep you alert but not a safe driver as you try to keep track of where the wasp is!!

For your overgrown woodsy areas try a nice brush goat. She'll eat all that up and they don't seem to mind the wasps as much. I seen them wade back into a nest area if there is something extra yummy in there~ twitchy and kicking at the stings while they very quickly eat whatever it was they wanted in there! They'll eat almost everything including poison oak and ivy leaving pretty much nothing under the the height of the tallest goat standing on her back legs.

Then once the goats clear it for you, you can sell the goats or have enchaladas!

[Pmsayi]

My 2 cents on the yellow jackets is to hire a professional exterminator. They are capable of constructing massive nests in the walls of your home. Once the nest gets large enough you will start seeing them inside your house. I have opened walls during remodeling jobs and found nests spanning 24 linear feet all the way up the valleys (space between the studs). I have also been nailed pretty good by angry yellow jackets for disturbing their nests. The worse experience I had with them resulted in around 180 stings. Not pleasant. The more you are stung the more vulnerable you become to effects of the venom and anaphaltic (sp?) shock.

[WebSlave]

Well, Connie found the new nest this morning. Out by the pool enclosure. She was cleaning the automatic pool cleaner when one got her on the leg. Luckily she didn't get stung by more of them, as she said they were all over the place when she dropped the part she was rinsing off right on the nest entrance. OK, so this is WAR now.... I am NOT going to have a bunch of bugs dictate to Connie and I where we can or cannot go on our own property.

There is a small depression in the ground that they are building their new nest in. Odd thing is that I was just out there yesterday with the new pressure washer I was using to clean off the pool enclosure with, and they weren't there then or likely they would have been offended at my being so close to them. So I'm guessing this is a brand new nest they are beginning to build.

Time to nip this in the bud before they decide to relocate somewhere else. I'll eyeball where that entrance is and tonight spray it with the wasp spray I picked up and cover over the entrance.

[deborahbroadus]

They do move around fast. :ack2: I had a small nest. I think for something the size I am visualizing in your case, I would go with experts. You may have more than you think if they are building that fast, and they don't seem to be leaving.:ack2:

[lauraleellbp]

Good luck!

[WebSlave]

Last night I got my weapons prepared. Ortho wasp spray and a BIG rock to place on top of the nest entrance. I then put on long pants, a jacket, gloves, and a hat. Figuring I would limit the amount of exposed bare skin as much as possible. Even at nightfall the temps were still hitting around 90 at that hour, so coupled with the tension of the impending battle (or slaughter, if everything went according to plan), my sweat was running freely and profusely.

I squatted about 6 ft. from the nest entrance and watched the yellow jackets returning from their foraging as the light gradually diminished. I held that post till it got so dark that I could no longer see if their were any more bees returning, but still light enough that I could still barely see the hole in the ground. I grabbed the wasp spray and pointed it at the hole and pressed on the button on top of the can. WTH? Nothing. Pressed again. Nothing.... :ack2: Great...... Connie was over on the porch watching me (she said she wanted to be nearby in case she needed to drag my bee sting riddled corpse away), and yelled over that the button on the can was REALLY hard to depress. She used it earlier in the day on a wasp nest on the porch. I pointed the can in another direction and used my THUMB and REALLY pressed on it, and that seemed to break it loose. So I then pointed it at the nest entrance and let loose with a stream. WTH (again)? This stuff has the consistence of highly pressurized shaving cream. So in short order I had a big mound of white foaming shaving cream on top of and all around the nest entrance. Not sure how much, if any, actually went INTO the hole, since it was so thick, but I was kind of committed at this point. So I foamed it up BUT GOOD. I tossed the flat rock on top of the hole anyway (at least I hoped it was on top of the hole, kind of hard to tell now), spraying more all around the edges of the rock for good measure, just hoping for the best. But that certainly did not go as planned. I guess I violated one of the cardinal rules of doing battle. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS.

Today I inspected my work. The rock seemed to be covering the hole, so at least I did that accurately. The foam was gone, of course, so hopefully it then flowed into the nest. I watched the area for quite a while and eventually a yellow jacket showed up and crawled underneath an edge of that rock. I used a pole and pushed the rock in that direction to cover up any part of the hole that might have still been open. And I watched some more. Only saw one more yellow jacket, and this one, too, appeared to be trying to return home to the nest. He just flew off when he apparently could not find the entrance. I did not see any other opening anywhere nearby with yellow jackets congregating around it, so hopefully this was the only entrance to that nest. I don't think that nest could have been there too long, as Connie and I have been in that same area a LOT over the last several days before Connie got stung.

I'll leave things be for another day or two, then I'll flip that rock (actually it's an old piece of asphalt) off of the hole and see what happens. But I'll have my guard up in case another nest springs up somewhere else. I think Connie got shaken up by that sting, as she isn't all that keen to get outside and do any more gardening at the moment. I know the feeling, as I'm pretty jumpy too whenever any bug lands on me now... Enjoying nature isn't quite so easy to do when it bites and stings you.

[JColt]

It's kinda funny. I have a nice collection of tarantulas and scorpions and used to be heavy into reptiles and thinking of getting back in. Now the exterminator we use at work thinks I'm nuts but he will put on a green glove up to his elbow and spray dust right into a yellow jackets nest with out a thought. I stand 20 feet away ready to run, lol. He will literally have 100's of those pissed off creatures all around him and keep a conversation going like nothings going on.

[Lucille]

So these are bees, not jackets, but I thought these were remarkable pictures....

http://www.chron.com/life/photogallery/The_buzz_around_town.html

[Helenthereef]

Urk! I notice there are no photos of how they get the bees OFF these guys again.....

[Lucille]

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/local_news/water_cooler/jonathan-simpkins-destroys-massive-yellow-jacket-hive-with-millions-of-bees

[WebSlave]

This is an older video I found of a really large yellow jacket nest, again in Florida.

QXZOKI6Uv9A

Yeah, just walking through the woods on a hike and stumbling unaware into something like this could definitely ruin your day. The whole time you are probably thinking, "What IS that noise?"

[JColt]

Asian Giant Hornet Spotted in Arlington Heights, Illinois

http://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2012/07/deadly-asian-giant-hornet-spotted-in-arlington-heights-not-cicada-killer-wasp/

[WebSlave]

Asian Giant Hornet Spotted in Arlington Heights, Illinois

http://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2012/07/deadly-asian-giant-hornet-spotted-in-arlington-heights-not-cicada-killer-wasp/

Gee, they sound just WONDERFUL to have around.... :ack2: