Yellow jackets...

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.

http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...yellow+jackets


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

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.

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.

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.

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?

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 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/l...121831932.html

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...

Originally Posted by 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...

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.