Yellow Jackets. . .BEWARE!!!!

[Chickmate]

I've been stung by yellow jackets yesterday and the day before. One nest is in my big patch of prickly pear cactus and the other one is in my huge Boston fern hanging on my front porch! Got stung on the leg and the thumb, but I'm a big girl and didn't

The last few years when I've found entrance holes for nests I waited till dark then went out with a flashlight and sprayed 1/2 can of hornet spray down it. That spray works great and kills them on contact. Then I plug the hole and no more yellow jackets! A lot safer than gasoline! My daughter and I almost killed ourselves trying to burn leaves with gas and it scares the beejeebies out of me now.

I just worry so about the dogs, cats or chickens getting stung. Darn bugs!!

 

[thekid]

This works well if you dont want fire.


Take a smoke ball ( the little ones that they sell on the roadside firework stands ) stand beside the hole and light them and drop them in. One after another. The wick just burns real fast and will not create a fire unless you get a defect one. ( they will just create a little flame ) The smoke will kill them. But make sure you put a rock over the hole so the smoke doesnt get out as quick. Do it when it starts to get dark because that is when they will all be in the nest. It also works for moles and chipmunks.

 

[chirpingcricket]

Hello again.
It's been a long night. My DH tried again, well after dark, to give them a little business!!! Unfortunately, he also, after trying to "douse" the area with the watered down gas, (much to my dismay) had it flare on him as well. When the "fire" dismayed, we counted 9 "blow holes" around the oak tree that we love so much!!!

He carefully managed them until they subdued. At this point, I'm thinking we need to call an exterminator and prepare for removing the tree, root and all. No matter what, we must get rid of this situation. They are centrally located, between our garden, shed (with all the power tools and the chicken coop and "playpen" run.) Which means, if we tend the garden, the chickens or fire up a lawn mower, weed eater, etc., here they come!!!!!

I'm hoping, that if we can "manage" it, come winter, it will resolve itself. We've had a long dry season, like so many others. All at once, we have had a deluge of rain for a week or so, which seems to have intensified the matter.
I've also noticed that the "bee holes" have changed from being at the level of ground, to a more angular, almost cave like, covered with leaves, etc., making them more difficult to locate.
We really appreciate all the feedback and will try and implement everything, everyone has recommended. Most of all, to be cheezy, please, beeeeeee safe!!!

 

[shadust1]

we have a yellow jacket nest somewhere in our camper..it is just in our driveway the kids hook up the electricity n go out there and they use it as there "getaway" house..lol...but we set off a raid bomb and it didnt do anything....so they r still out there...we can hear them but can find them to actually do something directly...




so at night time if i go investigating will they come out and start swarming me n stinging or will they stay in the nest???

 

[ruffedgrouse]

Wow that could have ended alot worse your lucky you didn't get hurt. Wasps and yellow jackets are a pain and somewhat hard to get rid of but they do make sprays and pesticides to kill them with. Might be a little safer than gasoline if you do use a fuel use diesel or kerosine it doesn't cumbust like gasoline. Just a thought.

 

[gmendoza]

grow Habinero chilis.Then harvest in a blender and pour the juice in a spray bottle.Add water to bottle and shake for a minute.Then go spray em.This is home-made pepper spray.they will die.

 

[CupOJoe42]

Last year (or was it the year before?) my DH was mowing the lawn and got swarmed by yellow jackets. He jumped off the tractor and ran for the door (which was closed and locked.) He was already stung at least 15 times on the legs. Well, DH usually uses the gasoline method as well, but this was so bad that we had to call an exterminator. The yellow jackets make more than one entrance and exit to their underground hive. The exterminator (2 gentlemen with nothing but a powder in some old oil-can looking things and no protective clothing) puffed this stuff around and in the holes. They came back at night and dug up the nest which was the size of an old 32" television, extending under a large rock. There was also a second nest buried close by. We have not had a problem with yellow jackets in that area since then.

PS I was locked in the house, hiding in the bedroom, watching from the window. Bock Bock Bock.

I suggest you call a professional exterminator, so they can locate the hive and remove it as well as treat all the entrances and exits.

 

[CariLynn]

Yep, we have our fair share of those nasty flying mean tempered pests too in VA! I had one fly down my shirt one day in the yard while doing yard work and boy howdy did I curse and mutter as I ran throwing clothes all over the place as it landed between my cleavage!! Then a few years ago I had one of my draft horses step into a nest of ground hornets and they swarmed up under her and bit her over 100 times on the legs, stomach, udder, chest, it was horrible! She went through our oak fence in 3 different places and trying to get away from them and the last place she hit was a post set in concrete, she tried to jump it and hit it with her chest, it snapped at the base and she really tore herself up. She spent 4 days at the vets office, had bad colic, we didn't know if she would ever be ridden or driven again and special shoes on the front as she did a number to her front hooves, 1300ml of fluid, a nice $1300 vet bill. BUT...I have my mare still!

 

[woodmort]

Yup getting to that time of year--the colonies build up to the point where they have enough to defend it. (You never notice them until then because they lay low.) The best way is as given a few places above--the foam type of wasp killer sprayed on and around the entry/exit hole(there is usually only one per colony) at night. Wear boots, long pants. gloves, hat and a long sleeve shirt. I also use a long handled spade to open the nest as I spray it down. It may take a couple of doses but the spray is residual.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

When we first moved into our house, the yard was really overgrown. Like you stepped off the porch into the woods overgrown

When my DH started clearing it so we could have a yard, he found yellow jackets EVERYWHERE! My poor DH is deathly afraid of bees, so it was pretty common place to see him zooming past the window running anywhere to escape the nasty critters (he cleared our yard in an loader that had a closed cab-they found a way in). Eventually, with alot of wasp and hornet spray we got rid of all the yellow jackets. Which simply invited other stinging monsters to move in

Last year we had a huge nest of those really big hornets (not really sure what they are actually called) living in our bathroom wall. How they got in there I have no idea. The wall would vibrate if you took a shower, that made them really mad

And this year we're having a wasp problem. We've always had the wasps, and tried to leave them because I had heard they eat other bugs. This year they are VERY aggressive though. I've seen a few tiny nests, but nothing huge, so I'm having a hard time figuring out why they are as aggressive as they are. One chased me clean across the yard yesterday, so I broke out my trusty can of spray and have been killing every stinging bug I see. I feel your pain, good luck getting rid of them!