Yellow Jackets. . .BEWARE!!!!

[Trunkster]

Quote:
Gas and fire is seldom a good mix, pouring a flamable liquid underground is also not a good idea as you could ignite a ground fire that could burn for a very long time without you knowing it. I've seen it happen. Instead of spending your money on gas buy the appropriate wasp killer spray it works very well and is much safer to use and better for the envoronment. Go out in late evening when the wasp are a sleep and spray inside the hole, it's a strong spray and can be done from a distance if need be.

 

[mfuqua]

Love the Sevin idea for ground nests. I'll definitely try that.

 

[harveyhorses]

UGH, I hate them!! they have made a nest in our garage, we think in a stack of tarps. I could not make myself go past the doorway where they were whizzing past me. My sister just breezed on in got her boogie board and left for vacation. I am going to use the Raid deep something or other bombs tonight. I am not going to spray something I can't see, but the tarps are on a shelf, so if I put one on the shelf , one under the shelf and one in the middle of the garage, that should do it, right?
Or we could just move.

 

[Attila the Hen]

One of the worst experiences of my life was getting swarmed by ground wasps. I was walking in the forest and got stung on the hand. The next thing I knew I was running screaming through the forest with a swarm of wasps. They were inside my clothing and one was in my hair. I kept beating my head with a hairbrush and couldn't get it out. I had alot of stings and I think I sat and cried for about 2 hours straight and I'm a big girl too!! I felt so betrayed by nature and now I am very wary of yellow jackets. They are mean and sting for no apparant reason. If a bee stings you they die whereas yellow jackets don't.

 

[Jerseycoop]

Omg! I'm so sorry and glad you're alright! We had the same problem here....BUT I'm very allegric to stings and carry an epi-pen. We use a foam hornet, wasp and yellow jacket spray at night in 7holes. It worked on those holes but there's a nest I'm missing so we are hunting for it. Good luck and the yellow jacket trap bags don't work.

 

[fourgotten]

I'd strongly avoid using any petroleum product for future vespid destruction. First, they pollute the soil into which they are poured, even if you burn them. Sounds like that soil's also where your chooks feed... thus the chooks get to eat the residues. Mmm...

Secondly.... well... you found out.... BOOM...

Here's what I did to get rid of a large underground nest last summer:

I began by dusting diatomaceous earth over the top of the nest. It was only minorly effective, so I dumped a couple of pounds right on top of the hole (all done late at night to prevent stragglers and stings).

Lessened in numbers, but still kicking, they dug another exit/entrance, so I went out with my 5-gallon chicken scalder/water-bath canner/yellowjacket killer and poured a load of boiling water down the new hole. It picked up some of the DE with it and I never saw another yellowjacket leave that nest.

I'd advise wearing long, thick clothing and possibly a head net while having someone else (similarly attired) hold the light from a greater distance. That way, if they DO find their way out, they'll be less likely to sting you, more likely to go for the person with the light and unlikely to get through your clothing.

 

[ChickenSahib]

Just went to Home Depot to pick up a fly trap, it's like a bag you fill with water and the flies go in, but can't get out. The same company has a product for yellow jackets and the like. I think it's great!

I know it's been posted on this forum already though.

 

[BarredRockMom]

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.

HOO RAH!!! GONNA TRY THIS & SEE HOW THEY LIKE A LITTLE FIRE, CHICKEN MOM SYTLE!!! And I've got a Vitamix, so they're gonna get the WHOLE thing!!!
FIRE IN THE HOLE, you rat b******s!

 

[BarredRockMom]

I'd strongly avoid using any petroleum product for future vespid destruction. First, they pollute the soil into which they are poured, even if you burn them. Sounds like that soil's also where your chooks feed... thus the chooks get to eat the residues. Mmm...

Secondly.... well... you found out.... BOOM...

Here's what I did to get rid of a large underground nest last summer:

I began by dusting diatomaceous earth over the top of the nest. It was only minorly effective, so I dumped a couple of pounds right on top of the hole (all done late at night to prevent stragglers and stings).

Lessened in numbers, but still kicking, they dug another exit/entrance, so I went out with my 5-gallon chicken scalder/water-bath canner/yellowjacket killer and poured a load of boiling water down the new hole. It picked up some of the DE with it and I never saw another yellowjacket leave that nest.

I'd advise wearing long, thick clothing and possibly a head net while having someone else (similarly attired) hold the light from a greater distance. That way, if they DO find their way out, they'll be less likely to sting you, more likely to go for the person with the light and unlikely to get through your clothing.

If you use a flashlight with a red filter, they are less agitated. The white, blue & green lights have more of the natural daylight spectrum in them & that triggers activity. And be prepared when you go outside at dusk or after dark to see LOTS of yellow jackets walking around, excavating, etc. There are so many of them that they must work in shifts. I've never seen the nests at my house inactive unless every one of them is dead. If you don't want to buy a flashlight with red or all of those colors built in, just get a piece of red cellophane & use a rubber band to affix it to the light end of the flashlight. But it has to be RED. (Same principle as red numerals on your clock being non-disruptive to night vision v. white, green, blue or glow-in-the-dark.) Personally, I'd go with the bottom end of a plastic cup before I'd use the pinkish-red plastic wrap.

I'm really liking the boiling water idea. Boiling water, Habanero juice, cover & watch the carnage.

 

[ivan3]

`Napalm' is effective but, as was noted, problematic at close quarters. Every August, I cobble together traps to concentrate the Yellow Jackets/European Hornets (primarily) at locations away from our hummingbird feeders. A chunk of melon/grape in side bottles/some sugar water in main bottle (as well as in caps under `cut-out' openings in side bottles) and the population crashes. Do have to end the game around this time (mid-Sept) as hummingbirds are going South and the `wild' honey bees start to hone in on the sweets (don't want to wipe them out - or encourage them to move out of the Hickory snags and into the roof - again).