Yellowjackets everywhere!

[claud]

We have thousands of yellow jackets all of a sudden around here. We found one nest but I have no idea where they are all coming from. Any suggestions what to use to get rid of them?
I did make one of those homemade water bottle traps and put it out just before dark tonight and already caught a bunch.
Suggestions? I can't even walk outside without being buzzed.

 

[CMV]

Those traps are pretty effective. I think you may just have to be patient. It's been bad here, too. I left for vacation last week for 6 days. I came back to find a hornet nest the size of a basketball in my daughter's play ground. I walked my fence line and nearly discovered a yellow jacket nest the hard way in the ground.

Good luck.

 

[tink]

I will tell you what we do and everyone might not agree but it works for us. The key is to try and find their nest during the daylight. Mark it with something so you can find it after dark. Get an empty soda bottle and fill it with gasoline. then when it is dark, they all go in at night, turn the bottle over into the hole and push it in tight. The next day look at the bottle to see if there are any jackets on it alive. If not you can remove the bottle and they will be all dead. If you feel brave you can dig up the nest and look at it....very interesting. We always fill the hole in with dirt.
Good Luck
Tink

I am highly allergic so this method works great for us!

 

[chicknmania]

Wait a second. I just read in Sunday's paper an article asking people not to do the gasoline thing with bees nests. It was referring to bumblebees, which nest in the ground and are endangererd, but I would guess that yellowjackets help to pollinate flowers too so we did what the article said to do and this is it. You take a tarp or something big, and cover up the hole (at night of course). and weight it down. supposedly the bees will not be harmed, but will leave the nest. I hope it works, we used one of those giant frisbees and weighted it down with a big flowerpot. Maybe it's not big enough but if not, I guess we'll be dealing with more po'd yellow jackets and we'll have to go to plan b. They were mad too as my dd mowed over their hole, classic chasing episode followed and she was stung a few times, so was my DH. I was glad I was not home at the time. I am a bit worried it they don't leave and are still p o'd, we can probably stay out of their way but how much harm can some po'd ones do to a chicken?/ It's near one of their favorite dusting spots. My DD took a benadryl and seems ok, at least for now. I have no love for yellow jackets but if they can help with the endangered bee thing, and I have read that they can, then live and let live, is always what I say, if we possibly can.

 

[Stingray]

We have them real bad this year. I do the gas as well works great. Here is a link that might help.
http://www.doyourownpestcontrol.com/yellowjackets.htm

 

[Maryallison]

Yikes...bees in the ground? I didn't know they did that. I am terrified of them too!

Good luck getting rid of them.

 

[sangel4you]

Now we have had a terrible problem with them this year too, and we had the exterminator come yesterday, and he told us they were German Yellowjackets and he told us their nest was in the paneling of our proch roof...
but you all make it sound like yellowjacket nests are in the ground? He sprayed that panel...does that mean we're going to have a problem? I wasnt home during the day today to find out... but DS is very allergic so I don't want to find out that they're still here!

 

[Imp]

Yellow jackets will nest in walls, in the ground and build hives. I've got all three going on in my yard and house. They seem to prefer direct sun. Only build hives on the house on the south and west sides. Actually this year they seem to be less prevalent. But there are more and different bees.

Imp- Speaking from experience- Do not demolish and rebuild a fence near them.

 

[rooster-red]

Yellow jackets don't have the tiny hairs covering their bodies that bees do because they are actually a form of wasp, so the are only very minor pollinators.

I'm allergic to their stings, so I have no moral dilima about killing whole nests.

 

[#1California Chick]

Yellow jackets will build nests in the ground, inside buildings, under vines, etc. Because they eat "dead stuff", their stings can also give you infections. I have been stung several times and need antibiotics to reduce the swelling and infection. Yellow jackets can sting multiply times. They are dangerous!!

Here in California, I call the County and they send out the same folks that remove mosquitos (name escapes me right now). Abatement District?? Anyway, they come out and spray with chemicals that we can no longer buy. They come back in a day or two to make sure that they got them all.

Be careful about using gasoline. First of all, it isn't great for the soil or the environment. Second, yellow jacket nests can go down 6 feet or more into the ground. You need to make sure that you kill them all!!!

I regularly, slowly "walk" my property in the summer (WITHOUT dogs or children) to look for yellow jackets that might be flying around. Once I spot a nest, I keep everyone inside until I can get it sprayed!! They are VERY aggessive and can kill!!

It has now been several years since I had a nest in my yard. However, I keep yellow jacket traps on my fence line, since many of my neighbors are elderly and I am sure that they have NO IDEA what is going on in their yards!!!

Good Luck!!

Cindy