Yellow Jackets

[theboman]

It's 10 - 0. The pesky creatures are kickin' my butt all over the place. 2 last Monday. 2 Tuesday and 6 tonight. We haven't had cold weather here to freeze them out and my weedeater found a bunch and my rotary cutter has found two hot spots. I really wished I didn't find them.
Any ideas on how to get them outta here? It's starting to hurt.

 

[Frosty]

The Boman -

See "How to get rid of bees" in the Rural Living forum.

I can attest to the use of gasoline, no need to light it. I like a trigger pump-type oil can filled with gas and use as a squirt gun. The fumes will do 'em in ...! /w3tcompact/icons/grin.gif

 

[dgood1]

I hope that you are not smoking when you do that.

Don

 

[Mrwurm]

/w3tcompact/icons/eyes.gif /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[rancar]

Yellow jackets are more devious than bees or wasps...they attack in hordes. I work around bees and wasps all the time. Their MO is respect me and I'll respect you. Not so with yellow jackets. They're sadistic and take pleasure in attacking and hurting the innocent for no special reason.

Having said that, if you want to take the offensive, spray kerosene or gasoline on those nests you've found, and throw a match and burn those buggers to oblivion.

If you're more the passive type, then wait for colder mornings to do your weedeating and bushhogging.

 

[Soundguy]

I used to mow around yellow jacket nests, and I carried a can of ether with me... course.. I was push mowing... I don't think ether around a deisel tractor is a good thing... might run away.. I've had good luck with denatured alcohol in a pump sprayer.. that was a while ago.. don't know if you can still get it. Moth balls ( napthalene ) down the hole will get rid of them.. but may take 20-30 minutes. Found that out from the guy that put in my water pump... he puts moth balls around the relay box to keep ants out.

Soundguy

 

[normde2001]

Yellow jackets usually nest in a hole in the ground. You need to buy foam type yellow jacket spray with a long tube nozzle, locate their hole, (about 1" diameter), and wait til just before dark, when they will all have returned to the nest, or just after daylight, just like wasps, then fill the hole with the foam.

 

[beenthere]

I use gas too. It is cheap, effective, and the match is not very expensive either. About a cup poured into the hole, put the cap back on the container and move the container away from the area, and then be back away from the hole when you light the match. A good poof when it lights will startle the unwary, BUT just be sure no other flammables are in the area, like dry grass, wood siding, hay, etc. or else it will likely burn as well. Around here, there is plenty of green so setting the forest on fire is not a problem. This isn't true everywhere and can be a bit costly if not careful.

 

[BrettW]

we use gas and then shove a tennis ball in the hole. No return serves yet. Do it at night or dusk. Also watch out for a second hole near the nest. bw

 

[jph_in_Bama]

Believe it or not, soapy dish washing liquid works the best. It is so heavy on their wings that they cant fly and they try to lick it off and it kills them. Its a lot safer to transport than gas, and doesnt kill anything in our green fields. If you spray it on their nest they never come back. I carry a pump up sprayer strapped to the side of my ROPS and when I see one I just start spraying everything until I find the nest.