Another yellow jacket question

[Richard]

I was out walking the dogs this morning and went by the blueberry bushes as they are just now, starting to ripen (something we look forward to all year)

As I was walking down the line of berry bushes, about 50' worth, I noticed a single yellowjacket...then another, buzzing around the bushes and landing on the leaves.

I'm highly curious about this because

a) I'm allergic to stings with yellow jackets
b) I don't want anyone else to get stung
c) they seemed to be walking on the leaves, I presumed/hoped they were simply getting a morning drink.
d) This was 7:00 am, sun was up but was cool out and the morning dew had the grass/leaves soaking with dew.


With the berries on their way to ripen, I now wonder/fear if in fact, there might be a nest built inside this small jumble of bushes.

1. If there is no nest, then there are no worries
2. If there DOES happen to be a nest then I'm left to wonder

* How do I work my way in there to find out? (I might add that we actually have TWO rows of blueberry bushes with a little 'walk way' down the middle however, they've grown up over the years and walking down this middle lets a bunch of branches swat you in the face) If there is a nest in there you could possibly walk right up to it without knowing it and suffer the consequenses.

* If there IS in fact a hive in there then how might I get rid of it so we can have access to the berries over the next couple weeks?

I know a lot of people that will be bummed out if we don't have any blueberries this year, after losing them last year to the late spring frost.

 

[gotrocks]

Well, since you asked, 4 times I'll give you my experience.
All yellowjacket nest I've found have been in the ground, with a small hole as the entrance.

Stand back and observe the jackets to see if you can spot a "fly zone" and "landing pattern" then if you find the entrance you can try several methods of eradication.

Spray with quick killer but that will only get the ones than fly out.
And probably kill any bushes that get sprayed.

Pour gasoline into the hole and hope it gets to the nest.
And probably kill any bushes that gets roots gassed.

My most ingenious attack was one close to the house. Carefully set 4 brick around the hole then lay an electronic bug zapper over the top. Then watch them fry when they fly, in or out. After a couple of days there was a "no fly zone"

 

[WTA]

Does liquid dish soap poured in the end of a garden hose then sprayed on them kill yellow jackets like it will honey bees?

I was told to do that by a fire department once to kill out a swarm that got on the back of our house. There was about a 50pound pile of bodies on the ground after that soap hit them.

It's NOT toxic either. You'll have clean fruit though if it works.

 

[Bird]

All yellowjacket nest I've found have been in the ground, with a small hole as the entrance.

And in my part of the country, the exact opposite is true. I've never seen them in the ground; only on paper nests like the red wasps build.

And they may have been on the blueberries, but if it in this area, I'd expect to find one of those nests in the bushes.

Incidentally, I don't know how the original post got duplicated so many times, but I removed the other three.

 

[teg]

At our place in Va. we get both, in ground and above ground. I used ENFORCER® Advanced Problem Solvers and it worked great. The foam traps the little buggers... I would go back at night with a flash light and go real slow, looking around and get ready to run fast . Or during the day time, go slow again and just sit and watch to see if the yellowjackets are common in one spot or not.

Bird, now I understand GotRocks comment "Well, since you asked, 4 times I'll give you..."

 

[WayneB]

I had a ground nest last year and found it while mowing the grass in the area. Being somewhat stupid I had tied a tie-wrap around the safety bar on the walk behind mower so when I departed the area after being stung several times naturally the lawnmower was still running.

So after twenty minutes or so armed with wasp spray I headed out to get the lawn mower and yellow jackets. Turns out I moved the lawnmower and shut it off, but got stung again.

Turns out I was looking in the wrong area and finally found the hole in the ground and was able to spray enough times to kill off the bees. Haven稚 used the tie-wrap on the shut-off safety bar since then.

I you are allergic to stings with yellow jackets I suggest you check with your doctor and get a impy pen.

 

[randy41]

just be careful about spraying by your crop since blueberries need pollinators (which includes yellow jackets) to produce. if you know a beekeeper who has protective equipment maybe you could borrow it and then find the nest with no fear of being stung. or trade with him/her your berries for their yellow jacket finding.

 

[SPIKER]

there are several other posts regarding yellow jackets, so do a searce looking for them and there are tons of ho-tos on getting rid of them. I use a weed burner, (stings don't affect me) and fire is natural so bee's don't go on the attack so much. it is instant at getting the flying ones and the nest is a min or less of light burning, this works on all types of bees not just in-ground yellow jackets but nesting ones too.

other treatments that are near instant in killing them are . Brake Cleaner (which has a very tight spray pattern good for 5+ feet) Starting Fluid up close wide spray pattern (instant knockdown.) store bought Bee Killer (I prefer foaming type that is sticky and foams up like bathroom cleaner with 20+ foot spray length)

so there are other tricks like dumping Diasnon 7dust or 15dust in holes at night which also will kill nest but takes longer.

least deadly to surrounding stuff and fastest is weed burner and propane tank in my opinion, which will clear away weeds from hole and doesn't seem to rial up the bees so bad.

check post that is titled "Finally happed to ME" in rural living forum too for some fun antidote's.

mark M

 

[charlz]

Around here what most people refer to as Yellow Jackets are actually Paper Wasps. Paper Wasps will build nests under eaves, in bushes, etc that are too exposed for actual Yellow Jackets which prefer more secure areas (like underground). If they build paper nests above or below ground they need 'paper' for which they use plant fibers. Likely they were chewing a bit off the leaves and taking it back to the nest. The Paper Wasps love old pallets etc that are rough cut as they can chew some of the wood fibers off.

If it is fairly cool at dusk they can't fly quite as well, that or real early morning might be a good time to go take a peek.

 

[Bird]

Around here what most people refer to as Yellow Jackets are actually Paper Wasps. Paper Wasps will build nests under eaves, in bushes, etc that are too exposed for actual Yellow Jackets which prefer more secure areas (like underground). If they build paper nests above or below ground they need 'paper' for which they use plant fibers. Likely they were chewing a bit off the leaves and taking it back to the nest. The Paper Wasps love old pallets etc that are rough cut as they can chew some of the wood fibers off.

If it is fairly cool at dusk they can't fly quite as well, that or real early morning might be a good time to go take a peek.

I'm convinced that you're right. I'm guessing I've never seen a real yellow jacket. All the ones I've seen were the paper nests under the eaves and in bushes.

 

[CaptPat]

I recently discovered a Yellow Jacket nest about the size of a football in a boxwood shrub that I was trimming with a gas powered hedge trimmer! My normal mowing path takes me very close to those bushes--its a miracle I haven't had a close encounter as I'm allergic to them as well.

My wife waited until after dark and hit the nest with Spectracide wasp killer, the next morning there were no survivors in sight. Have to see if the bush survives though

 

[WayneB]

Around here what most people refer to as Yellow Jackets are actually Paper Wasps. Paper Wasps will build nests under eaves, in bushes, etc that are too exposed for actual Yellow Jackets which prefer more secure areas (like underground). If they build paper nests above or below ground they need 'paper' for which they use plant fibers. Likely they were chewing a bit off the leaves and taking it back to the nest. The Paper Wasps love old pallets etc that are rough cut as they can chew some of the wood fibers off.

If it is fairly cool at dusk they can't fly quite as well, that or real early morning might be a good time to go take a peek.

Charlz that is also true around here. We have several Paper Wasps and Mud Wasps here and they are not very aggressive. I think you almost have to sit on one to get stung. Now yellow jackets on the other hand if you get even close to their hive they will swam and attack.

I have had a few encounters with them and every time it has been no less than five stings. There always seems to be something that happens during my encounters that forces me to go back to the area, lawnmower running, drop my glasses while swatting the bees, never fails.

The yellow jacket stinger is smooth and isn't pulled out when it stings so it can sting you several times. Around here in mid-summer they are aggressively searching for food and just love open soda cans. So one has to be careful about leaving partial soda cans around outside. Getting stung while taking a drink is not fun at all!

 

[charlz]

I have had a few encounters with them and every time it has been no less than five stings. There always seems to be something that happens during my encounters that forces me to go back to the area, lawnmower running, drop my glasses while swatting the bees, never fails.

Isn't that how they got their name? I don't believe it started out as 'Yellow Jacket' but 'Yella Jacket' as in 'Yellin' for muh jacket!'

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Here is a picture of a yellow jacket nest that was opened up. I didn't want to get a real close shot

 

[Richard]

Incidentally, I don't know how the original post got duplicated so many times, but I removed the other three.

I'm glad to read that because I was really perplexed on the comment of "since you asked 4 times". I never saw the duplicates.

 

[Richard]

A little update:

I've been out picking blueberries and continue to see at least one or two (I don't think I've yet to see three) yellow buzzards flying around. I know in fact they're yellow and I think have a band on their back end. Are they yellow jackets or hornets...? I can't say I know. They're about 1/2" long.

I didn't know that which ever they are, they might help pollinate the bushes.

Regardless... I've been around the blueberries now picking them, cautiously looking around for any signs of a nest inside. I've pulled on various branches, looking & listening for any buzzing....so far found nothing.

I'm now about 85% sure that there is not any kind of nest in there (at least, the kind of nest that would be hanging from the branches.... there might be an in ground nest)

I started to walk between the two rows the night before last however it's VERY over grown and the branches from each side have interwoven with each other. I really need to cut that back after this season so you can walk down the middle again. They were planted too close to each other.

Anyways, thanks for the comments and I'll try to keep my happy fingers from clicking the mouse 4 times on my posts

 

[woodchuckc]

Every yellow jacket nest I've seen has been underground, until I found one (the hard way!) this year in the end of a hollow log. I always seem to find at least 2 or 3 every year while string trimming, and last year I ran over one on the tractor while cutting a field - it is amazing how fast you can shut off a tractor and get off when you need to!

If they are only about 1/2 inch long, then they are most likely yellow jackets. Hornets are much bigger (up to 1 1/2 inches, depending upon the species) and really don't look much like yellow jackets. I have noticed some bees that have just appeared in the last few years (in middle TN) that I guess are some invasive species or some type of hybrid and look more like yellow jackets than regular honey bees, but they do not swarm like yellow jackets.

 

[J_J]

Check this out.

Aerial Yellowjacket (Dolichovespula arenaria)
Blackjacket (Vespula consobrina)
California Yellowjacket (Vespula sulphurea)
Common Yellowjacket (Vespula vulgaris)
Eastern Yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons)
Forest Yellowjacket (Vespula acadica)
German Yellowjacket (Vespula germanica)
Northeastern Yellowjacket (Vespula vidua)
Prairie Yellowjacket (Vespula atropilosa)
Southern Yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa)
Transition Yellowjacket (Vespula flavopilosa)
Western Yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica)


WHY is the answer - the first and only trap to catch wasps, hornets and yellowjackets: 18 species in all!