How to kill Yellow Jackets?

[Richard]

Here's my situation, just noticed it yesterday.

(Preface: Although I'm getting sting allergy shots, it turns out I'm highly allergic to various stinging "sob's". Two years ago, I landed in the emergency room after a wasp sting and have since found out that I'm MUCH more reactive to yellow jackets and hornets so thankfully, the wasp sting was more of a heads up warning as it could have been worse.)

Ok...back to situation...

Gravel driveway and at the edge of it, right where the nose of each car comes to rest is a rock wall. I've attached an old picture that happens to show just part of it.

Above and in this wall the wife has various flowers & such...therefore, we also installed an irrigation system to it. So, every day the water automatically waters her flowers. What ends up happening is we'll get little puddles here & there.

Yesterday, I noticed a dang FLOCK of yellow jackets (or were they hornets... they were the smaller buggers)

Anyways, there was probably a hundred of them concentrating around a certain spot that I'm fairly sure was simply a water hole where a puddle had accumulated from the sprinkling system.

Last night, in an effort to dry everything out, I turned the automatic system off. This morning when I got to car to leave, I noticed there was 20 or so buzzing about.

I'll add that last night when I took the dogs out at 11:00, I went to look at this area and it was totally void of any flying insects and I didn't notice any hole that might indicate hive activity (although that could be hard to find with all the nooks & crannys of the rocks). They also seemed to be sharing it with some regular bees as I think I saw just a couple honey bees mixed in with them. I'll admit I did not get TOO close to verify so that might be in error.

So, if I have a hive, I can deal with that as I'd HAPPILY introduce them to some $4.00 gasoline. Heck, I'd even be happy to purchase some premium for them so they can go out with style. I'm just that kind of a nice guy

If I do NOT have a hive there and this is in fact, what it appears to be, a watering hole, then when I've got a mass of them congregating there sharing their mid afternoon tea with each other, how might I oblitherate them?

I need to keep SOME kind of water going for the flowers or they'll wither and die.

Aside from all the above...this flock of stinging sob's is right smack dab where the nose of a car will be when you park in the driveway so I really do NOT want someone to drive in, put the nose of their car next to this spot & get them all excited & airborn and suffer any negative consequenses because of that.

I really need to figure out how to either kill these sob's, or entice them to move on down the road. Preferably without getting stung myself.

Thoughts??

 

[California]

My ranch house has an attic bedroom like your photo. Its an occasionally-used guest bedroom, reached by outdoor stairs. Look what I found up there under the little second story porch.

This wasp nest was larger than a soccer ball, about a cubic foot.

Since it was 15 ft above the ground I didn't see any way to attack it from someplace where I had a retreat path.

I hired an exterminator. $175. That's cheaper than the medical bills if I attempted and didn't get it right.

 

[sunspot]

If you are having a dry spell, they may just be coming in for the water. You gave a clue when you said there are honey bee's around the water puddle.

 

[Richard]

I'd agree with your comments and circumstances.

My situation might be a bit different in that I don't yet (knowingly) have a hive... just a location on the ground that is wet and seems to be a place where they are collecting to draw on some water.

I can't pour gas down a hole that doesn't (as of current knowledge) exist. A giant fly swatter that was 20' in width would really be more of what I'd need.

The wife today, tried to spray some killer on them from a window. She said it didn't work as it needs to hit them directly and evidently, by the time the stream went from the window to the ground, it missed them.

 

[Richard]

If you are having a dry spell, they may just be coming in for the water. You gave a clue when you said there are honey bee's around the water puddle.

Exactly. I DO think it's just a watering hole which is why I turned the irrigation system off last night. I'm hoping all this dries up 100% and they push on.

I really can't afford (myself nor for others) to have a couple hundred stinging sob's flying around where we park our cars, allowing the cars to get them motivated & airborn just as the person is getting out of the car.

Would a store bought trap work? Do those traps work more on queens only?

Might I get lucky and have a trap with a hundred of them little buggers in them that I could then slowly drown in the lake?

 

[4720 OWNER]

Have the same issue about stings, just not to that extent yet.

You have a nest somewhere close. They do not like to travel that far. Could be in a tree or in the ground, it will need to be addressed at some point. Queens stay in the nest and make little stingers. Lehmans has some nice glass hornet traps that would compliment the garden.

Tree nests are fun, wonderful shotgun targets and that gets rid of the queen as well, just have a safe refuge to go to.

The safety crew will have a field day with this one, but did you know that hornet spray is flammable? Think 40' flame thrower. For the ground nest, or your favorite liquid flammable.

 

[JRobyn]

check similar thread:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/123880-what-attracts-hornets-bottle-traps.html

 

[RonMar]

Liquid dish Soap and water... Works great, at least for hornets it does, although I don't exactly know why. I mix up about 60/40 water to dishsoap in a spray bottle and use on the occasional hives that start to be built under the eves. The hornets/wasps that come into contact with the stuff, freefall to the ground and there they die. I was watching a show on killer bees and an exterminator that handles them down south. They use a pressure washer with soap injection. The high pressure stream shreds the hive and the soap kills the occupants. I havn't tried the pressure washer yet, but I have used a shotgun to shred outside hives so the spray can penatrate and kill the bees inside.

The bees are building a hive somewhere and are rolling mudballs from the puddle to carry back to their hive. Bees also don't fly at night, so you will have to watch them in the daylight to see if they are nesting there. Once you find the hole, if they are underground, wait till dark then pour a soap solution down the hole and see what happens. OR you can give them a puddle away from areas you frequent to encourage them to get their building material elsewhere.

 

[sunspot]

Organ pipe mud dauber - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The bees are building a hive somewhere and are rolling mudballs from the puddle to carry back to their hive.

The ones in the South are Mud Daubers

 

[Skyco]

Watch the area around dusk to see if the yellowjackets are coming back and going into a hive entrance you haven't spotted. They all go back into the hive at night and that is the time to get them if you find the hive...and instead of gasoline I'd use an insecticide. Most info recommends poofing a dust type into the entrance so they track it around and get all of them.
As I've mentioned in other threads I've become highly interested in the study of yellowjackets since I got nailed by a bunch of them when I disturbed an underground nest. I never did find the nest entrance, it can be really small. Most of the yellowjacket nests are underground but not all. I've had some luck with commercial traps but they can fool you. You get quite a few and think you've made progress but then study reveals a hive can have thousands.
Good luck and be careful.

 

[CDsdad]

Richard, they've got a hole or a hive somewhere nearby. If they are yellow jackets it'll most probably be a hole. If they are dirt dobbers you should be able to find their mud nest nearby somewhere. I'm not allergic, so when yelow jackets or wasps sting me, it's on, they all die. Nothing makes me madder than bushhogging and running over a yellow jacket hole. Bleach will get them also.

.....This wasp nest was larger than a soccer ball, about a cubic foot.

That's what hornet's nests look like down here. I've never seen one on a house though. Generally they are in the woods or in a old barn hanging from limbs or rafters. As mentioned above, a shotgun (where feasible) and a can of wasp killer will work wonders.
We have the plenty of the good old generic red wasp around here, and I have knocked down as many as 5 wasp nests around my house after coming in from work. Kids and wife don't deal well with them, they are semi-allergic. I like knocking down nests and then batting the wasps with a broom handle. My wife brags on how good her 12 year-old husband can bat wasps. I'm also tough on bees, dirt dobbers, stray dogs, and the occasional wandering tom cat.

 

[California]

...That's what hornet's nests look like down here. I've never seen one on a house though. Generally they are in the woods or in a old barn hanging from limbs or rafters.

A friend on another site referred me to a description of Western Yellowjacket Wasp and I think that's what I have here. The locals also say 'Paper Wasp' because the nest looks like wrapped paper.

The exterminator did a second rate job. He froze the nest in daytime, then left me a note saying he couldn't take it down because so many wasps showed up from elsewhere to see what was going on. He removed it on his second visit. I think he would have killed a lot more wasps if he had done this after dark when they were all at home.

I've subsequently encountered wasps in a storage shed where I had only seen a few before, and I had some lapping splashed water off my arm while I was filling a water-transport tank to carry on the tractor. I blew them off, and they didn't seem angry.

I expect I will find more nests somewhere. That first one blocked the exit from upstairs if they got angry so it had to go - immediately.

 

[CDsdad]

That's real close to what a hornet's nest looks like. Definitely different critters, though.

 

[CDsdad]

Here's what we've got around here.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Sunspot,
Yep, I hate those mud daubers! They don't sting, I mean they do, but aren't aggressive like yellow jackets, paper wasps or hornets, but they sure do make a mess in my garage. Heck, one even put a mud hut on my pto shaft.

California,
Around here that nest would be the exclusive home of a hornet, but I reckon out in Cali, yellow jackets make nests like that too. Amazing. I'm really afraid of hornets and when I'm out in the boonies around the house and see a nest, which isn't often, I avoid it. I know a cattle farmer who was bushhogging a pasture, he had gotten to the final row, which happened to be the fence row. The fence row had overhanging oaks into the field he was cutting. Anyhow, you can see where this is going. Yep, he bumped a hornet nest with the canopy atop his tractor. 17 stung him before he could get off the tractor and run away. He spent a couple days in the hospital recovering ! They are bad news and pack a painful sting.

My first thought when reading this post is "where's Thingy when you need him"? He did a funny post about yellow jackets once. Still makes me chuckle thinging about it...haha. Gas is the best for yellow jackets in a hole. Hit them at night. They can't see at night and will only leave the hole if absolutely necessary. Grab a flashlight and a gallon of gas, 2 cycle works great, the oil in it gives it some residual killing power . Anyhow, pour it in the hole, then put something atop the hole (a concrete block perhaps) or either kick the dirt over the top of it...seals them in. That's it. Problem solved.

Paper wasps- around here in the "we're all ignorant south" we call them either Guinea wasps or Red wasps. The Guinea's are yellow/brown banded Polistes nest - Polistes arizonensis - BugGuide.Net. The Red wasps are black winged, red bodied and bigger than the Guinea's Paper wasps on nest - Polistes annularis - BugGuide.Net. Both hurt and both seem to go out of their way to sting if you disturb them.



Good luck!
Podunk

 

[NuBota]

Last year I came across 3 different yellow jacket nests - in the course of six weeks. Got stung every time (about 20 total). Luckily I'm not allergic. But learned a few fun facts

There are two types of yellow jackets in Maryland - big ones that sting like wasps (stinger not barbed) and little ones that leave the stinger in you. Can't remember the names.

Nest1 - in flower bed - got stung by one en route that got caught in my shirt. Took the he-man approach, sprayed wasp/hornet killer, raked back mulch, sprayed more, dug up nest and beat the heck out of it with the shovel. How I didn't get stung I have no idea.

Nest 2 - pulled out small stump - - jumped out the truck to undo the chain - bam! - hit like 10 times. Nest fully exposed - stood way back and sprayed the heck outta them

Nest 3 - Mowing 20 degree hill (sideways) on my lil' lawn tractor - right over the nest - again hit about 10 times, almost rolled the tractor. The things actually chased me this time. Found the hole that evening - watching activity like others said - used 10' pvc pipe to point to the entrance - then after dark, flashlight and two cans of raid right into the hole.

I really hope no one saw me - cause I had to look like a spaz when they swarmed me

 

[California]

Here's what we've got around here.

California,
Around here that nest would be the exclusive home of a hornet, but I reckon out in Cali, yellow jackets make nests like that too.

Here's a photo (enlarged from 10x zoom) of mine. I think it's a match to the textbook photo in my earlier post.
View attachment 105461
These guys are gentle. There is a family pear tree down in back of the apple orchard. At harvest the whole thing is sticky with sugar dripping everywhere. Picking pears, I am right up there with a dozen or so yellowjackets flying around. I haven't been stung. (But my wife got stung when she swatted one in her sleeve).

This attraction to sugar is another match to that textbook description.

Thankfully they never attacked anyone on those outdoor stairs, where your ankles passed a couple of feet from the nest.