Opening up a yellow jacket nest

[sassafraspete]

Hi all, sorry for the fixation on yellow jacket nests... but i find them interesting. As promised, I wanted to share some pictures of the anatomy of a yellow jacket nest...at least in my neck of the woods. What you see , may be surprising. First some background, .... I found this nest in my yard a couple weeks back, and night before last, I went out after dark and poured gasoline down the entrance hole. Here is a picture of the entrance hole... unmolested.

sassafraspete

 

[sassafraspete]

So this morning, after having poured gas down the hole 2 nights ago, I took the camera and shovel to see what I could find. This is my first shovel full dug out from the hole. Notice the passageway in the upper part of the photo... is now about 2 inches or so wide.

 

[sassafraspete]

I continue to follow the passage way and dig a few more full shovels of dirt out. You may see a few dead jackets laying in the passage way.

 

[sassafraspete]

I continue digging ....trying to follow the passage way...all the time going further up hill from the main entrance. After some more digging... I continue to find dead jackets, but no nest yet. After this shot....my passageway got narrow... I thought it was running out. Was that it? Where is the nest?

 

[sassafraspete]

At last , after several more full shovels of dirt... I break into the main cavity. I am only at the edge , so now my opening is about 3-4 inches...but I can see the paper nest inside. I step back to take a picture of how far I have dug. Although, I have nothing in the shot to show you perspective....the nest ended up being between 1 1/2 - 2 feet from the entrance.

It's about at this moment that I am wondering how effective my gas was, if the nest was this far up hill? Of course I saturated the ground, and the fumes would have traveled up hill... but I got to wonder.

Holy shipp, there's some movement.... as I stand there mouth agape, one crawls out and starts to fly. I beat it with my shovel. Then another. I beat again. It's about this time that I decide I better retreat.

I come back to the hole with my long shot raid, and see maybe 3 flying around . I knock them down and then spray a good dose into the nest and stuff a plastic bag over it.... then retreat to the house.

OK kids....do not try this at home.

(to be continued.... more pictures later. )

sassafraspete

 

[Cityboyfarmer]

Go get 'em Pete! Kill all those little bastages and let the yellow jacket gods sort 'em out! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I know they're on my property. I just had 6-7 acres of stumps cleaned up and now I'm in the process of cleaning and smoothing for pasture with my tractor. Haven't stirred up a nest yet, but I've seen them flying around. I know its just a matter of time though /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[sassafraspete]

OK, I am back and ready for installment 2 of disecting a yellow jacket nest. Here is a better shot that will give you perspective on how far the nest was from the actual entrance hole. The plastic bag on the left is covering the nest, the can of spray on the right is where I started digging.

 

[sassafraspete]

Opening of the nest cavity......

 

[sassafraspete]

In this shot, the nest is more visable. It is essentially a lot like a hornets nest, but underground......

 

[sassafraspete]

Lets get a little closer.....this is the top of the nest cavity.