yellow jacket invasion

[redoak1]

Over the past few weeks, we are finding 5-25 dead yellow jackets daily near our large living room windows that rise to a cathedral ceiling. Around sundown, I can see them walking on the window near the point, looking for a way to get out. They don't find it and they die and end up on the floor.
I can't see an way for them to get in or out, inside or outside, and yet they keep ending up on our floor. I am afraid that they have somehow found a way to build a nest inside and simply die when they can't get out.
I don't have much experience with rural living, having moved here two years ago today following my retirement. Do they nest in walls or attics? I had always heard they were ground nesters. I walk around the house and can't see a group of them anywhere trying to get in, and I haven't seen any come out of the A/C ducts, light fixtures, etc.
Any help would sure be appreciated.
Thanks,
redoak1

 

[MarkLeininger]

We've had bees build hives in the wall cavity in two of our homes. What finally happened was they ate a small hole through the drywall in the corner and were flying into the house. It was obvious which room because in both cases all the bees were in the room where the hole was. They also congregated near the windows. I would suggest looking in corners, behind the couch, along the edges of the fireplace, etc for a small hole. Might have to just sit in the room for a while and maybe you'll get lucky and see one emerge. If this is what's happening, you'll probably have to get some professional help cleaning it up. We waited until the winter when they were all frozen and inactive. If you want them out pronto, they can come and spray something on the hive that freezes it so they can remove.

 

[beenthere]

Yellow jackets? or are they paper wasps? Not that it makes a lot of difference. A wasp is a wasp, just not a bee. I've had the paper wasps act like that, and are pretty lethargic this time of year. They were at my workplace and suspect open doors and windows is how they entered (maybe entered at night looking for warmth, but during the day looking to get out).

 

[billfires]

Mark, could you go into more detail on the removal process? We are in a 4 year old home and have yellow jackets in the wall. Was it necessary to remove the drywall/plaster to remove the hive? Any info is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Bill C

 

[LMTC]

We built a standard frame home 19 years ago. Right off we had yellowjackets nest in a wall. We determined pretty quickly which wall (an interior wall--apparently got in during construction and found ways in/out through holes in top plate into attic. Had them fumigated and left them. 3 years ago we started seeing them again...they had come in through an eave and nested who knows where. We paid a very nominal fee (perhaps $125?) to have an exterminator out for a bit over an hour, spray all the eaves and the attic (56x32 home) and tell us they would come out again in a month IF we saw any AFTER two weeks...theysaid it might take that long to eliminate them. We did not see any after several days, and now it is a part of the yearly routine to have the eaves sprayed. Worth every penny.

 

[BB_TX]

I am also guessing they are <font color="blue"> paper wasp </font> . They often build nest under eaves and porches. And if they can find a way, will build inside walls. Since they seem to always be at that particular window, I would look all around the inside of the window and surrounding walls to see if I could find a small hole. Sounds like a tall window, so use a ladder to look closely around the top. Most likely, there is also an opening in your eave, under the edge of the shingles, under the flashing near a roof valley, or other place near that window area. If you watch outside for a while, you will probably see them flying in and out somewhere near the roof eave. If you can find their entrance, you can probably go out at night with a fogger spray and really hose that opening well and get rid of them. Then use some expanding foam to fill the opening.

 

[Currmudgeon]

Yeah, you definitely want a pro to get rid of indoor wasps. I have no problem attacking and anhilating wasp nests, going through art least half a dozen cans of wasp killer a year. But the stuff stinks, so I wouldn't want to use it indoors.

 

[MarkLeininger]

In one case we had to remove the drywall because the honey from the hive damaged the drywall so we couldn't just paint over it. In the other case they were in what I could most easily describe as the area behind the knee wall in a cape cod style home. We could see them from a scuttle that looked into that area so we had a guy come and do something. I wasn't there, but I think he froze the hive and then removed it. There was no honey in that one.

We've also had several infestations of paper wasps, but the result looks completely different. They eat the paper on the insulation, bring all kinds of other debris in with them like little twigs and stuff. We've never had them eat their way into the house, they stay in an attic cavity or some place like that.

 

[billfires]

Mark and LMTC, thanks for the info, next call to the exteminator. Bill C