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.

 

[Branch]

I was splitting wood this February and a couple of peices from one old Eucalyptus just poured out Yellow Jackets. By the time I was done I had thousands of them crawiling around in a groggy state from hibernation. They couldn't fly and I just squashed them under my feet. I wouldn't recomend this during the warm part of the year but it works great in the winter.
Last summer we were swarmed constantly by them but this year I haven't seen even one. I understand they need lots of water and maybe the drought here is helping.
Branch

 

[Kevin_in_Mi]

I too have been having my share of fun with these miserable creatures!!! I happen to be very allergic to bug bites, specifically bee stings and I managed to get stung this past Tuesday evening as I was moving my trailer. I hadn't used it for about a month so that gave those dirty buggers plenty of time to start their nest. Right where the ball goes into the tongue. One found my right forarm and in a matter of two hours, my arm swelled up like Popeye. And talk about hurt. I have to carry an "Epipen", a self injector of epinephrine just in case. Now how to get rid of them. I've been buying bee and wasp killer from Lowe's and it works great. This hand held can will shoot s stream 20' with authority. The stuff I've been using has a dielectric breakdown voltage of 45,000. Still tring to figure out what it means, but this stuff really works. The bees drop dead instantly. Good luck and be greatful you're not allergic. Stopping at Lowe,s tonight for more spray for my next goaround

 

[looch]

<font color=blue>BUT just be sure no other flammables are in the area, like dry grass, wood siding, hay,</font color=blue>

or, say, a septic tank. My neighbor, the drowsy civil engineer decided to fix his wasp problem with the gas/match method. Problem was the nest was around the cover of the septic tank. Ka-freakin-boom. I was in my garage when it happened. I went out to look and, upon seeing that no one was injured, focussed my attention on not wetting myself.

 

[chim]

Kevin, don't shoot a 50KV line /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif.........chim

 

[dgood1]

Kevin,

What Chim is refering to is that the if you happen to hit some hit some high voltage wires, you need to make sure that the voltage is not over 45,00 V.

Supposedly the stuff won't conduct electricity under that amount.

Just for a little clarification.

Don

 

[spencer200]

A can of brake cleaner works good instant death! Not the new non toxic types but the good old fashioned toxic type one squirt and they are curled up in a ball dead. Makes you wonder what the stuff does to humans!

 

[beenthere]

Guess I am trying to read between the your lines, but are you saying the septic system blew up when the neighbor lit a match? I am not clear what you are saying happened.
That is a first, for me, to hear that one can blow up a septic tank. Did he pour some gas down the cover, or have some of the gas fumes drift down into the cover? That might do it. But I don't think methane can accumulate in a properly working septic tank. Although, one must be careful when going into one to inspect it.

 

[Anonymous Poster]

Metahane gas is heavier than air and will gather in low unvented areas. Boom!

 

[Frosty]

Don -
OH NO! I used to do that but when it got to about $0.05 a stick I quit burning my money! Now I don't have cigarettes or money. /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

 

[Frosty]

HEY! I heard water with some dish soap in it is death on ants too. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif