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annafl_gw

How to get rid of yellow jackets

annafl
17 years ago

We have a large nest of yellow jackets in the ground underneath our old oak tree. It is very close to the house and in a shade garden. I have many bees and wasps that I leave alone. We believe in live and let live. However, we have not been able to garden in this area all season for fear of getting stung. I can't water close by. My DH got stung today despite knowing exactly where they were. We are ready to get rid of them and reclaim our little seating area by this old oak. What is the least harmful way to chase them away? If not, we are prepared to kill them. Any suggestions, please!

Comments (141)

  • ralleia
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I am not allergic to wasp stings.

    Non-allergic individuals can still have severe localized allergic reactions to wasp stings, lasting for several weeks, which can be mitigated somewhat by steroids and cortisone creams.

    So all humans, allergic or not, can have a reaction requiring some kind of medical intervention. The non-allergic ones just don't asphyxiate and die in the first 30 minutes without medical treatment, that's all.

  • jolj
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The old gasoline trick is like killing the frog in Biology class, NO FIRE, just gas trapped in the hole.
    I agree that rubbing alcohol or ammonia would be better & you only need a little.
    Do not remove the brick for at less 30 days!
    This is so simple, you do not need the gas at all, it is just to kill quick! You put the brick over the hole after dark & the wasp will starve to death.

  • DeWitch
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We just discovered apparent yellow jackets going down through the cracks in the floor boards of our porch. It is quite low to the ground so you can't really get under it and would not want to since when I tried shining a flashlight under to try to see what they are doing a bunch came out after me. I was lucky I only got stung once. So we do not know if their nest is in the ground on under the floor boards. Any suggestions on how to remedy this?

  • BrianB68
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I see lots of people have problems with yellow jackets. Lots of ideas here.
    I just got rid of a yellow jacket nest in our lawn with a Raid fogger. I basically walked over to the hole at night with a bucket in one hand, and a fogger in the other. My wife followed with a couple of bricks. I got close, started the fogger, rolled it over the hole, and quickly covered the hole and fogger with the bucket. My wife then placed the bricks on top of the bucket. Then, we ran. I didn't check until 2 days later, but there was absolutely no activity. I knocked the bucket off and sprayed wasp spray down the hole to be sure. No more yellow jackets.

  • crazyplantwoman
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I thought this was an ORGANIC thread but after reading all the toxic solutions like gas and sevin and raid foggers, I guess it is not! Nothing organic about any of those!
    Here is what we did to rid 2 nests. I was wondering how long it took but was unable to find that info here--I will research the web for where I found this solution as I feel it has worked.
    We found 2 nests. One had 2 entrance holes close to each other. These nests are built in old vole or mouse tunnels. At night we covered the holes with a bag of ice, then plastic, then weighed it down with a 40lb bag of compost. This is to trap them inside so they can;t get out and starve. If we covered all the entrances I was wondering how long I should leave the weight (bag of soil) on top of the hole. It has been a week and we have seen no activity. I will wait longer. Seems to have worked and IS an organic method. No toxic stuff!

  • jolj
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Some of these tricks are past down for many years & some persons are only organic in the garden plot.
    They see organic as a way to eat healthy, but not as a way of life as some others do.
    Not everyone are into the Whole life, some it is just whole foods.

  • DeWitch
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I posted for help last month but got none...
    "We just discovered apparent yellow jackets going down through the cracks in the floorboards of our porch.... Any suggestions on how to remedy this?"
    Did clip a post that appears to be gone now about Drione Dust. Couldn't find it for sale but did find Pyrethrin Dust. Would much prefer being more "green" but had no choice since as I stated the nest was where it could not be reached in any way without ripping out our porch. Also no way of getting the dust on the nest since didn't know where it was other than under the porch floorboards at one end. So put a paper plate of over-ripe banana slices dusted with the Pyrethrin near where we were seeing the bees going in and out of the spaces between the floorboards and covered it with one of the clear plastic things (weighted down with a rock) that you hang from your hanging plants (to collect water overflow) so that no animals would get into the stuff. Within a few days no more Yellow Jackets.

  • pete77
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I had a small nest of yellow jackets in my neglected garden which I was weeding to plant a fall crop. After reading several remedies to rid them, I decided to build a small fire directly over the nest at night. I saturated a couple of pieces of wood with solvent just to get the fire started easily without me getting to close to the nest and tossed them on the nest with several other pieces of wood. Lit it up and left it burn until it went out on its own overnight. In the morning there wasn't a yellow jacket to be found, dead or alive. I even dug up where the nest was. Can't explain what happened to them but their gone.

  • jolj
    11 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    did you say solvent, the villager are lighting their torches as I type, the is a organic Forum. :-)
    You can use kindling or fat lighter as the old timers called.
    Pine heart will burn as well as any solvent, store sell it, I get mine out of my old pine stumps.

  • Jacqui_47
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The Raid Fogger on a stick worked! Had a problem under my shed and they are dead, dead, dead!!!

  • dogmummy
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    we have a few holes of yellow jackets and are very worried - our border collie is very allergic to them and just had a terrible reaction. she walks over the grass, unknowing steps in the holes and they attack her - on a good attack, they sting her feet and snout but the bad attack, they swarmed her and were two, three deep on her body.

    my husband sprays the holes - he's brave! - but all they seem to do is go make another hole elsewhere in the yard!

    is there anything that can be spread over a large area? we have 9 acres but if i could at least get rid of the ones in the main area of the backyard, i wouldn't worry as much about my pups.

  • dyck
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Tee Tree Oil
    quickly applied of possible for Yellow jacket stings (or any kind of sting) saves the day.

  • DarkInvadr
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I had been friendly to yellow jackets in the past. I let them have their underground nests in our front and back yards, and enjoyed watching them, but when they established a nest under our front porch, right by the front door, I had to join the "dark side".

    I armed myself with a can of wasp/yellow jacket killer, foamy blast capable of traveling 20 feet. The death ray. I snuck up on the main entrance under cover of darkness, flashlight and death ray in hand. They had no guards posted, so I fired the death ray for 30 seconds or so directly down into the opening, and then covered the hole with a flat rock. I tried not to think about the chaotic death frenzy going on down in the dark cavern below.

    The next morning, sitting on the porch by the smoldering ruins, I watched as a lone yellow jacket was methodically searching back and forth in vain, trying to find his home. Like Luke Skywalker returning to his home planet to find his childhood home in ruins, and his family exterminated. He almost seemed to look at me as if to say "you did this!" Then he flew off to an uncertain future.

    Mission accomplished, but at what cost?

  • NilaJones
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Good writing, Dark :).

    My post from the other thread:

    The 'Poison Free' brand of organic wasp spray is more effective than Raid, in my experience.

    It's just mint oil, soap, and water in a handy can that shoots out about 12 feet. The wasps fall down dead instantly and don't attack you (unlike with Raid). Mint is a neurotoxin to bees and wasps, so bee careful and judicious.

    >Tee Tree Oil quickly applied of possible for Yellow jacket stings (or any kind of sting) saves the day.

    Tobacco, mushed up with water or saliva and applied topically, works better on me.

  • tommymc51
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have a nest that I can't get at. There is a dry stream bed which bisects my property. I have a small bridge which is the only practical way of accessing the bottom of my property. There is a huge yellowjacket nest under the bridge....rendering it unusable.

    The bridge is constructed of 2x6 boards laid across two spans made from a cut up telephone pole. The boards are spaced a couple of inches apart. The nest is suspended from one of the boards. I've tried spraying with one of those long-shot spray cans. Because of the small gap between boards, I can only spray a little of the side of the nest. I've tried this twice, spraying from both sides, but it has no effect. I waited till an evening when the temp got down to 40 degrees, but they were still very active as soon as I started spraying.

    The stream bed near the bridge is completely overgrown with brambles so there's no other access to the nest. Other than waiting for winter, I'm at a loss as to how to remove the nest.

    The ideas about boiling water or a fogger are worth trying, but will the fogger work outside in an open area? Any other suggestions? Thanks

  • emmers_m
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Can you unscrew one of the boards blocking your shot?

  • NilaJones
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    >Can you unscrew one of the boards blocking your shot?

    Good idea!

    Can you get at them by being in the streambed, and crouching down at the level of the nest? From maybe 10 feet away?

    If you use the organic spray they are much less likely to attack you, compared to the non-organic stuff. I have NEVER had it happen, though I still plan an escape route :).

    You might find a.m. better than evening. It doesn't have to be very early -- this time of year, where I live, if it's a cool day they are still mostly home at 9 or 10am.

  • khuskey
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    If it were me I would wait til after dark and try to find as many access holes to the nest as possible and cover or plug all but one. Take 16 oz of pure ammonia and in a seperate container 16 oz of chlorine bleach in the open hole pour in all the ammonia then all the bleach or vise versa plug that hole and leave the area. the chlorine gas will kill them. In the morning unplug the holes and water area well.

  • hallskb
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I normally dont do forums, but after reading some of these post, figured out alot of folks dont know much about yellow jackets! We live close to nashville on about 11 acres, Ive ran into yellow jackets every year since weve lived there(7) years.Weired, always on the same hillside, no where else! Been stung every year too!! So I figured to learn all i could about these"Though he be little, He be fierce" bees! I was stung on the 4th last year, then while mowing a hundred feet away at night with my Kubota z turn with lights at 10:30 at night, ran over a nest and got stung once or twice in the upper lip! MY WORLD CHANGED!! In less than 2 mins, I was going to the ER with anaphylaxis shock!! An IV with epinephrine, pesid, a pain killer, benadryl! 20 mins later and $3000 laterOH! and also, remember

  • hallskb
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I normally dont do forums, but after reading some of these post, figured out alot of folks dont know much about yellow jackets! We live close to nashville on about 11 acres, Ive ran into yellow jackets every year since weve lived there(7) years.Weired, always on the same hillside, no where else! Been stung every year too!! So I figured to learn all i could about these"Though he be little, He be fierce" bees! I was stung on the 4th last year, then while mowing a hundred feet away at night with my Kubota z turn with lights at 10:30 at night, ran over a nest and got stung once or twice in the upper lip! MY WORLD CHANGED!! In less than 2 mins, I was going to the ER with anaphylaxis shock!! An IV with epinephrine, pesid, a pain killer, benadryl! 20 mins later and $3000 laterOH! and also, remember

  • kjs123
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yellow Jackets not only live in the ground or dead tree stumps. The ones we have--have actually build a nest underneath the stucco of our home--right next to the front door. I noticed them last week when my granddaughter was stung--then I went out the door and got stung also. They are very aggressive in the fall months--so they have got to go.

    After dark we will be using the Enforcer wasp and yellow jacket foam spray--which they recommend using the whole can into the hole--and then we will be sealing the entrance up with insulation foam to keep them from coming back.

    Hopefully--it works.

  • jr1955
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Has anyone considered using rubbing alcohol as an accelerant to ignite a fire in the YJ nest, instead of gasoline? I would think it would be more environmentally friendly.

  • Kimmsr
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Many of the methods of control posted here are not acceptable to an organic grower.

  • PhysTeach
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I've had great success getting rid of Yellow Jackets using a Shop Vac. I put a couple inches of water with a dash of dish soap in the shop vac. Then put the vacuum hose right against the entrance.

    I've never tried this with a ground nest, but I suspect it works pretty well. In about 3 hours I was able to remove well over 1000 yellow jackets from my siding. I made a youtube video tutorial showing the whole process.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytMcIpIRL3w

    I didn't use any chemicals, other than a few drops of dish soap in the shop vac. Sometimes they come back, sometimes they don't, but there numbers are greatly reduced. An extra treatment in a few days if necessary goes a long way.

  • Kimmsr
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Of course a good part of controlling any insect pest is understanding a bit about its life. Eliminating the worker Yellow Jackets without also eliminating the queen does little. Vacuuming up those you can see, the workers, will not do much to eliminate the nest.
    Setting fire to the paper nest, especially if it's hanging on a wood frame structure, is simply asking to have that structure burned down.
    Some of the other wasps are not a problem, as the Yellow Jackets can be, and are more beneficial then harmful and can be left alone.

  • Terrahouse
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I haven't read all 300+ posts on how to kill yellow jackets in the ground but most of them I viewed rely on chemicals, professionals, dangerous substances, etc. I had a large nest of yellow jackets in the yard and was stung a couple of times. I found the nest. Powders did not kill them all. I did not want to poison the soil (we have ornamental plants nearby) with gasoline or other chemicals. My 100% effective and environmentally safe solution? DRY ICE. It's carbon dioxide in solid form, cheap and readily available. When it sublimates, the CO2 gas is 1.5x heavier than air and will displace the oxygen and kill the wasps. Here's what you do: Locate the entrance hole, wait for night, then put a block of dry ice next to the hole. Cover the hole and dry ice with a 5 gallon bucket and seal the edges with soil. By morning almost all the dry ice will be gone and the critters will be dead. I used about a one pound block of dry ice. I dug out the nest to confirm they were all dead. The CO2 crept into every nook and cranny and killed them all.

  • schnur07
    10 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Here's a video link of me showing an easy way to get rid of ground nests using dish soap and water. You do it after dark when the wasps/yellow jackets aren't active. It's super easy and it's worked for me every time I've tried it.

  • exterminator
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Getting rid of yellow-jackets can be tough for the homeowner and very dangerous if anyone is allergic to bee stings. There are 6 varieties of yellow Jackets in New York State. The variety that I come across most often makes their nest under the siding of homes. In order to exterminate these wasps, special equipment is needed. I use an actisole machine to apply chemicals into the walls of a home. For more information visit http://www.dqpestcontrol.com/beeremoval.html

  • Mindyw3
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Okay, I didn't read all of the posts but what annoys me most is that the majority of posters don't know that wasps and bees are two different things....if I see bees in my wasp traps...I let them go. Have had a paper wasp nest under the stair railing on the deck for 4 years. See them everywhere, avoid them, never been stung. Neither have my 3 and 5 yr old and I spend a decent amount of time in my backyard. Last year we also had hundreds of blue hornets on the hydrangea right next to the porch. Also never stung.

  • Mindyw3
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    And I'll also add that yellow jackets and most wasps...also completely different. It sickens me to read some of the things people do to.

  • breemom1
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I don't know why but two days ago i had yellow jackets just show up all over my raised garden beds and just hanging out in all of my plants.I was freaking out and went back in the house.two hours later i went back outside and they were gone but now i am seeing them all around my house but just not in a big group like i did a few days ago.I was going to mix up some sugar and yeast to attract beneficial bugs to my garden but i was wondering if i did this would i just be feeding the yellow jackets and making them want to stay around?I just can't find where they are coming from.Thanks for any help i can get. Breemom!

  • quanestorm
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yellow-jackets ground nest
    A ground nest in the garden is a danger to all. This will work within an hour if you apply it at sunrise or after dark. Place or throw a quarter cup of Selvin powder pesticide into the nest entrance hole, and run like hell. Check back at first light and marvel at your success. Wash down the remaining Selvin surrounding the entrance. Lowes sell a container of Selvin for less than $6.
    I'm out on a ranch and twice last week I had to do this, and both times a complete success.

  • victoriajeanne
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    We have yellow jackets in the ground. The garden hose can not reach the depth of the hole. We tried to large spray's for killing and they did not work. We tried drowning. That didn't work either. I think the bottomless hole is part of the problem. Any ideas?

  • Kimmsr
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Sevin, Carbaryl, is not an acceptable solution for any organic grower.
    Yellow Jackets nest in many places other than in the ground.
    Yellow Jackets can be beneficial.

  • jocoyn
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I was impressed with dish soap and hot water. I used a 5 gallon pail. Before that, a friend told me about using plain household ammonia. I figure that is broken down fairly quickly and is a concentrated natural substance. It took me a few days. I have used DE before and it does weaken the nest but only seems to take out a really small one.

    Part of the problem here is the darned chipmunks. Makes for an easy nest site.

  • annpat
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Glass bowl inverted over the ground entrance placed at night.

    Your unnecessary poisons are killing my honeybees.

  • annpat
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Green leaf organic, are you kidding me? There is nothing more docile than a swarm of honey bees. They do not expend life during a swarm. The faithful helpers do all they can to get their queen to a new home. Read about bee beards. And, had you called any fire department, they would have given you the phone number of the many eager beekeepers who live for the day they can rescue a swarm. You could have made money off that swarm.

    I climbed twenty feet into a tree three weeks ago and climbed down with a huge swarm worth at least $130. I'm guessing 25,000 honeybees. They've already produced at least 15 lbs. of honey and I protected them from paranoid idiocy.

    Feeling pretty good.

    Why is the organic forum so inorganic?

  • annpat
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh! This is an old thread!

  • DeWitch
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    My old post of how I did this -
    Posted by DeWitch 4 (My Page) on Mon, Aug 20, 12 at 9:46
    I posted for help last month but got none...
    "We just discovered apparent yellow jackets going down through the cracks in the floorboards of our porch.... Any suggestions on how to remedy this?"
    Did clip a post that appears to be gone now about Drione Dust. Couldn't find it for sale but did find Pyrethrin Dust. Would much prefer being more "green" but had no choice since as I stated the nest was where it could not be reached in any way without ripping out our porch. Also no way of getting the dust on the nest since didn't know where it was other than under the porch floorboards at one end. So put a paper plate of over-ripe banana slices dusted with the Pyrethrin near where we were seeing the bees going in and out of the spaces between the floorboards and covered it with one of the clear plastic things (weighted down with a rock) that you hang from your hanging plants (to collect water overflow) so that no animals would get into the stuff. Within a few days no more Yellow Jackets.
    Pyrethrin is apparently okay for organic gardening

  • Djtherapy
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yellow jackets are territorial when they build nests, in a range of 200 sq ft. They will avoid nesting in other Yellow Jacket territory. So in the future you can hang a decoy hive (a brown bag or waspinator brand nest).

    I had a hive of yellow jackets in the gutter above my Deck. I left them alone by avoiding the area within 15 feet. I feel it's best to co-exist with nature. By mid September they left the hive due to the cold weather. No Harm came to them or Myself.

    Anyone who suggests gasoline is low on the IQ scale...

  • desertgirl650
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Get Bee Tour product from Amazon. Hang one or more in your garden on tree or patio and wasps will leave and stay away from my experience. They are territorial and leave if they see fake nest. It really works! Use garlic clips for repelling deer to also repel bees- also on Amazon.

  • Kimmsr
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    The specific ingredients in Bee-Tour are considered trade secrets and therefore are not disclosed. It is therefore difficult to know of the product is acceptable to any organic grower.

  • romitl
    7 years ago

    Simply locate their entrance and secondary hole and pour some Boric Acid powder into and around the holes .. Also dish washing detergent and water in a sprayer will kill flying ones soap breaks the oils down and they can't breath..

  • DeWitch
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    I had several posts here but I guess they were all ignored. Anyway here is a link to what I used (pyrethrin) to get rid of yellow jackets nesting in the ground under a porch that was too low to get under to pour stuff in their hole. The link is for the people who are complaining about unsafe chemicals that shouldn't be used for organic gardening.

    http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/VegFruit/organic.htm

  • kimmq
    7 years ago

    DeWitch, that article lists several products that have not been acceptable to organic growers since the 1990's. Nicotine Sulfate, Sabadilla, Rotenone, have been deemed to broad spectrum and too long lasting in the environment to be acceptable to any organic grower. Since the copyright on the article is 2010 that tells me the people at Colorado State do not know much about organic growing.

    Much of what is written here about controlling wasps is not safe, not environmental, and certainly not acceptable to any organic grower.

    kimmq is kimmsr

  • gumby_ct
    7 years ago

    One way I have been able to get bees to move is by watering their in ground nesting site daily, sometimes 2x or more times each day. In some cases this may be better done at night but IF you use a light they may be attracted to that light.

    Another old time farmers trick for in ground nests is to use a clear glass vase, bowl, or glass to cover the hole so the bees can't escape. Again this is best done at night while everyone is home.

    Clear glass enables you to see IF the bees are still active.

  • DeWitch
    7 years ago

    gumby_ct The watering sounds like it would have been the best way for us since the hole was under a porch floor too low to get under. Oh well, that was years ago and they haven't been back - hope it stays that way and thanks for the tip

  • Me Myself
    7 years ago

    Had bad yellow jacket infestation in a rotting fire wood pile.we didn't know it until it was to late... 23 ouches for me and 4 for my 9yr old daughter.Needless to say organic or not I gave them the gasoline and match method. The pile burnt 4 days. Dug thru and found the hive along with the dead queen... A week or so later I noticed a few buzzing around the remains... They were burrowing in and flying larvae away. I couldn't believe it... After a 4 day fire and a week later the larvie were still alive.

    Called in the pro's. We found out they were western yellowjackets here in the east.

    They are now gone. But not forgotten. Do yourself a favor and call the pro's.

  • tsurlaspwt
    6 years ago

    I have a Honey Bee Looking nesting under the east Siding wall. They swarm there, in and out all day. I have used 2 spray cans of Ace wasp killer. Some have died. There are still tons of them flying in and out all day. No one has been stung even thow they have flown into me. I know there must be a giant nest in the wall cavity or attic which we do not access .... Winter will take care of them I guess.

  • DeWitch
    6 years ago

    You are KILLING honey bees??? I cannot believe anyone would do this - all you need to do is a call a beekeeper to come and take them to a safe home and hive. Honey bees are already dying because of Monsanto and all their pesticides and GMOs. Without honey bees there will soon be NO FOOD!
    A third of the nation's honeybee colonies died last year. Why you should care