killing yelllow jackets in a ground nest

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The yellow jacket nest is made of paper underground, just like a paper wasp nest. The gasoline soaks into the paper and the fumes do the rest. There's no need to light it, in fact lighting it could make the fumes burn off faster & some of the nest could survive if the gas doesn't soak into all of it.
 
Originally Posted by madRiver
I just put a bunch of dish detergent in hole and turn on hose. They cannot fly with soap stuck to wings and drown.


I got rid of two ground nests like this. Poured a half cup of Dawn Dish Detergent down the holes and filled with water. Then I covered the entrance with a large flat rock. But it's best done at night when they are inactive and most are in the nest. It worked like a charm for me.
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27
They crawl around in the grass after dark rather than remaining tucked in their cozy warren in the ground?
These little devils have a whole bag of tricks.
We had four or five inches of rain last weekend and the ground nest I've observed in the back yard that was a veritable yellow jacket fountain a couple of weeks ago appears to be inactive.
Do you think they might have drowned?



LOL they don't come out at night unless you attack the nest..... and yes with enough rain they could have drowned.
 
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by fdcg27
They crawl around in the grass after dark rather than remaining tucked in their cozy warren in the ground?
These little devils have a whole bag of tricks.
We had four or five inches of rain last weekend and the ground nest I've observed in the back yard that was a veritable yellow jacket fountain a couple of weeks ago appears to be inactive.
Do you think they might have drowned?



LOL they don't come out at night unless you attack the nest..... and yes with enough rain they could have drowned.


A few stings wouldn't bother me were I not prone to anaphylactic shock following such an event.
This is something that I found in my late fifties and as luck would have it I've been to the ER twice in the past three years following yellow jacket encounters.
 
I had this issue a few years ago. We didn't get much rain so I didn't mow an area for a while. I was push mowing it one day and got stung. No big deal and I walked it off. Turned around and made another lap and got stung about a dozen more times. I then saw them flying around the nest's hole in the ground. I later dumped about 2 cups of gasoline on the nest and watched them burn. They would actually try to fly back inside the nest, but the fire would either melt their wings or just boil their whole bodies and you'd just see them fall. It was very interesting. I dug up the nest and it was about the size of a volleyball.

Not even a week later, they were making another nest about 10 feet away so beware of that.
 
Originally Posted by Shannow
Was preparing some bait traps yesterday, as last summer they were ridiculous.

Came across this...will have to make one of these too...


They work very good.

I used canned cat food for bait, and smeared it on the wood. It will stay put. I killed loads doing it, and did not kill not one honeybee.
 
Great tip...

I put out some tins the other day to see what they prefer...

Canned chicken is not the choice of either the wasps, nor the local strays.
 
I have lots of shed roofs that are not very high … no selectivity when they hang one a foot over head …
knocked off both yellows and reds yesterday (red wasp nest was bigger)
 
I have a German wasp nest in my cavity wall...brick house so no way to get in there. It's spring and getting warm, the paper wasps are out and about, but the Germans are still asleep. Not looking forward to them being out, I can only spray them out side the nest. They ignored my wasp trap last autumn when they started the nest, this new information and a better trap might work better in spring.
 
Originally Posted by fdcg27
Originally Posted by JLTD
Originally Posted by fdcg27
They crawl around in the grass after dark rather than remaining tucked in their cozy warren in the ground?
These little devils have a whole bag of tricks.
We had four or five inches of rain last weekend and the ground nest I've observed in the back yard that was a veritable yellow jacket fountain a couple of weeks ago appears to be inactive.
Do you think they might have drowned?



LOL they don't come out at night unless you attack the nest..... and yes with enough rain they could have drowned.


A few stings wouldn't bother me were I not prone to anaphylactic shock following such an event.
This is something that I found in my late fifties and as luck would have it I've been to the ER twice in the past three years following yellow jacket encounters.



If I were prone to anaphylactic shock, I'm quite sure I'd be dead several times over by now. The stings bother me a bit, very painful and very unpleasant little [censored]. But a necessary part of nature. They're all over the place here now as they start to go into desperation-foraging mode as the temps drop. Not that they're dropping much...
 
Originally Posted by Silk
I have a German wasp nest in my cavity wall...brick house so no way to get in there. It's spring and getting warm, the paper wasps are out and about, but the Germans are still asleep. Not looking forward to them being out, I can only spray them out side the nest. They ignored my wasp trap last autumn when they started the nest, this new information and a better trap might work better in spring.



Can you not drill a hole and apply wasp killer then reseal the hole? I have to believe there is a way.

That's easier said than done, I know.
 
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I have to know where they are first. I know where they are getting in, but that doesn't mean that is where the nest is.
 
I stick this tip in small wall openings as needed … this brand has been pretty reliable

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Originally Posted by Shannow
Was preparing some bait traps yesterday, as last summer they were ridiculous.

Came across this...will have to make one of these too...



That's great. The best part was him counting the yellow jackets afterwards. Someone needs to invent a yellow jacket counting machine. I suppose you could estimate by weight.
 
Originally Posted by StevieC
What happened to all god's creatures isn't he a minister?
lol.gif

Maybe he makes a mean YJ stew or shepards pie out of them.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted by StevieC
What happened to all god's creatures isn't he a minister?
lol.gif



He disabled comments for the video. But there use to be comments just like yours.

If you ever step into a nest of them, you might think otherwise. Last time they got me 18 times on one arm.
 
Originally Posted by StevieC
What happened to all god's creatures isn't he a minister?
lol.gif



This is one creature he didn't make LOL.
 
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