Do yellowjackets sleep at night?
 

I've got a nest of yellowjackets right above the front door, and suddenly it has turned into Grand Central Station with the little vipers coming and going about 3 or 4 a second. One stung me in the ear, so it is time to stop
living-and-let-living and kill them :viking:.

I was going to use spray starter fluid, which worked so well on a paper wasp nest, but I am hoping there is a time when they are all inside the nest. Do they sleep at night?

No, they don't really sleep. But, at night - they are all back at the colony.

You still have to be careful even at night, there are a few yellowjackets near the entrance - if they sense danger (usually from vibrations), they'll release a pheromone which triggers the others to come out and attack if necessary.

If you have an evening when it gets a bit cooler, that's the best time. Use a flashlight with red cellophane or red tissue paper over the light (bees and wasp can't see light when it looks red).

Insecticide dusts work best because they track it around back into the colony but you gotta get the dust into the opening.

For more information, check with UNL Website - there is control info and a video on them - - http://lancaster.unl.edu/pest/bees.shtml

Good luck

Yellow jackets
 

Nasty little vermin! I did battle in August with three seperate ground nests of the buggers in my yard (after getting stung multiple times cutting the lawn)

They are in the nest at night. That's the time to nuke them. A can of wasp spray (the kind that sprays 20 feet in a stream) directed into their entrance will do the trick.

I tried gasoline on one nest, sprayed another with wasp killer and tried the insecticide powder on the third. All were effective....

So many ways to wage war.....

We have a ground nest that we need to get rid of. Did these applications work the first time, or did it take several tries?

I got rid of yellow jackets with a bucket of water and a few drops of dish soap. Place a piece of bacon or fish on the lip of the bucket. They eat and then try to get a drink before going back to the nest. The soap eliminates the surface tension and they fall in the water and drown. Try it.

Be sure to move any chairs,bicycles,flower pots,and step ladders and anything else that will hinder your speed as you hightail it away, with some angry yellowjackets in hot pursuit to sting you.Just in case you miss.:eek:

I like to use dusts because their nests are woven layers of paper pulp they've made from mixing their saliva with wood. The sprays don't get back in there to where the young are. With a dust, it sticks on their body like pollen and they track it back around the nest area. As for gasoline and such, I sure wouldn't use it around my house.... trying to kill insects, not start a bonfire.

You can also knock the nest down with the garden hose after dark. They usually only stay around the nest on the ground for a day before moving away.

my ways
 

if you are quite and use only enough lite to get you there spray the ones abouve the door with a wasp spray should do it....

in the ground wait till dark have some gas in a hose place one end in their hole and blow,,,and leave........hold your finger over the hose to keep the gas in..

Yellow jackets
 

The gasoline took a couple of tries, only because I didn't wait until night and they weren't all in the nest for the night. It was my revenge for getting stung six times! I was not patient enough.
The powder worked real well, but took a bit longer to kill them all. I had to make sure that I got a bunch down their entry hole and around the edge. They track the stuff inside and it kills them all. However, sometimes they have two entrances! Gotta find them both and powder both.

As far as whether a one time application or not, I think it depends on the size of the nest. A smaller nest can be more easily wiped out. A large nest might take a pro. This is not for the faint of heart as these yellow jackets can be VERY aggressive in protecting their homes. Be careful, wear good clothing to cover you up and use a red light to see where you're going. Be ready to RUN after applying the stuff and give it time to work its magic.

Good luck and don't get stung....

Had a pretty good sized yellow jacket nest next to the gate, every time you opened it, they would come swarming out. They were the little agressive ones.

I generally allow them to stay, but when they start coming after me, that's it.
Besides DW is allergic, complete with epipen and all.
So, couple of cans of Raid "death from 20ft" and the leaf blower, set on "suck", went in.

Spray first, slowed them down then started sucking them up with the leaf blower.

The nest was in the leaves jambed into the climbing rose bush, ( how in the heck do they get in there so tight, I couldn't stick them in there if I tried?).
I got all the nest, the larva started, rolling out, so I sucked them up also.
Couple of straglers but got-em too, later.
Me one, them 0 for now.

don't put anything flammable on your house !!!!!

use a hornet spray..it has an acid in it that eats into the bugs instantly.

you may have to spray a few times..yes wait until after dark but they aren't asleep so have a get away.

we have a nest we sprayed last week that is active again..and my son's cat got trapped on the roof of our garage and they were attacking her this morning..i had to rescue her and she was not a happy little girl

I'm not going to use gasoline on my house, of course. That'd be nuts!

The NAPA starter fluid spray had been recommended by somebody on this forum and it worked fine on the paper wasps nest, as I said. But I don't know how big or deep these guys have burrowed into the straw.

I live in a strawbale house and where they are is in the open straw over the door in the Truth Window. A Truth Window is a patch of wall that we leave unstuccoed so that people can see that the house really is made of straw. I never got around to glassing it in, and I guess these yellowjackets think it is the bees knees of accommodation. First time this has happened in 11 years.

Fishhead, was the bucket all the way full of water? And how close does it have to be to the nest?

I've got a humdinger of a nest at the base of a raised bed, with another access hole at the top of the bed. Problem is, found out I'm more allergic to their stings than bees and I'm a chicken to get too close to it. Besides, my old rosemary plant is in that bed and I don't want to use gasoline by it. Have I said I really hate yellowjackets!!! :)

Starting Fluid is more flammable than gasoline. A spark of static electricity can ignite it. Can you say KaBoom!?

One of the flying insect sprays is much safer.

Maybe have a piece of glass or clear polycarbonate cut to fit the witness window and seal in place with caulking?

Wow. That'd be like having a museum diorama of a toxic diasaster instead of a Truth Window. :baby04:

Automotive brake cleaner is awesome. Not all that flammable and evaporates to nothing quickly. Will drop them right out of the air.
Night is the best when they are all there. Dont stand under the nest while on the attack.

Don't get any in your eyes or you will know exactly how they feel and it's not good for along time.

We wait until after the sun has gone down and it's cooled off, then we use the flying insect spray on the nest. We found ours at a buy one get one free sale at our local True Value Hardware store. Careful of your eyes though, I sprayed it during the day (had to wasps were busy making a nest right in my door jam) and was really close to getting some in my eyes, I flushed and flushed and it was fine but that stuff kind of goes everywhere when you spray it. Personally I wouldn't use flammable lighter fluid, gasoline or anything like that but my husband probably would :rolleyes:

Starting fluid will not go "kaboom" it goes "whooof" and it is quite safe, unless your a moron and smoke.....:nono:

You can even use it to start wood fires, potato gun propellant, seat tires on rims, it is useful stuff.

Was just a thought. Maybe you like having the yellow jackets at your front entrance for grins and giggles?

Am off to purchase stock in the companys that make the flying insect sprays.

And the Darwin Awards are always looking for new inductees.

Hanging trap over soapy water: PUT IT WHERE NO ONE and no pets will accidentally run into it. Try hanging the bait so that it's just an inch or so above the water. When they get their bellies filled they drop down to fly off -hit the water and the soap prevents that. (Neener, neener neener...)

Ground nests: Had good luck using a bucket of boiling HOT plain water. Never knew what hit them. If you do anything like this - COVER UP GOOD.

Do not underestimate your enemy. They are heinous and relentless and can sting multiple times - and WILL. Espceially protect your eyes, face, hands and COVER ALL EXPOSED SKIN with heavy protective padded layers. Also seal off any gaps in clothing overlaps with duct tape. Be careful and good luck!

I had a huge nest built into the top of a step ladder hanging on the side of my garage.
Waited until after dark and squirted 2 cans of the 20 foot wasp killer ( from Lowes ) right up into the opening in the bottom of the nest.. It killed them deader than doornails. Had my truck parked close with the parking lights on to see and to escape to, but was not needed.

Trust me on this one thing, if nothing else...

yellow jackets are some naughty critters when riled... stir em up after dark and they're some bad hombres... I've stared down grizzly bears before... and would rather face another griz, than have a nest of yellow jacks after me, while I'm running and screaming like a helpless coed in a slasher horror movie... in the dark...

They have some kind of radar (yes, I know all about pheromones, but radar sounds more sinister) that allows them to chase you in pitch blackness. They also will guard all the available doors and windows leading back into the house.

I've learned. Nuke em in the daylight. Do it several times, and they're done...

Wasp and hornet spray has to be used many times. Most of these sprays have no residual - there's nothing left after you spray. It only kills those you hit (like a nerve poison - not an acid). Work great on paper wasp hanging from corners and eaves. Not so good for yellow jackets. Dusts are still best.

So if I use the dust, how do I get enough into the hole/nest to keep them from streaming out at me? It is about 7.5 ft off the ground, right above the front door.

We use nosedive, from a good distance, early in the a.m. while it is cool.

Works great.

............The lower the temperature the Less active they become ! On a very cool morning they can't fly so that would also be a preferable time to spray the nest . , fordy

I have a nest in a old straw/hay pile that I removed from my duckhouse. I didn't know it was there when I decided to move it. I got stung once or twice before I got away...my ankle was swollen and redfor more than a week. I've never had that bad a reaction before so my sister (an emerg nurse) thinks I should get an epi-pen because the next time could be alot worse.

I'm not doing anything with them right now. I'm waiting until winter to move that pile now...hopefully the little yellow beasts will be frozen solid!!

Best advice you have is right here also you try one of them lights at night and see how many times it gets hit, i learned the hard way, also if wasp are in the ground you can soak a toe sack in diesel and lay it over the holes for 3 or 4 days when they crawl out that will get them too,

For yellow jackets in the ground, nothing beats gasoline! Put a cupful down the hole (none should come out with all that gas), wait a few minutes for the vapors to build up, light a piece of newspaper and throw it on top of the hole.

WHOOSH!!!!!!! (The ones that didn't die from the gas have now been incinerated in the fireball!) Hey, when I want revenge, I want REVENGE!!!

They are indeed nasty, and once riled up stay "on guard" for a while.

Of course, you can't use the gas and burn method near anything combustible. I'd try the wasp and hornet spray and wait until night to douse the hole.

Currently, I have a nest of them in my back porch on the outer wall. They found a hole underneath the windowsill on the outside and have happily made a nest between the wall joists. I've been trying a cheap (Dollar Store brand) spray, and while it kills the ones flying around, it hasn't killed the nest yet. (I'm thinking possibly the hole to the nest is at the bottom, so the spray isn't dripping down on them.)

I do torment them from the inside - by banging on the wall. They come flying out to investigate and I keep banging and more come out. But if some poor unsuspecting soul came walking by, they would get stung in a hurry.

Just add water to within 3" of the top. You can set the bucket within 15'-20' of the nest. They should be able to smell the meat. It seems that yellowjackets get more aggressive about finding food in the fall. Once while driving out from AK I stopped at a rest area to eat but the jackets kept landing on my sandwich as I was eating it.

A can of hair spray and a butane lighter. Works for me

Appreciate the info, fishhead! Gonna try this tomorrow. A friend told me seven dust also works, but I really don't want to get that close. I'm a chicken! :)

I know it's hard to keep in mind - but yellowjackets are beneficial predators of plant pests and pollinators. They are just very protective of anyone messing in their business (kind of like some homesteaders on this forum) ;-)

Yellowjackets just out in the back of a field - where no one wanders should be left to do their yellowjacket thing. It's good for all of us as long as we don't mingle.

gas
 

We have tons of yellow jackets around here. in the areas we work in we just watch for the hole and pour a cup of gasolene in it. gone the next day.

My husband got stung pretty bad by some a couple of months ago. He was mowing the lawn and moved some boards that were near the foundation of the house......yellowjackets attacked him. He got stung pretty bad. I searched online for a way to get rid of them and they said to take a pot of boiling water out to a ground hive at night. He did it and it worked good and quickly. The whole hive was destroyed and the funny thing is that all the other yellowjackets in other areas around here are gone too. We really did not want to spray poison anything or gasoline out there as we had a couple of snakes that live in the area and did not want to harm them in the process.

katlupe