Killing yellow jackets in their hidey-holes

Laurel and I consider that we’ve well-earned our self-appointed status of Yellow Jacket Hidey-Hole Special Forces Killers (plagiarized motto: “Death from Above”). The recent Oregonian article on these insect evil-doers lacked specifics as to how you send them to yellow jacket hell if you locate a ground nest. This article, “How to Kill Yellow Jackets,” is pretty good but doesn’t mention some of the battle-tested tips I’m about to share.

[Update, August 2006: My wife has asked me to point out that yellow jackets aren't all evil. They are part of the balance of nature and do quite a bit of good. So if they aren't causing trouble, the best thing to do is leave them alone. Also, know the difference between bees, wasps, and yellow jackets. Bees rarely are aggressive and are very beneficial.]

On our five south Salem acres, and on the common property that surrounds Spring Lake, Laurel and the family dog, Serena, frequently encounter yellow jacket nests. I usually don’t, because I’m more of a believer in contacting physical reality through the screen of my laptop rather than through the quaint old-fashioned way that Laurel favors: going outside in the fresh air and walking around.

Yellow jackets live in holes in the ground. Sometimes the opening is almost as small as a pencil’s diameter; sometimes they take over another animal’s burrow, so the opening looks like a gopher hole (as it might have been at one time). If you see them flying in and out of the hole during the daytime, for heaven’s sake, and your own, don’t get too close to it. Yellow jackets are territorial and will aggressively defend the nest.

We've found that there seems to be a one-line "landing path" into the hole. If you identify that path, consider whether you can mark the location and remember to avoid the area. Our experience is that if you stay at least three or four feet away from the hole, yellow jackets generally won't attack. We've learned to let holes alone if they aren't near where we have to walk.

But if you have to destroy the nest, also mark the location—either in your mind, if you’re sure you can come back to the hole, or with some object that you toss in the general vicinity of the hole, but not right on it, so you can use that landmark to navigate back to the lair when night falls. As you wait for the coolness of darkness, when most yellow jackets get sluggish (a good thing…for killing them!) and return to the nest, procure a can of yellow-jacket spray from your favorite garden center.

The author of the above-linked article says that since yellow jackets are a type of wasp, wasp and hornet spray is fine to use. Maybe. But we’ve found that cans marked only “Kills wasps and hornets” use a foamy insecticide because the nests are outside. The can’s nozzle thus is designed to spray in a fairly wide arc. But a yellow jacket hole demands a narrow spray, especially if you want to stand tall a few feet away from the hole, as we like to do for obvious reasons. So try to buy a can that specifically says it kills yellow jackets.

After dark (we wait until 11 pm or so, but we usually stay up late), put on your killing clothes. If this is a team effort--two people make a more efficient death squad—the Sprayer should at least wear long pants and shoes with socks. The Flashlight Holder/Dirt Tosser, who happens to be me, can be less protectively attired if he/she is feeling brave. More clothes is better. But since we’ve never had yellow jackets come out of a hole after being sprayed, over time we’ve gotten more casual about our protective gear (we used to wear nets over our heads, like bee keepers, and long-sleeved jackets—the whole nine yards; now I go out to do my killing in shorts and sandals).

We take with us the yellow jacket spray, flashlights, and a plastic bucket full of loose dirt. Stealthily we walk through the night to the battlefield, not saying a word. Our silence has nothing to with yellow jacket killing strategy; somehow it just seems more Rambo-Special-Forcesish. If you want to rub camouflage paint all over your face and arms, that would be cool too, especially if you don’t have nosey neighbors.

Laurel, since she’s wearing the pants, creeps up toward the hole. Shining her flashlight on the opening, usually we see a lone yellow jacket guard perched on the edge. If this happens to you, don’t panic. Our experience is that the guard is lethargic and won’t move if you stay a few feet away. Plus, he/she is going to get taken out real fast with the first shot of spray.

I point my flashlight at the hole, holding the bucket of dirt in my other hand. Laurel uncaps the spray and edges a bit closer. Then we strike! Fast. Hard. No mercy. The guard is knocked aside; the spray starts to fill up the hole. Usually it just keeps on going down the hole, because these nests are quite large. We generally use up about half a can of spray. As soon as Laurel stops spraying, I throw the dirt over the hole and tamp it down with my sandal-clad foot in what I like to consider a reckless act of courageous abandon.

Laurel likes to listen for signs of yellow jacket death throes (angry buzzing sometimes is heard). However, after my single act of courageous abandon I like to walk really fast away from the hole, imagining that maybe there is a back door and all the yellow jackets are about to go buzzing after us. This has never happened and probably never will. But it’s no fun to be stung, so caution is advised in all matters concerning yellow jackets.

And there you have it, our killing strategy. It works for us. Stay away from “natural” yellow jacket sprays. Laurel’s environmental enthusiasm led her to use this stuff several times, but upon returning to the nest we found that the yellow jackets had dug their way out and (obviously) hadn’t been killed. Being vegetarians, we don’t like to kill other forms of life. But if you need to kill something—and yellow jackets do need to be killed if a nest is close to where you live or walk—then it makes sense to do your killing as effectively as possible.

Good hunting.

Comments

[james kelly]

help !! I have had to resort to Carbeurator cleaner & a lighter ( flame thrower), like
Iwo Jima.. NONE of the sprays I bought do ANYTHING other than anger the yellow jackets .
Is there a spray that REALLY works ?
Those things are ridiculously tough,
I need to kill them, now.
thanks

[Bill Thompson]

I have yellow jackets in the upholstery of a bench seat in my pontoon boat. Because of the tufting of the padded back it is impossible to see the entrance to the nest. I have sprayed the area with the recomended spray and it kills a number of them but doesn't penetrate the nest and hundreds come out when disturbed. Is there a bait similar to ant bait that could be carried back to the nest? Any ideas?

[BB]

Thanks for the advice, we just had our kill-thrill, but not sure if we got them all. When we sprayed their nest (under the siding of the house) with a soaking foam, they came up through a hole in the the floor (used for TV Cable) in our bedroom. Didn't realize that we would be engaged in hand-to-stinger combat. We quickly sprayed the Wasp Spray down the hole to neutralize the beasts. About 10 of them got into our room before we could seal off their entrance. It's off to the bar now!!

[Cjay]

I found "RAID" wasp and Hornet is the only thing that would kill my yellow jacket nest. It took a couple of cans over a couple of days. raid knocks them down and they don't move. The other stuff out there is crap! They drink it with dinner.
I LOVE to kill yellow jackets. Kill Kill Kill!!!

[BB]

At first light, it was time for the body count. There was quite a pile on the window sill. However, there are plenty of survivors :-( They are buzzing around the nest as if nothing has happened.

Last night was our 5th attempt to kill these things. We've probably spent close to $100 already. In hindsight, perhaps we should have called someone who knows what they're doing. Next, we'll try the RAID, thanks!

[derrick in virginia]

I was clearing underbrush in my woods with a swing blade when i felt the first sting . I smacked my arm, and then felt the 2nd sting . I dropped the blade and retreated to the edge of the woods about 15 yards away. Looking back into the area I could see jackets buzzing around . Before dark set in I went back for my blade. I could not see the enterance. Found out smashing one will give off a scent for others to find you. I will wait for Nov. to clear that area. Only the qween survives the winter. set traps for them in March &Apr

[derrick in virginia]

Found more info on yellow jackets. If you trap the qween in early spring this will help. She burrows in the ground in late fall and comes out in March or April to find food and a new nest site. They do not use the same nest the next year. Once the nest is started she lays eggs that make females for feeding the young. The males guard & protect the nest. The numbers can range from 100's to 1000's to 10,000's . They don't see good at night , that does'nt mean they can't sting at night!! Leave them alone if you can. winter will kill!!!

[Chelle]

I have yellow jackets in the walls of my house. When I came home today I found fifty or more in my dining room where they have chewed through the wall. How can I get rid of them. I taped up the whole with duct tape to keep them from coming in while I killed the ones already inside. How can I safely remove these from the wall?

[fc]

We too have become yj experts over the past couple of years. This year we dispatched about 20 nests on our farm.

An alternate method is boiling water, but it's fairly time consuming (this year we switched to yj spray). We used to carry 2 pots of boiling water out to the nest (at night, and following the description above), and dump one down at a time. We would then dig out the nest. The trick is to shut off the flashlight the instant you hear any buzzing. Also, periodically check your shovel (and anything else you set on the ground near the nest) as my husband has been stung by random yjs who have gone exploring. The water method usually took 2-4 pots of boiling water, and often we had to go back the next night to finish the job.

If you have yjs in your house walls, I definitely would not try to deal with it yourself - call in an expert.

One other tip... queen yjs winter over in protected spots starting in fall, and can often be found in random places. (Under empty feed bags, between hay bales, in wood you may bring inside for your wood stove, etc.) To reduce next year's population, try to eliminate as many queens as possible over the fall and winter. (Last fall was especially fun - a ton of queens must have been in our fire wood because every day for about 2 weeks I found 2-3 queens flying around in the room where we had brought the firewood!)

[derrick in virginia]

It's been a couple of weeks since my painful reminder not to mess with yellow death. I have tried a couple of traps. my wife came up with the best trap. the bait we tried was all kinds of fruit,but the one that works best is PANCAKE SYRUP!!!. take a 2liter bottle , put an inch of sryup in,duct tape the hole ,cut a SMALL hole in the tape just big enough to take a drinking straw piece[2to3inches]long into the hole.leave some sticking out.poke air holes[10or12]hang with string or wire ,10 to 20 feet from nest at dusk.check next night.DEAD YELLOW DEATH!!! clean and refill as needed IT WILL KILL,KILL,KILL..will keep on fighting esp. in spring. to ones in the house, call expert or ask local bee keeper if they will help. keep on killing!!!!!!!!!

[juliana]

when i go out yellow jacket hunting (I dont kill them by the way) I like to bait them with tuna inside a clear container. Here is how it works put a bit of tuna in the middle of the container and wait. When the yjs enter the container and are busily eating the tuna quickly close the lid and shake vigorously. Its fun to watch and hear them get angry inside the container knowing that they cannot do anything about it and are covered with tuna (insert evil laugh here). After about fifteen minutes open the lid throw the container in the trash and run (at least 20 yards). I like to think that they will bring this message back to the hive and the others will know not to fuck with me or to eat tuna.

[Tam]

I am allergic to yjs, so we are desperately trying to get rid of the hundreds of them that are buzzing around a tree with lots of berries right by the driveway! We cut down the tree and raked up berries- but they're still finding the juice. Since we can't find the nest, we set a daily trap that kills TONS every day. Place a small bowl of fruit in the middle of a large bowl. Then pour cheap beer in the larger bowl to make a moat. The bees fall in the beer and die in a drunken stupor. We literally find the beer with over 50 dead bees by the end of every day!

[kevin]

I just ambushed a YJ nest last night.

I found it while weed-wacking some monkey grass that lines one of my pine islands. It's always fun to drop a gas powered machine in the middle of your lawn in broad daylight, jumping and screaming like an 8 year old girl as you get stung over and over again.

OK - it's not fun..... but revenge is....

As I emptied the two cans of Raid on the hole/nest, I was still feeling a little let down. This was too easy, to "run of the mill".

I ran into my garage in order to find something to "seal the deal". Well, I found it - and it is Great Stuff -- the expanding aerosol foam you buy for various household sealing needs.

heheh -- so, I stick the tube in the ground and begin the final assault. I stuck the 8 inch nozzle in the already Raid soaked hole and went to town. I let it spray for about 10 seconds then left for the night.

I awoke this morning to find a nice, white clump -- 'bout the size of a tennis ball on top of the YJ nest entrance.

Victory is mine!

[ashli]

my little boy decided to plug up a yellow jacket ground hole with a tiny boy-sized fist of playground sand. big mistake. the best lesson is a natural consequence, i always say, but it made me madder 'n a molested yellow jacket to see myriad buzzing devils stinging through my child's shirt as he screamed. so i'm going after them tonight with a scarlet vengeance. i know, that like my son, they're only acting on their God-given instinct... but i'm going to make them pay because they hurt my kid and i have anger issues anyway. soon as light falls, i'm going out there with a ton of boiling water, a red lensed flashlight, a bucket of dirt and one massive vendetta.
ohhhh...
i feel a killin' comin' on.

[Dumb southerner]

I am using my husbands email addy- because he is the idiot...lol.
I came online (the answers to ALL the problems of the world are HERE!!! lol.)found this- cool- someone like me (I always find like minded folks here- so scary! lol.
We got'em...yj that is...
dh caught them before I got home-normally, being the 'man of the house' he would have 'asked' me what to do... but, today I was gone without the phone... he was on his own (mind you yj are in the woods for this story!)
He is so smart- he pour gas down there- and lit it up- I came home- ugh! I left him alone again! He is worse than the boys! lol. Now my 'forest' looks ready to fall out... Thankfully, daddy is a fireman- so I know how to put out gas fires (amazing what useless info I know...lol.)put out the fire-
AND NOW thanks to my online friends (you guys!) I NOW know what I am gonna do- death to them all!!!
My husband already wasn't allowed to play with matches- guess I gotta add gas to the list... lol.

[Linda Hughes]

Thanks for your kind reference to my article, How to Kill Yellow Jackets. I sold it years ago to PageWise and I was frankly surprised to see it's still floating around out there. I could have put a LOT more info, but it was contract work and they wanted a certain word count.
Abundant Blessings, Linda Darby Hughes

[Jim Conroy]

SOS. There are literally hundreds of holes in my backyard! All are conveniently located near our swing set newly installed last year for an obscene amount of money. It is too difficult to identify where the nests are even if observing during the day. Even if I do notice where a few nests may be, I have to believe there are dozens of nests given the yj activity and number of holes. I had a yj problem last year but not to this extent. I drowned them with the hose and then filled the holes with dirt. I also used some spray. These methods apparently just ticked them off and made them come back stronger this year. Is there a "nuclear attack option" that you are aware of that would clear large areas?

[Delta Force]

My next door neighbor is avowed yellow jacket expert and hunter. She told me that back in the day, they would take gasoline, douse the nest, then torch the suckers!!! Open fires have been discouraged in the metro Atlanta area over the past few years ( why I don't know?!?), but I decided to whip out the old flame thrower I brought back from Nam. All it took was one good blast! The neighbors were really impressed with the pyro technics and we haven't seen hide nor hair of another yellow jacket.

[Killer]

ok, you yuppies here's the deal. Wanna kill 'em wait till dusk pour 1/2 gal. of gas down the hole.don't light it, that just relocates them. Just let it soak all night.

[Jules]

Thanks for the great tips! I got attacked today, thank god only 3 stings and still after 7 hours I can barely make a fist. Those bastards are going down tonight. I've also read kerosene is just as good as the gas trick. Of course no lighting it, the fumes are supposed to do it. I also found another tip, place a window screen over the nest opening and spray away - it may slow the adrenaline somewhat to know they won't be flying out at ya.

[jamaicagurl]

LOL.....we don't want to kill all pollinating insects just dangerously aggressive ones. so using a trap w/syrup might not be a good idea.

locate the hole (sometimes one nest has more than one hole)

wait till dusk.

rake area quickly of leaves or pine straw, and run for safety.

when coast is clear,place a clear bowl over the hole(s).

the next morning about noon, cautiously approach the nest hole. you should see half the colony dead, and the others struggling to get out.

leave the nest covered for about two days.

[Doug Jones]

Will these pesticides kill the tree? My yellow jacket hole is at the base of a 150 year old tree (next to by back door.) Stung today, ouch! I can clearly see the hole. Will these pesticides kill the tree?

Thanks,

DJ

[Bonairk]

Last night I used good Ol ingenuity. Found a nest the "HARD" way, of course. Stung twice in the finding, and once at 3 in the A.M. after trying to rake the leaves away from where the hole should have been. So, waited to about 3:30, got a gallon of gas and an old piece of plastic gutter which was about 10 feet long. Never found the hole, but saw the 2 YJ guards. Placed the gutter where the guards were. Set the other end up on a piece of wood, and let them have it with a gallon of gas!!! A few cars drove by during this process, and I can only wonder what they were thinking!!!, as I was in long pants, a hooded fleece, (with hood up), and leather gloves on. Death to all YJ'S.

[Jack @ Yellow]

Killing yellow-jackets just brings one more karma and problems with more yellow-jackets. If you want them to leave you alone, you must leave them alone. Whatever happenes to you, it is your own action returning to you. Nothing can touch you, unless it is your own karma (action) returning to you. You cannot escape from yourself. Leave others alone, and they will eventually leave you alone.

[YJ Terminator]

Huge nest in the rock retaining wall in back yard. Discovered while watching yellow jackets shoot out of there like a machine gun all day Sunday afternoon. Sunday night at 10:00pm emptied two full killer cans of spray to no avail. Watched closer Monday and saw thet fly into large crevass under rock and then fly up! Tried another can Tuesday night. Maybe less yj's than yesterday but tonight I'm going in with lighter fluid!

[Colorado yj victims]

Wow, this site is terrific, now this is why the internet is in our lives. How can we best get those little beasts out of our lives? They made a hole right next to the front walk, and I shoulda had a clue when I got stung on the ankle walking to the mailbox the other day. Then this eve, my son started mowing the lawn and the whole nest got very upset..and we saw the hole. As they all tried to go back underground we tried some dangerous tactics, and luckily did not singe our eyebrows. Gas in the hole, then lit it (fun for a 17 year old to blow up anything,,ok,,it was a little bit of gas and a match tossed against the hole, bad mommy, I know) and there was a mini explosion out of another hole, which must have been the back door. We sprayed Windex and Pam on the other angry dazed, but airborne fellas, feeling utterly creative with any household spray can or bottle. What would Martha Stewart say. Now I know what other compounds may work, thanks to all of you. Will try the boiling water technique this evening..then get some Raid tomorrow. Thanks for all the good ideas..and please don't try any of mine!

[CLAY DANIEL]

BEWARE...I TRIED THE CLEAR BOWL TRICK A FEW NIGHTS AGO AND IT DID NOT WORK! THEY DUG A SMALL HOLE UP UNDER ONE SIDE AND THEN THANKED ME FOR GIVING THEM A RAIN SHELTER..I WENT BACK LAST NIGHT WITH THE PETRO. I CANT WAIT TO SEE IF I GOT THEM ALL.HOPE I DIDNT KILL THE BIG PINE TREE NEXT TO THE NEST.

[Rob]

After gleaning as much shared knowledge from all these comments, I went after a Yellow Jacket nest i found in my yard. I posted an account with photos on my own blog, but the facts:

Rainy night + a rake + can of Raid spray +bag of 'Sevin-5' insecticide = Yellow Jacket colony dead in under five minutes.

[Rob]

Here's the link for my Yellow Jacket blog entry:

http://www.robcurtis.com/blog/archives/2005_08.html#000066

[monkeyboy]

Many of you seem to have the luxury of sneaking upon and above your little enemies and pouring everything under the kitchen sink down to them .. these insurgents at my place have nestled behind the gutter, under the eaves and in some void in there. I've been dropping BOMBS of can spray to no avail. Reading this board has inspired me to get not only wicked but almost brutal. Tonight, I'm goin up there .. for tonight, death will come ripping.