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.

[shane]

I have gotten some good ideas from here, as I or someone in the family gets stung every year by an attack usually 5-10 stings, ending up in the ER! The first time I went nuts like a few of these people and put gas in the hole and caused a small explosion as well as took out a shrub and almost melted some siding on the house. The best thing if you are wanting PYRO revenge is use kerosene, get about 5 gallons and pure half of it down the hole, kerosene burns much slower than gas and will burn and burn and burn, as gas makes a huge area of flame and then quickly burns off. Be able to light it immediately after you pour in a few gallons or have someone to light it with a match, all the kerosene I have come across does not burst into flame so you can light it, being right next to it. Obviously get a good distance away, as some lucky bees will get out.

[Educated (now) Dad]

I was quickly educated by the people at this site kind enough to share their wisdom. Unfortunately it was only after my 2 year old was stung 5 times.

I then asked around about some of the solutions & was told the only reason you would light the gasoline is after 12 hrs. so it would lessened the damage to the soil. The gas fumes settle into the hole since it is more dense than the air. The fumes kill the yj's, not the flame.

Just burn the fumes once you have a hole full of dead yj's.

[Febe]

HELP! Every time I go out the front door or in I see yellow jackets flying about... and something new too... hadn't seen till just now... it flys, has long legs that hang down in back.. is that a wasp?

Oh I dont' do well with bees.... once stung once, landed in the hospital... please help me.

They seem to be hanging around one bush next to the front door.

There's no one else but me and my service dog here... I rent the apt., the landlord doesn't care. What can I do?

I can't go out and look for their nest....
I read your article above... I don't know about any holes in the ground...

Help please as I fear each day it will get worse.

[Rusty]

Great site.. wish i would have read it about 3 hours ago. I put half a gallon of gas in the yj hole tonight and lit it ablaze. Only got stung once (guess i should count myself lucky). Now I find out its the fumes and not the flames that kill. Hope I at least slowed them down. Rain is in the forcast soon and ill just put another dose of gas in the hole and cover is up for a few days. Hope that will do the trick.

[Kimm]

HELP!! I had been finding yellow jackets in my kitchen some mornings and off and on thru the day, not on a daily basis. I assumed they were coming in from the back porch. My son tends to leave doors wide open. Then it became every morning and everyday. So we started looking around to see if we could find a nest. These things have got to go down. we noticed them going inside a crack above an ustairs window, and just to the side of their opening, the vinyl sididng of the house is bowing out away from the house! We have no idea how long thses yellow jackets have been there so now, WHAT DO WE DO? Like I said they are at the top of the wall of a two story farmhouse. Do you guys have suggestions or do you think the pros should do this one?...Give me opinions...Thanks

[buzz kill]

So, this evening I thought I would take my son for a handyman lesson in hammering a loose nail in a landscape timber right outside our back door. After a few good whacks I was under full attack and managed to get my son inside unharmed. I on the other suffered the loss of battle but not the war. Once my wounds were treated with moist tobacoo I suited up in full battle gear. Work boots, two pairs of blue jeans (one pair tucked in boots), sweater, hoody, gloves, cap, and since I couldn't find protective goggles my only choice for face protection was the windshield from a Buzz Lightyear spaceship. I marched into battle armed with a can of Raid hornet killer and soaked the bastards in insect napalm. Tomorrow, I will raise my victory flag over their now defeated stronghold and take a body count.

[teksyn]

Ok, I gotta say Derrick's comment made my day... and I quote "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."

Now that my friends is the psyche of a true yellow jacket veteran!

Peace out yo!

[teksyn]

Dear Educated (now) Dad,

I feel your pain, here is what I suggest... first off call the medics and have them post a standby ambulance at your front door (better keep the whole yellow jacket thing quiet cuz they won't come, they will call the fire dept.) anyway also go to the doc and get you an epipen (epinephrine auto-injector) put on long sleeved shirt, long pants etc and a can of Raid Wasp & Hornet (the best, and the best spider killer I've found). Go out there at night and take no mercy, fortune favors the bold, and don't panic. Let us know how it turns out. I usually do it in my PJs, tshirt and boxers that is, killed literally thousands and have never gotten stung once using the technique i described.

[Roundel]

For nests in the ground, the answer is simple. After dark visit the nest with a couple of quarts of oil. I used old motor oil. Pour it down the hole. They cannot fly out because the oil sticks to them and the fumes poison them.

[timswife]

ya know? i wish that my husband and i had read all of this before....we've got a nest in our back yard...underground...with an opening the size of a crock pot!!!!!!!!!! i am HIGHLY allergic to these little demons. we were going to put the kerosene in and let it burn...burn...burn...burn...burn...well, you all get the point...however, we did not know that you had to cover the flashlight with red...and that really, we shouldn't have used the back porch light...ughhhhhhhhh...my poor husband! he got stung only once...but, there were like 30 guards...not one or two. we'll try again tomorrow. most say to wait until late Nov. or Dec. and they'll naturally go away...but, hey.........they stung my husband and my dog who is just a tad bigger than a yj!!!!!!!!!! we'll be on a killing spree tomorrow...got my doctor on standby! wish us luck! later..........

[Larry A.]

OK...time for a shameless marketing plug :)

I am co-owner of a new product currently in negotiation for marketing. The product is tentatively named BIG YELLOW. We hope to see it on the market in 2006. Not only does this product kill yellow jackets, it kills ALL insects we have ever sprayed it on in a matter of seconds...roaches...ants...waterbugs... We have yet to find a bug it won't kill. Not only does it work and work FAST... It is also harmless to humans, pets, plants. You can spray this on kitchen counters harmlessly. It also has a refreshing citrus smell as opposed to that putrid chemical fume effect you get with Raid, etc. Also, this product is in the form of a liquid from a sprayer...far more easily controlled than an aerosol can. Plus, is non flammable. Look for us on the shelves soon. We are looking for a producer as we speak :)

Larry A.
Big Yellow
[email protected]

[derrick schramm]

Do the yellow jackets come back to the same nest next year if they are not killed?

[Brian Chaney]

I've got some major problems with Yellow Jacket queens inside my house now (December). We found a rather large amount of what I thought were small bees going into a spot under our siding. They were not at all agressive. Even when approaching the entry point they were not aggressive so I left them alone. After some research I found out they were yellow jackets and put out a bait trap and put powder all around the entrance. The trap didn't get any but after 2 weeks we saw no more activity. I closed up the area with expanding foam sealer.

Now for the past 4 weeks or so we've been getting what I've discovered are yellow jacket queens in the house. They are fairly lethargic and easy to kill. We've seen and killed about 4 or 5 every week. We kill 3 or 4 on Sunday, 1 or 2 on Monday and 1 or 2 on Tuesday. Then nothing. Then it starts up again on the next weekend. I want to kill these suckers off but considering these should be new queens that are just trying to overwinter I don't know that there will be any one place they'll be hiding out.

I believe they may be using the ventelation system. I've only ever seen them in the basement (finished basement) but I have yet to find any holes anywhere in the drywall where they could be entering from inside the walls.

I'd like to bomb the place but I'm worried about my cats.

[J.Rohrer]

i'm having problems with theses buggers. just bought a trailer and when we firs moved in the mster bedroom had yellow jacket hornet nests up on the curtain rails from the old tenants., like every one says let winter get them, and i did, a little into dec. i didn't see them for awhile. now it is February, and to my surprise my wife found the first one in the living room curtain, which i killed easily, but then the next day i found one in the mster bedroom again. then the following day i found what seemed to be 3 of them in the master bedroom, one in one set of curtains, and 2 in another set. are these the queens looking for a place to nest? or has the nest already been made and now i have to worry about them coming back again this year in the house? anyone with any helpful information on how to stop these guys, i have small children and don't want them to get stung, please , please help me learn more info on these little s@*#! please e-mail and let me know [email protected]

[trena]

Outside my front door where the dogs and kids have ruined the grass and all that is showing is dirt....there are holes all over my yard. Small holes. Dozens or hundreds of them, the size of a penny or nickel. They look so deep. What have I been invaded with? Help. These holes cover about a ten foot by ten foot area right in my front yard.

[Jenn in WV]

I have lots of experience with these critters, watch for them at dusk, fill a narrow necked bottle with gasoline and after dark it is easy to stick the bottle in the hole. They can't get out and the fumes will kill the whole lot. They frequently have 2 or 3 entrances within five feet so have a bottle ready for each hole. This has never failed for us....

[Angie in SC]

I just took care of the little buggers last night...I hope.

A long neck bottle full of gasoline and a flashlight is all I used.

Hopefully, when I go home today, all that will be left is a nest full of dead yellow jackets.

[Shawn P. in NC]

I have a serious problem with YJs. About ten days ago I noticed 1 in the house, and since then I've killed about 70 of them. I think they may be in the walls or just outside and finding a way in. I saw 3 yesterday morning outside that flew up underneath the vinyl siding on the house, but I don't know where they went from there. I have an exterminator, but he did absolutely nothing. I also have a 32 week pregnant wife at home that is allergic, so I really need to kill these things. Can somebody please give me some advice...

[Stuart G.]

I have a nest under a large bush in front of our house and beside the front porch.
We can see the yjs flying through the pickets into the bush We cannot see the nest hole or get close enough to find out
where they are. How can we get close to the nest hole in order to erradicate these bees before they sting my grandchildren?
Thanks

[Frank B. in Alabama]

I just used a pump sprayer full of gas and soaked the hole and the crossties that they lived in. I poked the sprayer nozzel into the hole in the timber and could hear and feel the HUGE nest. I dont know what kind of damage I did till morning. Our local paper say we have an outbreak of large nest due to the mild winter. These nest house 2-3 queens. One was as big as a volkswagon bug! BE CAREFUL! These little beast are really mean. I worry about my kids and dogs since it is about 15 feet from my house and under where my wife parks her car. I hope I killed them all.

[Jacketslayer]

I was stung seven times Saturday. It seems that YJ's didn't care for my power hedgetrimmer or my feet moving around their nest.
Today, it seems that they didn't like the half can of Raid wasp & hornet spray soaking their abode. Or maybe it was the gallon of gasoline...hard to say.

[ED C]

Need help with yj's. They're entering through a crack behind my gutter. They are somewhere between the roof and ceiling of my bedroom. NEED ADVICE. Will the bait traps work? I've sprayed in the crack but I'm not hitting the nest. Don't want to spray too much. I may stain my ceiling. It would be easy enough to place something at the entrance to drive them away. They are not in the house...yet. Can I just leave them alone and hope the winter kills them off and then plug the cracks?? Local exterminator wants big $$. Hate to go that route if I can help it.

[Shawn P. in NC]

ED C, They sell Yellowjacket cathers for $10 at home depot, and if you place it just right you will probably catch 30-50 on a hot day. Problem is the queen will keep laying eggs all summer. You should probably call your local animal control...they gave me a list of people that kill the nests for about a hundred bucks.

[Angie]

I saw a couple of yjs flying into a knot hole at the base of a tree a few days ago, this morning I went out to feed my ducks and one of them was dead, laying only a few feet from the tree, she had yjs crawling inside of her eyes and in her bill. Does anyone know if they swarm and attack? I couldn't find any marks on her. She had about 20 or so crawling in and on her. has anyone ever heard of anything like this? how do I kill these things and not kill the big oak tree they are at the base of?

[Molly]

I am so sorry about your duck, Angie. I am really not sure about the yj's doing this. Right now, my family and I are having a problem w/these pests. Two yrs ago, I was stung 12 times by yjs due to spraying my roses early in the morning. My dog was attacked as well. Since then, we have been taking precautions, but I thought they were eliminated from the area, which isn't the case. My husband keeps getting attacked when cutting the grass. I also have a new baby, and I really am worried about going outside w/him. I purchased Sevin from Wal-Mart, as my Dad says it works, and plan on using this soon. I am also going to try the other tips you guys have mentioned.

[scared]

Last night I used two cans of Raid wasp spray. One in the dirt and one sprayed into the railroad ties. I am wanting to know if you can put gas into a pump sprayer. And use the gas to also kill them? I can not light the gas because i live in a city. Can someone give me answer please.

[Dan, Antioch, IL]

So I have a nest of the fuckers in my back yard, I was stung 2 weeks ago while mowing and they scared me off, but since I went researching this week b4 mowing in the back I have found you all to be very helpful.Tonight I begin my assault. I will strike from the south bringing in a can full of gas, and a lot of clothes. My targets are in a old tree stump, tons of the fuckers are buzzing in and out as I type now. I watched them for a while to see what was up where they were entering and I used raid on them but the damn wind was detering most of my ammo. I will try gas now and see what happens. I detest yj's and all bees with a passion cuz they sting me in the ear all the time, those fuckers. AAnyways I hope all the knowledge gained here will hel;p me in the fight wish me luck. The area is not covered with anything but grass thankfully, and I have seen many fly in and out like 3 - 4 at a time. perhaps a mixture of gas and lighter fluid will destroy them all. mmmmwwwahahahahahahaha and other bad guy movie laughs. it's MURDer to the yj's and i prefer a slow painfully brutal death. perhaps overly exotic but fun as well. wish me luck!

[z]

Howdy. We've got yj's in our wall. Called the exterminator who came out and gave them a healthy dose of some toxin, which did absolutely nothing. They enter from my carport and I can hear them in my kitchen ceiling and wall. So far they haven't come into the house but I can see little bits of drywall in their mandibles when they exit. Soooo, I got the shop-vac out and have literally sucked up a thousand easy. I caulked the entry holes in the tongue and groove where they enter and am just praying they don't eat through to my kitchen :) One caution: make sure they are long dead before emptying your shop-vac. I put a long extender tube so I wouldn't have to get too close and haven't been stung once.

[Dan, Antioch, IL]

Well, all done, I found a funnel and an old pipe I had lying around, my Dad was an electrician and so we had some leftovers from a job a few years ago. But it was just the same width opening as the basic funnel and I loved it. and 7 feet long and taped a funnel to the end of it. I then poured what was left of the gas contents into 2 milk jugs and put on a bunch of winter clothes. I put the pipe as close to the nest as possible wile giving angle of deployment for my ammo; a little over a gallon of gas. I poureed it on and am now waiting results. 3 of the bitches were hovering around but the gas spewed all over the old tree stump and probably all over the nest mmmmwwwaaaaaahahahahahahahaha. and I wasn't even noticed at 7:40ish at night, the bees didn't notice me mmmwwwahahahahahaha. I will check back tomorrow for results and now I must get more gas for the mower but it'll be 30 bucks worth it if I kill them all! (It's a 5 gallon jug for the mower hense the 30 bucks). Vengence will be mine!! and it's soo sweet! try that one guys a pipe and a funnel, adds length to your battle ground 3-4 feet they don't bother ya and I was about 3-5 feet away and the pipe had a 45 degree angle at it. but the gas out of the jugs did spill out of the funnel a little and the grey tape (I think it was electrical tape or something I forget the name of the tape just now but it was grey and comes on a large ass roll of it. Anway the grey tape held very well. Thanks to you DAD!!!! Good luck, kick the tires and light the fires people!

[Ted]

ok, yj's nest near the house, thought I got them with soapy water from a gallon jug, something I read on the internet, that didn't work. Ok now a month later I got up at 5am and turned on kitchen light which evidently shines near the nest and about a dozen of them attacked the window screen. Its 5am, another hour plus b4 daylight. Ive never seen this b4. attacking at night with no provication? Anyone ever hear of this b4? Any wasp experts in crowd?

[John, Wilmot, WI]

After all of your great info I am prepared. So far this morning I have killed just about a 100 of the beasts using water bottles and 7Up. I cut the top of the water bottle off, flip it upside down creating a funnel and then pour about an inch of 7Up into the bottle. I have 5 bottles outside and the beasts are floating belly up in the bottles. I can't locate the nest since I have woods all around my home, but the ones that like to frequent my garbage cans have now been served notice I will not tolerate their aggessive behavior when I carry out the trash. I honestly pulled up a chair with my neighbor and watched the yj's buzz around the bottles.

[Don't Try this at home]

I found the first nest cutting the back lawn (6-7 stings) and the second cutting the front lawn (6-7 more stings). I'm a slow learner. Both nests had a straw sized hole as the entrance. I went straight to the lawn center and bought 2 cans of wasp spray...unloading a can into each hole. A week later, the little suckers were swarming again.
For the next few weeks I let a 10 foot radius of grass grow around both holes. After a few weeks the wife and neighbors were becoming inquisitive as to way I was growing the two 20 ft circles in the yard.
It was time to go on the offensive. I armored up at the local Home Depot with some wasp spray. Today, I was determined to cut that grass. Wasp spray in one hand and a post(~2 inch diameter) in the other, I slammed the post into one of the holes while spraying the swarming yjs. The hole widened a bit and the post went about 6 inches in the ground. I could hear the honeycomb crunching. I continued to spray the whole can into and around the hole. I got stung twice in the process (keep in mind it is about noon when I'm doing this). There were hundreds of them swarming around the hole. I waited for them to settle a little while. I then took a rat bomb (it is like a mini-stick of dynamite that smokes poison into mole/rat holes). I shoved the rat bomb into the hole and sprinted back across the yard as I was a bit nervous after the first two stings and could hear them buzzing me. I made a clean getaway on this attack.
I waited another half our or so for the yjs to settle. The rat dynamite was set in the hole with the wick sticking out of the ground. I went back to light them up....but there were hundreds of them swarming. I wasn't giving up. I took a 5 foot pole and wrapped a newspaper around one end with a rubber band. I soaked the paper in gasoline. I snuck up to the hole, ignited the paper, and reached out with the post to ignite the stick of poison. The poison caught flame and a cloud of black smoke filled the air.
I then sprinted around back to grab the hose as the dry grass caught fire along with the stick of dynamite. I sprayed down the yard.

There is now a burnt out circle in the yard and the little warriors are still buzzing down their stinkin' hole in the middle of the burned area.

I didn't try this technique on the other hole, nor would I recommend it. I didn't cut the grass today either.

At this point I have been stung ~17 times in all. They got the best of me so far. I've been trying to face them down like a man. But tonight, I'm going to get them when they're tired and launch a more intelligent sneak attack with another couple bottles of wasp killer. I recommend trying to get rid of them the easy way. Their pretty tough around noon.

[John, Wilmot, WI]

I literally have killed hundreds today in the 7up bottles. I have them sitting in a circle around the nest and the bees are swarming the bottles and dying one after the other.

[Bill]

I tried two nights of spraying and killed off only the smallest of three ground nests.

Time for a new approach:
I have the shop vacuum running right now (6 PM) right over the nest's main entrance. As these bad boys come back to the nest they get sucked into the vacuum hose. Its kinda fun to watch this. By dusk (2 more hours) I expect that I'll have most of them caught.

When it gets dark and the last ones have come home, I plan to spray the smaller entrance of the nest with the hope that the vacuum will pull the insecticide throughout the nest, then I'll vacuum up a paper towel with more insecticide on it, take off the vac hose, turn off the vac and cover the inlet with a plastic bag and seal it off with tape. Then wait a day to let them die.

Finally I'll give another spray job on both entrances and cover 'em with dirt and hopefully that will do it.

[Steve Garmire]

To John Wilmot, I hope you were just being sloppy in your terminology and are killing YJ's and not bees., Yellow Jackets are not bee and generally bees are live and let live types and do not need to be killed. In my area, there is an association of bee keepers that will remove swarms for free. They will also consider removing a problem hive for free depending on what is involved.

[mn yj killer]

For those that have active nests near or underneath plants/shrubs or want to do kill yj without gas, kerosine, or explosive devices, I recommend the insecticide Sevin. I bought the stuff to kill off ant nests near the house, and after reading this thread, tried it on a yj nest that was underneath a shrub along side the garage. Sprinled about 1 cup (probably overkill) on the shrub two nights ago and haven't seen a yj since (there must have been 100+ the day before execution).
Happy Killing!

[Steve Garmire]

The shop vac plan of Bill's, modified for a deck situation worked for me. Thanks for the idea Bill. Your the tops, up there with Moyers, Crystal, and the Kid on my Bills list. We have a second story deck with some large built in planters, very finished, very built in. I couldn't have built them. They appear to rise from the floor of the deck to a comfortable height of about four feet. What I learned this week is that its not dirt all the way down to the decking, its about a foot of dirt and a three foot void neatly covered. The Yellow Jackets taught me this. In the last week a colony in the void of one of these planters enjoyed an expotential population explosion and the youngsters decided to take on the world beginning with our dear 16 month old grand daughter, but saving enough veniom for us bigger folks and the dog too. We hadn't even know they were there a week ago. Anyway, I had quotes in the $150 dollar range from the pros and I imagined I would probably be calling in the carpenters after that. The thought of this sent me to the internet in hope, and I was lucky enough to find this site. As my various stings burned I especially enjoyed the tales of revenge with gasoline and explosions. Not a solution on a deck unfortunately. I couldn't get at them very well with the raid either, the entrances were small and right at the decking. If I started to try to remove the siding a fierce swarm immediately drove me inside. In fact, if I gave the deck a single stomp a vicious swarm would turn out, night or day. After Bill, as evening fell, I set up a shop vac hose to suck next to their busiest entrance, and carefully covered the other entrances that were on the deck level with gravel. This left them only one entrance unhindered as it was on the outside of the deck and thus up in the air. I did soften them up a little by spraying raid through the smaller entrances as best I could before I covered them with gravel. I also got up on a ladder and sprayed the raid into the outside entrance about every 10 minutes. The vacumn ran for about an hour and a half. Although it was only a small 1 hp 1 inch diameter hose deal it got almost all of them. Coming or going, 8 out of 10 came close enough to be transported by the hose to YJ heaven. This was a key part of the package. The buzz of the vacumn was not a threat to them and they all remained calm as by ones and twos the whole crew disappeared. The two out of ten that got away the first time seemed to be rounded up on their next trip. After about an hour there were way less of them and those that were left were in bad shape, clearly having trouble flying. I really do believe the vacumn did a lot to keep the air churning inside the cavity and greatly improve the coverage of the poison. After the hour and a half the were down to less than 1 a minute at the entrance. I sprayed a bit of raid into the suck of the hose and then banded a heavy freezer bag on the hose and shut the machine off. Instant gas chamber. Silence, blessed silence. I drummed on all four sides of planter like Ringo but there were no more YJ souls left to scream. I expect I will have to mop up a few more tommorrow but in all the colony is finished and a couple of pounds of YJ's will not be rotting in there although I suppose the queen and her dead larve may cause a stink in the end. If I have to take the planter apart I can do it in peace.
If I had a really big shop vac I think I could charge a $100. If your enemys are near enough to an outlet, give Bill's vacumn method a try.

[jeff]

Use the kero and gas, burn them out with a 1/2 gallon first a week apart. Then pour a 1/2 gallon of kero/gasoline in each hole, especially in the main entrance. Thye have at least two enatrnces by the way. Stay 5 feet away. Burn during day by throwing the gas/kero mix on the main hole, as the males comes to the entrance, they get burned, then let it get late, about 11 pm and pour 1/2 gallon of kero/gas mix in main entrance and other entrances if you find them, but don't burn this batch, ket the fumes kill the Queen, then the rest of the gurads ,etc... will leave or die also.

[dave]

I wonder if there's a better way, environmentally speaking, to kill yellow jackets? It would seem that the gasoline and the various brands of wasp spray would pollute the ground and ground water if used enough in one spot. Comments?

(I spray the nests with wasp spray after dark).

[mike m]

Like others, I discovered my YJ nest when I parked the lawnmower on top of it. Apparently they don't like that. So then I discovered I was allergic after my foot swelled up to the size of a football.

I will try the recommended methods, including spray and dirt. But i have another idea. Cement. I'm gonna Hoffa those bastards.

[Brian]

Dave, we agree. Pouring gasoline into the ground definitely isn't a good environmental idea. My wife is about as Green as you can get, and she doesn't have a problem with the commercial sprays.

Of course, we use sprays to kill poison oak and blackberries on our property, so I guess we're not 100% Green. Still, I suspect the wasp killer ingredients degrade fairly quickly.

[Stu Nad]

BEST way to get rid of Yellowjackets is to place a small poster of George W. Bush near the nest. They will all dissappear within minutes!

[TNelson]

I got stung by Yellow Jackets about a month & half ago. First there was the painful sting. Then came the itchy swelled skin which lasted for 5 to 7 days. I didnt even know I was stung by a yellow jacket. The doctor who looked at me did not know what hit me either. I thought it was a spider bite. Well just about 2 days ago I got hit again at the same spot. I have a lawn service & got hit at the same house.
Both times i was stung on each ankle. Didnt ever see a nest or any wasps after I got stung each time. Sneeky bastards are like terrorists they hit you & run.(Later I found out talking to the homeowner that she had seen the ground nests & had been stung through her clothing as well) Also they stung through the back of my socks each time! This secound time was the worst my foot swelled up 2 times as big as my other foot! bad allergic reaction. Went to the doctor & ended up needing antibiotic, allergy, & methyl pills. Told Customer she needed to eliminate those bastards cuase now if i get stung i could have worse complications. fuc!?!? yellowjackets.
I would like to take revenge at those bastards but it is to much for my allergy reactions & could be fatal

[Steve , NC]

Been enjoying reading al the comments here, I've used the Raid Yellow Jacket killer before with good results and traps too. Sevin sounds promising....the shop vac sounds totally evil though, I'm going to try that next time. But folks, Please remember that 4 oz of gasoline can easily contaminate a 1 acre pond. god only knows how much groundwater gets poluted when you dump 1/2 gallon into the ground.

[pmcd]

I'm sitting here at about 11pm at night reading up on how to get rid of the yellow jacket nest my brother disturbed when he and I started digging up an area in my front yard for some new plants. He got stung four times. My granddaughter got stung once on the neck (the yj was tangled up in her long hair), and I got stung once on the back of my head through thick curly hair. My poor granddaughter was totally shocked and mystified since we have long told her to "just leave the bees alone and they'll leave you alone." She kept screaming at my brother to "just leave them alone and they won't hurt you." Poor thing! Early childhood innocence shattered by a yj. My brother drove down to the local hardware store and eventually came back with a can of spray and a container of malathion. Meanwhile, I'd taken my granddaughter and myself into the house and applied ice packs to our stings. Five minutes later I started to have a "minor" allergic reaction -- I felt dizzy and shaky, my face started to feel hot, I got a heavy headache and my lips started to swell. I called an advice nurse and was told to take Benadryl. Didn't have any in the house so I walked down the street to a neighbor's house and they gave me a dose of liquid Benadryl -- which worked so well that I started feeling better by the time I got back to my house. My granddaughter was laying on her bed, crying and saying, "Why did they do that? Why did they do that?" over and over again. She packed her bag to run away from home later -- telling her Mom she doesn't want to live with the jy. And, neither do I -- especially so close to where we enter and leave our house. So, I've been reading up on how to get ride of yj on the net while working up my courage to go out and deal with the nest. This site made me laugh so hard. I'll have to have my brother check it out tomorrow. I understand the need for revenge! I really do. But, I won't be using gasoline tonight. I think I'll try spray, flooding, hot water and dish soap and traps. I've talked my brother out of the Malathion for now (we didn't even know they still made the stuff!). Thanks for the laughs. And, keep that liquid Benadryl on hand.

[bobby joe]

a yj nest is buy our house .The nest is huge any time sprayed it shoots out 20 of them! help!

[Bob]

Last night while mowing my yard a swarm of yellow jackets attacked me. I'm not sure how many I actually saw on my leg all at once, but I ended up with 5 bites. Tonight I plan to seek revenge. Thanks to all of the contributors for talking me out of using gasoline.

[Ron]

Killing Yellowjackets is fun! I like the Special forces approach mentions above. I am a 5 time ace this season with 26 confirmed Queen kills. Sure hope I cut down the area population. BTW, the best killer I've used for these beasts is Spectracide Commercial Wasp and Hornet killer. In the Black can! (Good Special Forces feel) Available at WallieWorld. For nest killing I get a length of surgical tubing (Bi-Mart sporting goods carrys this as should any well stocked fishing supply) About 5 feet of tubing works best. Get a 4 four wood dowel and tape on end of the surgical tubing to one end of the wood dowel leaving about 6 inches of tubing hanging free off the end of the dowel. attach the other end of the tubing to the outlet of the spraycan and secure it good with a nylon tie. You have to make sure the tube is secure to the can outlet becuse you don't want it slipping off in the process of taking out an enemy nest. WARNING!!! the folloing should be done with the utmost care and the slowest posible stealthyness you posibly can muster. SLOW and GENTLE! Let me stress again SLOW SLOW SLOW! You can't loose your cool around these beasts or you're history!

If you follow the folloing advise you do so at yoru own risk! messing with yellowjackets can and will get you stung!

SLOWLY and I mean SLOWLY sneak the free end on the tube into and down the opening of the nest. DID I SAY SLOWLY? YES I DID! SLOWLY! when the yj's start to stir and investigate the tbe FREEZE! They will determine it is harmless and lose interest pretty fast. At this point you must really keep your cool cause if you move they will turn thier attention towards you and determine you ARE HARMFUL and in immediate need of removal! Be cool, stay calm and moce slow and you can get the tube into the entry of the nest.

Now your ready for the kill! OH BTW you want a second can handy without any tubing attached to spray over the outside of the hole to kill any would-be escapeing yj's.

Pull the trigger on the tube can and dump the entire can into the hole! Nest eliminated!

I have used this prcedure last year to eliminate 8 nests. 5 of the nests I took out in broad daylight too! WHAT A RUSH!

Now I lent my help I can ask a question. Does anyone have a formula for a good mix using sevin and tuna or is there a better bait the tuna for a killing mix?

[Kenny]

I got stung mowing last week and gave it no mind even though I ended up with a hole in my leg a week later. But Monday I was cleaning fish in the back yard and they obviously smelled the entrails and swarmed them where I was laying them on the ground. I ran my 3 and 5 year old grandsons away after I was Kamekazied and stung on the hand. They didn't follow us but they were eating the fish entrails like candy. So for those of you who want to know if something is better than tuna I can say any fish entrails. By the way, we were cleaning the fish about 10 feet from the entrance which later became obvious. I walked up with a shovel and framed the hell out of them for 15 minutes. There were 50 or more eating fish. I don't know how many I killed but the fish entrails are now part of the landscape for a while. My wife wasn't happy about it either. Tomorrow I'll start with some left over oil.

[Bob]

Monday while mowing my lawn a swarm of yellow jackets attacked me like the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. I got 5 bites on my leg. Tuesday night I gave them a dose of Hiroshima. The bomb I used was Spectracide Wasp & Hornet. I waited until after dark based on advice from this web page. I think that was great advice since I was able to empty the entire can of spray into their hole and kill them all without any challenge.

[Ed]

I was cutting grass both of the last 2 weekends and got zapped, thankfully only twice each time. Found another nest tonight. I have emptied cans of spectracide wasp and hornet into all 3 holes, then plugged the entrance with rocks. Question - should I have plugged the entrances, or left them open to look for more of the varmints?

[Brian]

Ed, in our experience you did the right thing. Plugging the holes. That way they're trapped inside with the insecticide. Otherwise there's a possibility they could find a way out. You especially don't want them to get out while you're standing there admiring your killing work.

[Matt in NC]

I got stung a few days ago on the foot, but I couldn't locate the nest. I knew there was one around, but I just couldn't find it. Then this morning my poor ol dog managed to locate it. You do not mess with my dog. He's the most gentle creature in the world. He's doing fine after a benadryl, but I pulled about 5 of those yellow bastards out of his fur.

I've located the entrance hole and I plan to eradicate them tonight. But I'm going to teach them a hard lesson in the process. Before I wipe out the colony, I'm going to catch one of those buggers and put it in a glass jar, and set the jar beside the entrance hole. After the yj destruction, I will set the sole survivor free, to run and tell all the other upstart colonies the legend of the massacre.

Strike first! Strike hard! No mercy, Sir!

[Denise]

Yellow jackets. I got stung several times 2 weeks ago, and last week i got stung again. I am going to get those #$&^$%@%%!! I swelled up bad. I think I found the nest. So I will try to kill them tonite. I hate these things.

[Seth]

One day i walked out side and I wanted to make a bow a suddenly yellow jackets started scurrying out there nest to kill the intruder.In the end 32 stings and a trip to the hospital later ended with a lighter tank of gasoline and a mower over there nest

[Josh]

IN A ODD COWINCEDENSE I WALKED OUTSIDE TO FIND MY PET TOAD DEAD AND HUNDREDS OF THOSE LITTLE DEVILS EATING MY PET ALIVE.So I decided for them it was time. With a double barrel shotgun and 8 ammo casing later they were trapped. Unfortunetly that didnt last for long so i put big bags over the nest and put a couple of bug bombs in there and that seemed to work until the next week witch finally ended with me with me blowing them all to hell with m80,s

[Ann-marie]

We came home from vacation to find some kind of bees in my garage door opener! Previously we've had birs nest in there so this was a little different surprised when my son and I got stung! They really don't like when the door opens and the light goes on (no surprise), I was concerned they may be beneficial bees and called a local beekeeper who said it sounded like yellow jackets. My husband and i plan to attack tonight and spray the hell out of them. Would there be any benefit to the pancake syrup traps today to start the death toll early?

[Tia]

OMG all of you are so fantastic! I have I think 2 yj nests on my tiny little property. I have a condo with a 10x20 deck, and 2 small pieces of ground for the central air unit and access to the electric meter and cable ped, they are on opposite sides of my sliding glass doors, so I am trapped. I was stung in my bedroom(where the sliding doors are)when one must have gotten in, about 2 weeks ago. I have emptied 2 cans of raid but I don't think I got the nests, just killed a bunch of them.
You all have made me laugh, and better yet, given me hope! I have to try some of these tonight, wish me luck.

Tia

[Mark]

I have learned some great tips here and enjoyed reading. I am going on my third year hunting YJ's. The first year I tried flooding them out with water. This will work if you can keep the hole full to the top for about ten minutes. You have to regulate the water so it doesn't run over. I've also had this not work because the hole was to wide and deep. Last year I built a viewing room for the killing. I cut the bottom off a large clear plastic bottle.( Cranberry Juice I think) I drilled a small hole in the lid just big enough for the nozzle on the Raid. I walked up to the hole and instantly placed the bottle over the hole. I them put dirt around the bottle about half way up, to slow them down, in case anyone was going to try to dig out. Ha!They dig pretty fast. I then started spraying the raid in through the small hole. I'd wait for some to try to come out and let them have it again. You can use as many cans as you want plus one. By doing this with the bottle the flashlight doesn't matter. The brighter the better, and you get to watch everything. My neighbor turned me on to some gopher poison, that is an inhalant, and is activated with water. They are small tablets. So now I use the bottle with no hole in the lid. Drop the tablets down the hole, which is lined up with the top of the bottle, turn on the hose for about ten seconds, put on the lid and go to bed. This way has much less thrill then gasoline. I have a nest that I'm going after in the next few days and I really want to try the gas idea. I'm thinking of getting a funnel that would fit snug in the hole ( large funnel)or maybe another plastic bottle flipped over? Then place screen over the outer bowl so during the pour of the gasoline the flashlight doesn't matter, and just leave the funnel there till morning. I've heard that a nest at the end of summer could have up to 20,000 YJ's in it. I was just thinking that with the price of gas, Raid is probably cheaper. There's just something about walking down the hill with a flashlight and a full can of gas that gets my blood pumping. Good luck to all reading this and sorry to those that got stung, and then read this. Kill em!

[ollie]

Just got some revenge on some YJ's for my dog. He was attacked by a few yellow jackets today (Monday) for the minor offence of peeing on their nest. For some background, on Saturday, we had to put our other dog to sleep. He was 13.5, and had cancer among other ailments, so it was no surprise (poor guy was in really bad shape, so it was his time). The whole family, including the other dog of course has been obviously depressed. So when 4 or 5 YJ's attacked my remaining dog, I got a little Rambo on them. No face paint was involved, but a little Raid Wasp and Hornet induced payback seemed in order. I even gleefully finished one off with a shovel accompanied by the appropriate “see you in hell you dog stinging bastard….WAP!”

P.S. The dog seems okay. No anaphylactic shock here. He did appear to take at least one hit though, maybe one or two more. We are going to take him to the vet (opens in an hour) to be sure.

[Pissed off Target]

A few things to remember.

1. Don't assume the nest you are working on is the only one. I'm allergic and got hit by the other unrelated nest 20 feet away I was standing on watching the suckers die in the first nest. Come to find out, there are 3 nests in a 40 foot square.

2. If you are allergic, don't wait to use the EPI-PEN. I did and almost didn't make it to this site tonight.

[Brian]

Found a nest under my front porch about 2 weeks ago, and keep toying with the smucks by coating their entrance with YJ foam...But now they've made another entrance on the front of the porch. Cant really get to these guys very easy...Might call exterminator on them. Then this afternoon I ran over a nest...and before I had the chance to look down to think "was that a YJ nest?" 5 or 6 came a buzzing out, so I juked my mower like an NFL player and went for the hail mary pass, right back into the house. Im a bit of a wuss, but I think Im going to take them down tonight.Cant leave the mower in the side yard all night.
by thw way...I bought a "rescue" disposable trap...caught a few...seems to be the best trap.

[Robert Paul Howard]

Dear Brian,

And now you, too, are a "100 percent certified sanctified and mystified sage...."

Robert Paul Howard

[Vinny]

What a great site!! We live in a very old stone farm house and every year we battle to the death with the YJs. This year is different. I have not been stung yet, where in past years by the time it is summer I have been attacked over and over again. The little bastards hideout was found and they were annihilated. Sprayed with some form of foam to cover the entrance, then wait til' dark and dump a few gallons of boiling soapy water into their den. That usually did the trick, although I always received a few nice parting gifts from the little bastards while seeking out the nest. This year, no stings and it is freakin' August. So, lying at the bottom of the bed one day, near the air conditioner. I hear some tapping in the wood. Hmmm....what the hell could that be......Bzzzzzzzz BZZZZZZZ.....you guessed it, little bastards are in the window sill. I guess, back in the day, somebody had a grand idea to run cable through the wood. Yeah, high five to them. So, I climbed up onto the roof and observed. The little bastards where returning home like clockwork, 4-5-6 at a time, like a well programmed army. I managed to cover the entrance with a foam and did manage to kill a few. The noise in the wall seemed to stop for a day or so. But, over that day or so, it was raining yellow jackets in my kitchen. No shit...they were dive bombing the entire family, but they were pretty drugged up and made for an EASY KILL. Feeling pretty good about the situation, I took a sigh of relief and figured I had killed the bastards. No friggin way. They are louder now than ever and I am pretty sure they will invade the bedroom shortly. The wife would not take a nap in the room yesterday ( she works 3rd shift ) and was afraid they were going to come through. You could hear them over the air conditioner. I asked the wifey to bring home some parting gifts for the yellow jackets. Needless to say, I have to make a visit to the hardware store. I am going to try BORIC ACID, a friend said it won't kill them immediately, but will kill them with time. He said to just cover the entrance and to let the buggers come to and fro. I will try to find some Sevin 5 powder. I would love to torch them, but the landlord might have just a tiny problem with that. So, today is recon day. Friday night, the battle is on. THIS WEBSITE HAS BEEN A GREAT HELP. It also lets me know that I am not the only lunatic out there. PS... one other problem I have is that I have two pear trees near the entrance to the home. Come mid-august, the fruit falls and the little bastards get drunk on funky pear juice. It seems to never end with these little bastards.

[Vinny]

I couldn't wait until nightfall to lay a massive assault on the bastards. I went to the store, picked up some sevin 5. I started by drilling 3 holes in the wood that surround the window. I immediately patched the hole with duct tape. Now, the next trick was to get the AC unit into the house without getting stung. Managed that, but barely. I waffled a few of them once they got inside the window. Window shut and time to rock. I peel back the tape, the little bastards were coming out stinger first. Hmmm. I push the little buggers back into the hole via the brand new ROSE DUSTER I purchased. Hole 1, loaded with Sevin 5. Hole 2 needed to be widened to completely fit the tube into the hole. YEAH, NOT A GOD IDEA. Managed to yell and scream like a little girl. The wife thought it was funny. Two bastards made it into the bedroom. I patch the hole and start whacking. One of them got me....again and again on the left ankle. SOB, I hopped to the door, yelling: I'm wounded, I'm wounded. The wife was almost on the floor with tears streaming down her face. She thought it was hysterical, as did I. I patched the entire window with duct tape. They are still falling in every now and then. We are vacating the room for the night. Tonight I plan on sneaking onto the roof and covering the entrance with Sevin 5. Hopefully, within a day or so this ordeal will be over. I hate Yellow Jackets. Man do they get pissy when you drill into their nest!!!!!
Yellow Jacket Warfare sucks

[Vinny]

YJ's in window frame / sill are dead....I just found another nest right near the house.....finding the opening to their hell was simple.....all grass and a huge rock....there is one small 3 inch by 2 inch area where there is no grass or obstructions.....I will flip the rock out the way and game on........another round of Yellow Jacket warfare coming up.............I really hate these bastards........gonna buy some of those fancy bags so that I can watch them writhe in pain as they succomb to death............

[Aimee]

Hello all, what a great site. Several days ago we discovered a huge nest with a 2 ft opening at the end of the horse barn, not to mention several very stung horses. I have never seen a nest like this in my life!! My husband - a seasoned killer via gas ignition/asphyxiation, shotgun/handgun, Seven, horse manure in the hole etc., is at a loss, none of these methods have worked. THESE GUYS ARE NUCLEAR. You walk within 10 ft of the nest and they all start swarming and you can't get close enough to get them. Soooo, tonite we are going to try the "drive by method" We are going to throw a seven in a baggie bomb, then spray the hole via a tiny crack in the F-350 window and then repeatedly drive the big truck back and forth over it so as to fill it in with the surrounding dirt. Hopefully will work b/c they won't let us into the hay for feeding. I'll update tomorrow how the carnage went.

[tedda]

wow, what a site, I had so many laughs here!

I too have discovered a nest that I thought I had killed off with the old Wasp and hornet killer can. Wrong.

Thought I would plug the hole with a rock, I did and then hightailed it (amazing what you can do when you need to) back to my SUV. All that did was bring instant flying YJ everywhere! Ugh, where did they come from so instantaneously??? All I know is they are going to go away, very far away from that hole..... Plan to go buy more Cans and try the evening trick.

I have three nest in my front yard alone. They are not large but they regularly sting me cutting the grass. I have tired the Can o' Insect spray and it does nothing but kill a few workers. I tried the clear jar and got a home insect zoo to watch for a couple of days but this also was unsuccessful as they dug around the trap. Tonight the gas can will get put to use ! The red light is a good suggestion as the white lite sets them off.