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Help with ground nest of yellow jackets.

Started by Gere Flewelling, September 29, 2022, 05:49:05 PM

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Gere Flewelling

I have an old cemetary that I mow over once or twice a year with a string trimmer.  For a number of reasons I missed last year.  Finally got after it yesterday.  To steep and rough for push or riding mower.  Had a few small pine and oak trees trying to take over. Evidence of a bear bedding down as well.  Could deal with all the above but came onto a ground nest of those little yellow devils.  They got me a few times before I got away.  I am out for revenge now.  I have heard of putting some gasoline down the hole will tame them down a bit.  Is this true? And what is the next step once that is done.  It is getting cool here in the mornings, but no frost yet.  They were plenty active at 50 degrees yesterday.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated! ???
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

Raider Bill

I use gas at night when they are all home.
Don't light it.
Seems to work.
The First 70 years of childhood is always the hardest.

SawyerTed

+1 on go at night or early morning.  Gasoline kills them no need to set it on fire.  

When you go, do not shine a flashlight on the nest hole.  Don't ask how I found that out.  :D   I have had good luck placing a thin rag over the hole and pouring the gas through it during daylight.  

Foaming wasp and hornet spray works pretty well.  
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btulloh

Gas is my solution. Fill a long neck bottle (12 oz is plenty) and upend it in the hole and leave it until the next morning. Like already mentioned, no need to light it. Just before dark is best (or after dark).  They're all home for the night by then. 

Sounds like you made out fairly well if you only got a few stings. 
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gspren

I've used gas but now mostly use sevin dust, get about a half a cupful and dump it on the hole, takes a few days but you wont kill the grass. 
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Ed

I use a rubber battery water refill bulb...fill it with sevin, shove it down the hole at nite when its cool and squeeze away. 
Had a nest next to a friends deer  blind, we were working on it, didn't notice them.
He spotted them after I left, marked the hole and called me. "I'm allergic!".
No problem, l'll kill tonite.
Went back the next day to check my handi-work, a skunk found the nest, dug it up, ate everything, sevin and all....lol. Guess sevin tastes like sugar to a skunk.

Ed

Ianab

Quote from: Raider Bill on September 29, 2022, 06:08:41 PM
I use gas at night when they are all home.
Don't light it.
Seems to work.
Done that and it worked, you can also throw a tarp or old blanket over the hole once you pour the gas in. Keeps the fumes in better. 
Like you say, quietly watch during the day when they are active and find the nest, then come back under the cover of darkness with some chemical death. You can stand 3ft from a nest as long as you aren't disturbing them, and they will just fly past. 
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Southside

The statue of limitations has long past, but I did light the gas.  Watching them exit the nest like MIG's that had been hit with a Sidewinder was actually quite rewarding after the pain they caused me when I passed over their nest with the riding mower.   :D
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Gere Flewelling

Wow! I guess I am not alone in my vengeance towards those little buggar's.  Thanks for all the advice. I will be paying them a visit this evening to hopefully say good bye and good riddance.  Going back this afternoon to make a positive ID on the hole.
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

YellowHammer

I'm a gas man, I've killed a mess of jellowjackets with it.  Gas is very toxic to them, as well as wasps, is in instant death.  

Gas fumes are heavier than air so will slowly permeate the entire undergroaund nest and kill everything.  So as people are saying, no need to light it, just pour it in and walk away laughing because the nest will be dead tomorrow.  

I like to attack right at dusk.  Most of the yellowjackets will be in the nest and kind of calm  so I can make sure I see where the hole is and sneak up on it.  
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Kodiakmac

I'm just wondering if I should get a permit from the Ministry of Environment before I pour gas into the ground.  ??? :D
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kantuckid

I've used gas and it works but poisons the soil.  Pest control websites sell commercial insecticides that work but I'll save mine for home use.
 We have the Asian Ladybug thing every year as they seek a winter spot. The optimum place is any wall that gets late afternoon sun at thge time of your first impending frost. Right now ours is said to be ~ 10/15 for this fall. I spray outside log walls with insecticide and wife places black plastic on upstairs windows they enter. The 8!@#%^&* can actually get in a vehicle door! Our RV is easy for them too and when we snowbird they will come out for nearly an entire trip. They'll bite you in bed as you roll over and mess bed sheets & covers too. I've had them crawl over my face and wake you up, we hate em. 
Yellow jacket traps are said to work, rubber band a meat scrap under a lid over something full of soapy water-they gorge themselves then drown- the pics make it appear very effective. 
 
I bought two cans of the right foaming stuff on markdown in Walmart and wasted $6 on two consecutive nites-never touched them overall, as far as I can tell. Our hole is huge and it only killed some around the entry, the rest are busy and alive. In a pasture, I just stay clear if I'm lucky enough to see them-hard to do among deep brush on the move. 

I have seen repeatedly in google searches that plain old dish soap is highly effective. I bought a btl of the cheapest Walmart soap-Gain- to try that.  At dark your place half the soap in a 5 gallon water bucket in solution, squirt the other half in the hole then pour the entire 50/50 bucket full into the whole and bingo they all suffocate as the soap coats their bodies.  
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GAB

Quote from: Kodiakmac on September 30, 2022, 06:52:48 AM
I'm just wondering if I should get a permit from the Ministry of Environment before I pour gas into the ground.  ??? :D
Only if you want to fill out a ream of useless paperwork for some bureaucrat to file, and draw attention to yourself.
GAB
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YellowHammer

Hazardous waste reportable quantities in the US for petrochemicals is generally 1 quart or more, so don't use that much it only takes a cup full.

We are not talking about a toxic spill here.  Most people will lose more gas filling up their lawn mower.

Does anyone think spraying a couple cans of 16 oz insecticide laced foaming bee spray on a yellowjacket nest is more environmentally friendly than pouring a couple of ounces of gasoline down their hole?

On the other hand, the environmentally friendly thing to do is leave them alone and not bother them.  Let them be one with the natural world.   :D :D  Nope, not me. They sting me, they die...  

Or go get a tractor with a cab and just dig up the hole.  I've done that several times and it's always fun.  Most yellow jacket nests I've dug up are only about a foot, maybe 18 inches underground.  When I hit the comb, I know I'm at the right spot.  It's always entertaining watching the little buggers bounce off the glass.  I ran one nest over with a plow with the tractor in high gear. flipping the whole nest on top in about a half second.  That was a surprised nest of bugs.  
 

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Crusarius

Turkey baster full of seven. nest will be dead in no more than 3 days. Usually overnight they are dead. It takes very little dust to kill an entire nest.

Tom King

I upend a quart of Acetone after dark.  In the morning, there will be a few stragglers who didn't make it back home last night, but they're flying around close to the entrance a bit confused and disoriented, and are easy to hit with a propane torch. 

dustyhat


JD Guy

Quote from: btulloh on September 29, 2022, 06:29:29 PM
Gas is my solution. Fill a long neck bottle (12 oz is plenty) and upend it in the hole and leave it until the next morning. Like already mentioned, no need to light it. Just before dark is best (or after dark).  They're all home for the night by then.

Sounds like you made out fairly well if you only got a few stings.
This works every time for me 😁😁

WV Sawmiller

   I'm in the Sevin crowd. It is fun to use gas especially if you light it but the Sevin in and around the entrance where the workers have to walk through it and take it inside is probably more effective and safer. Dust the entranceway liberally and they will be gone in a couple of days. 
Howard Green
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gspren

I got started with the Sevin when I had a nest in the block foundation to the house. There was a small maybe 1" piece of mortar missing where they entered and I was afraid if I just mudded it closed they would find a way in to the house. I tried wasp/hornet spray a couple times but the nest must have been off to the side. Someone suggested the sevin and I threw a couple ounces on the hole so they had to walk on it and in about 3 days no more activity. I didn't want gas fumes in the house.
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Gere Flewelling

I finally got around to going back to the cemetery this morning with a small bottle of gas and a rag to seek revenge.  Since I mowed all the grass and weeds around the hole last week a skunk found them and dug them out. 8)  I have never had anything good to say about skunks in the past, but I am certainly grateful to that one little critter for handling the problem for me.  Found one other small hole near the one that was dug out, so I put a little gas in that hole just in case there was a community there.  Thanks again for all the advise and suggestions.  GF
Old 🚒 Fireman and Snow Cat Repairman (retired)
Matthew 6:3-4

beenthere

Also started with Sevin when a large nest of yellow jackets were found in the "attic" space of my shed, that I wanted to add on to with more trusses. Didn't want to climb a ladder to spray the nest which was not visible. Only could see the bee's flying in and out. 

Rigged up a "blow gun" with 10' of 1/2" tubing, a "t" and two short sections. Put the Sevin in one short section of tubing that was capped. Applied air pressure to blow through the tubing and as the air passed the "t" it picked up the Sevin and blew it out the end which was aimed at the nest. Stayed at a good distance from the bees as well as the cloud of Sevin. 

Wiped out the nest which turned out to be huge. 
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Claybraker

I have a Dustin-Mizer. Also works well in the garden. Wasp/Hornet nests. N95 mask, eye protection.

moodnacreek

Well thanks to FF I won't light the gas anymore. Also well not order any New York state approved bee dust even though the bees really like it.

btulloh

Lighting the gas isn't necessary for sure, but I wouldn't rule it out altogether. lol  When circumstances allow a little fire, lighting the gas increases the overall satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. A fitting end to the little buggers!   8)

air_plane
HM126

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