Yellow jackets

[mills]

Cut a big maple the other day. Started cutting the limbs off, and luckily notice a bunch of agitated yellow jackets swarming around the top. These are the big, one inch long, mean suckers. It's been a week now, and they show no sign of moving on. Dad threw a small cup of chainsaw gas around the opening, but they're still there. The tree has at least couple of good saw logs, and two or three ties in it. Any ideas?

[treefarm]

Raid makes a long distance wasp/hornet killer that shoots a stream & is really effective-their dead on contact. If you can get it into the hole so it soaks their nest, that'd probably do it in 5 minutes or less. Given the price they're paying for maple logs, it's worth the cost!

[forestry mick]

their some sort of euro. hornet. I tried all kinds of bee killer stuff but i found brakekleen in the red can works awsome! just soak them in the evening so you have them all inside once you start sprayin dont stop till the can is empty! It will kill everything in the tree!

[mad murdock]

i use a pesticide called TempoSC, mix it in my backpack sprayer. I cannot count the ##'s of wasps and hornets I have sent to oblivion this summer.  It will do the number on ants, termites, even boxelder beetles, which are really hard to kill.  it is not an instant killer, but it does an effective job, and it has staying power.  I get it at the local farm co-op.

[woodtick#2]

choke it up quick and skid it off the nest, or push it with the blade this usually works for me

[Warren]

Just zapped a bunch of yellow jackets up under the siding at the daughters house a couple hours ago.  They make this thick foaming hornet spray now that stays foamed up and blocks the hole.  Works great !  Will shoot 6 to 8 feet easy.  Also more of a "shot gun" pattern if you like shooting down the fliers as well.  Much easier to hit the fliers than the straight stream from the normal long distance wasp/hornet sprays.

Down side is it is $6.50 a can versus $4.50 for the normal stuff.  But,  When I ran out of spray before I ran out of yellow jackets, (one can of each) I went back and picked up another can of the foam to finish the job...

Warren

[clww]

Since I'm allergic, I would do it at night. Go out and get several cans of that long-distance spray for the holes they are using. Once the spray is empty, plug the holes up with steel wool, then pour some petroleum onto that. I'd wait a few days and see what happens. Or, how about a hose run off the exhaust of a vehicle down into these holes?

[bushhog920]

spray them at night when it is cool, they are less active. i did that and you could stand over the hole. they also like movement so stand still and you can watch them die

[Woodchuck53]

Wait till dark when they settle down and creep up with a small beam flash light. Once found I have added a small dia. plastic tube that will cover the push in tube on WD-40 type spray cans. Once your long enough and brave enough I use a full can of starting fluid and use it all. Have a helper maybe focus the light so you can concentrate on the all important aiming. I am highly allergic and this seems to work well  for me.

You just have to be faster than your help.

[Corley5]

I noticed a couple agitated yellow jackets attacking the forwarder cab corners the other day in a spot where my cutter had just been.  Glad they didn't find their way into the cab with me.  When I got out to the landing I asked Bob if he'd noticed them.  He said he'd heard them buzzing real loud when he was gassing up the saw and decided to move to another spot to finish the day but.  We'll have to find them before we stumble into them.  They're disposition is real ugly at this time of the year.

[treefarmer87]

Stepped in a nest thurs cutting a white oak. 1 got my right wrist.  i kept cutting the tree though.

[sandhills]

I second the Brakeleen, it will drop them out of mid-air.

[Decked]

I had the same guy felling for me for 11 years. He was deathly afraid of bees. Every now & then I'd yell "BEES"...just to watch him drop the saw & run like a bat out of hell!

[beenthere]

Now we know where you picked up the name "Decked". ;)

[VT_Forestry]

As mentioned before, they are likely european hornets.  Remember that they are attracted to light at night, so make sure the person holding the light is someone you don't care too much for  :D  Good luck!

[SwampDonkey]

Had one of the suckers around the light bulb in the basement. I know there is no nest down there. But one nest was up in the eve of the house, gone now.

I had honey bees in the flu a couple years ago, that was interesting. Had to smoke them out at night then get to the top of a 40 foot flu to get the honeycomb out.  I couldn't get any chimney sweeps to do it. :D

[quietrangr]

I was walking through thick, eight foot high brush about 20 years ago and walked into a nest with the brim of my hardhat. I could hear the buzzing even with the saw running. Got nailed about a dozen times. Went back to my truck and got the bug killer, went back and sprayed every one of those suckers dead and gone. Filled up their hole with foam and soaked the hive. Only got stung one more time while taking my revenge.