Yellowjacket extermination

MattPark · 07-13-2006, 09:16 PM

I have a BIG problem with yellowjackets around my shop. They are nests everywhere, and anytime I come near one I get swarmed. It's a good thing I'm not allergic to them.

I bought a trap that has some liquid "attractant" in it that doesn't do anything. I hose them down with bee killer or any other can of nasty stuff I see first, but there are so many that there's no way I can get rid of them all.

I need to attract them to something that will kill them. Any suggestions?

Wak · 07-13-2006, 09:20 PM

WD-40 and a lighter?

MattPark · 07-13-2006, 09:21 PM

I wasn't going to post it originally but I've been running around with a can of brake cleaner and a lighter. There's just too many of them, I smoke 10 of them, and 20 more come after me.

Wak · 07-13-2006, 09:27 PM

Yeah, but it is still brings some memories!

D-tangle · 07-13-2006, 09:28 PM

I hang two yellowjacket traps up-one with fish and the other with apple slices in it. Depending on the time of year, the clear liquid hormone smell works great (right now is a little late, I think.) If they go for the fish best, i empty the apple slices and put fish in it also. and visa versa. My shop and house is almost bee-free right now. Good luck.

MattPark · 07-13-2006, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Yeah, but it is still brings some memories!

Like trying to put out small grass fires

Quote:

I hang two yellowjacket traps up-one with fish and the other with apple slices in it. Depending on the time of year, the clear liquid hormone smell works great (right now is a little late, I think.) If they go for the fish best, i empty the apple slices and put fish in it also. and visa versa. My shop and house is almost bee-free right now. Good luck.

I'll try that. Thanks

Chrome Bumper · 07-13-2006, 09:31 PM

I always had luck soaking the nest entrance with bee killer.

When I was a kid a mowed the neighbor's lawn. Had a nest in the middle and got chased, sooo I set the running mower over the hole and let it run until it was out of gas, that thinned them considerably.

Followed up with a cup of gas down the hole and a match after dark.

elklaker · 07-13-2006, 10:16 PM

If they are ground nesters and you know where the entrance is to the nest go out early in the morning with your bee spray and soak the entrance. Very soapy water will kill them also as it inhibits their ability to breath. Bucket of soapy water on the nest works but do it when its cool so they cant move too quick and all the workers are in the nest. If you do use traps place them away from the shop so they aren't attracted to the shop. Tuna fish is a great attractant. If the nests are distant and you can't get to them then you need to find a bug killer that is in a micro-encapsulated formula and mix that with the tuna so they can carry it back to they're nest. It may take a few days but that is a very effective method. Also don't keep water near the shop as they are very attracted to puddles and standing water. If you have trees around the shop that have aphids it will attract them because aphids are one of their favorite foods. Get rid of the aphids and the yellowjackets will diminish. Hope that helps as they are a safety concern.

MattPark · 07-13-2006, 11:16 PM

The problem is, there are hundreds of golf ball size nests in every nook and cranny. I park my truck for a day and they start a nest in the damn wheel well. The nests I do knock/hose down with bee killer or brake cleaner just leave other ones that are out for the day homeless when they return, and that does not seem to make them very happy.

I've got the traps far away from the shop. All there really is for vegetation is some grass and blackberry bushes. There isn't standing water for hundreds of yards.

Sounds like I need some poisoned tuna

elklaker · 07-14-2006, 04:08 AM

Are these nests pancake shaped honeycomb looking things or are they round with a single entry hole near the bottom? And yes it is important to do the extermination thing early in the morning when the workers have not yet left the nest for the day. If you describe the nest it will help with the ID of the bee.

Slugranch · 07-14-2006, 04:42 AM

I bought some traps from a place in Eugene about ten years ago. They are plastic jars with pvc pipe tubes that go thru the jars. They suggest baiting them with fruit juice in the bottom of them and then a chunk of fried chicken or fish stuffed into one of the tubes. They work great and I get my chicken from the local market that sells "window chicken" out of their deli section. These traps fill up in a hurry and outside of the trouble of cleaning them out, they are twice as good as the ones that you bait with the hormone stuff in the cotton. Trouble is, they are faded and I can't read the name of the outfit that made them.

Jonah's Revenge · 07-14-2006, 05:42 AM

Sounds like you're talking about Wasps.
If that is the case, I have never had any luck trapping wasps in yellowjacket traps. Spraying is the only thing that works for me.

One plus side is that wasps are much less aggressive than yellowjackets. I just let them be unless they are nesting in something that I am using.

elklaker · 07-14-2006, 05:50 AM

Yes it does sound like wasps because yellowjackets generally won't nest too close together and they will kill each other if too close. Thats why the nest desciption will help. Jonah's Revenge is right on the money with the aggressive issue and the bait thing. If it is wasps then the baiting will not be very effective either. Spraying or letting them be are really your only options with wasps of that variety.

MattPark · 07-14-2006, 09:00 AM

The nests are small, no bigger than a couple inches around, and there is no "entrance" to the nests, the individual honeycomb is exposed.

I have no bee knowledge, I always thought of wasps as the guys with the dangling legs and tiny abdomen with a big stinger thing out back.

elklaker · 07-14-2006, 09:18 AM

The honeycomb nest is definitely wasps. Just spray the nests early in the morning and it is probably best to spray something like Bayer Rose and Garden spray on them because that will stop them from being able to rebuild their nests if there are any workers out or the queen is hidden from the instant kill stuff. The instant kill only lasts for about 4 hours and then it is designed to degrade. The garden spray takes a couple minutes to kill them and will last up to 10 days before degrading. The pesticides used on todays market can't last much longer than that by law. The active ingedient in the Rose and Garden spray is Cyfluthrin . If your concerned about using sprays you can look it up on the net. If the wasps try to rebuild the nests where you sprayed they will die also.

GSD · 07-14-2006, 09:23 AM

Paper wasp link

Chrome Bumper · 07-14-2006, 11:10 AM

Paper nest or mud nest?, anyway hosem down with wasp spray. Might take a coupla doses. Yellow jackets are usually in a wall or under ground.

Ussually only a problem if they are where you might bump into the nest, but if there are a jillion of them you might get stung. Your county extension agent or local master gardeners can get you more info, but those cans of spray that shoot 20' will get'em easy.

They eat bugs so they do some good.

SteelheadBum2 · 07-14-2006, 11:31 AM

I work on my dad and uncle's car lot, and I just got done doing battle with the wasps. I just took two cans of instant wasp killer, and sprayed the entrance of each nest until the wasp corpses stopped falling out

The WD40 and lighter idea sounds really fun right about now lol

Fish_N_Russ · 07-14-2006, 12:53 PM

Im an OSU master gardener and also have had about 15 years experience working in entomology/agriculture......sounds like they are paper wasps.
I have many of them also, they like water A LOT and swarm around my swimming pool quite a bit.
I have small nests on the outside overhang of roofs on the house and garage........I just take the hose and put the super jet stream attachment on and blow em off the house. Then you can squash em when they are on the ground. Much more enviro friendly also :smile:......plus it should reach much farther than a can of bee spray.

spinnerbob · 07-14-2006, 07:51 PM

Don't forget firecrackers! Firecrackers and paintballs! Much fun! Wear long sleeves, and have a pard'ner with you to help spottem on your backside!