Yellow Jackets

[RU shooter]

I have used gasoline with great success to get rid of yellow jackets.
About a quart in the early morning will do it. Pour it down the hole. What ever you do, DO NOT LITE THE GASOLINE gasoline is like Kryptonite to any bee.

Now that just takes all the enjoyment out of the whole bee killing experience ! Lol

[BNE]

I have used gasoline with great success to get rid of yellow jackets.
About a quart in the early morning will do it. Pour it down the hole. What ever you do, DO NOT LITE THE GASOLINE gasoline is like Kryptonite to any bee.

Exactly. They drop instantly if they are hit with the liquid.
Lighting the gas just tick them off! I had a yellow jacket nest in the berm we stand on to shoot into a pond and could not see the hole. I tossed gas in the area, but didn’t hit their home. Tried lighting it and was amazed to see them flying through the flames! BUT the liquid, if it is on them kills them instantly.

[cwlongshot]

If close
Enough for electricity, my buddy has interesting way to get them... He buys a cheap small shop vac. They are pretty cheap these days. Cheaper than a exterminator for sure!! He plugs it in and turns it on with the Suction nozzle right at the opening and walks away. Couple Times a day he walks up and sprays bee killer in the sucker. With in a couple days he has them all. Sprays the rest of the can in and either cleans it out or tosses it away.

Well i had another ground nest of Yellow jackets after the ones i had last year no big deal went out last night sprayed
the nest no big deal I just went in my back yard to have a look well still have a few flying around but the hole started off
about the size of a Quarter now it's the size of a basketball what would dig it up

[30calflash]

If close
Enough for electricity, my buddy has interesting way to get them... He buys a cheap small shop vac. They are pretty cheap these days. Cheaper than a exterminator for sure!! He plugs it in and turns it on with the Suction nozzle right at the opening and walks away. Couple Times a day he walks up and sprays bee killer in the sucker. With in a couple days he has them all. Sprays the rest of the can in and either cleans it out or tosses it away.

Lots of exterminators do it this way when there's a nest in a building. Tape the vac hose near the opening and let it run. In or out they get caught.

[Lead pot]

I just read on the Shiloh Forum that Frank Noble in Montana was stung by a yellow jacket while at home alone and was unable to get to his EpiPen and was found dead.

[waksupi]

I just read on the Shiloh Forum that Frank Noble in Montana was stung by a yellow jacket while at home alone and was unable to get to his EpiPen and was found dead.

His wife says the epipen was in his hand, but didn't have time to use it. I suspect he got into a nest. His services are Sept. 6. Frank was a retired Texas Ranger, and head of Homeland Security for the NW sector. He was a hell of a nice guy and a good friend. They lost both their kids some years ago in a traffic accident, so this is really devastating to the family.

[Conditor22]

A friend and I was mowing a lawn and ran into a nest, we wired the lawnmower to the on position then pushed it over the hole. Call me sadistic but----- there's Something satisfying hearing them little varmints get chopped up.

[Lead pot]

His wife says the epipen was in his hand, but didn't have time to use it. I suspect he got into a nest. His services are Sept. 6. Frank was a retired Texas Ranger, and head of Homeland Security for the NW sector. He was a hell of a nice guy and a good friend. They lost both their kids some years ago in a traffic accident, so this is really devastating to the family.

I never met the Man that I know of. I have a short memory for names but when I see someone on line I know we met before but cant place a name.
Yes something like this and loosing young ones is tough on the family.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

Dang it I got one in my front yard too by the amount of them coming and going it' a big one I give up

[Hossfly]

I had some big black bees built a nest in the insulation around the well tank in the shop. Couldn’t get to them so I put one of those blower fans like come out of home central unit, boy is would just suck em in. Some got ground up but most just got slung around for about 1 hr. Figured they should all be dead by then but nooooo as soon as I turned it off out they came madder than well you know a dizzy bee.

[Winger Ed.]

Stinger was still in there and when pulled out was just shy of a quarter of an inch.

Being a suicide run like that, and a single shot--- it had to have been a bee.

Wasps are semi-autos, and can nail ya over & over.

Also they have different types of venom.
Some people react differently from a bee sting than they do from a wasp.

[Three44s]

If you are in an area where it is safe to use a propane weed burner torch works well. Keep the flame at the opening so any yellow jackets etc must fly through the flame to exit. Only do this during the dark hours because during daylight the workers are out in the field and when returning will nail you while you are torching the ones in the nest.

The flame melts their wings and they hit the ground like a rock. The fire is daylight to them and they are drawn to it.

Works on ground bees and above ground nests as well.

Once you start do not stop unless something goes wrong because the unhurt ones if any will be above average mad and out for revenge. If you do have to split .... run like ..... because you are really in for it!

Dress for battle not a “day at the beach.

Do not use this if there is any fire danger besides burning the nest. Do not burn the nest proper just cover the entrance well. If you burn out the side of the nest you will be in more trouble than you can imagine because you can not adequately cover the now wide open exit you have created. It is important to maintain the small opening so that the flow of exiting bees are coming through one door and no more.

This takes practice and some guts but it does work.

You aim right at the opening so there is no getting around the intense heat. The nest will burn incidentally but the time the nest will unload of bees is shorter than the integrity of the sides of the nest failing and allowing stragglers to circumvent your torch flame and come out to attack you.

But bee safe!

Three44s

[Three44s]

For a fire prone area and and in ground nest I like a jug of diesel fuel. I deliver it pre-dawn with the cap off and tip it over to saturate the top of the nest with a stick. Then leave. Don’t lowly gag around there. On any given day there are workers stranded by falling darkness that will return at first light. You have their attention and if you are hanging around, they will probably get yours as well.

The diesel being an oil will linger in the nest material and surrounding soil way past the surging bees survival window. Trust me, if you placed your jug of fuel right it will work, you do not need to hang around.

Three44s

[Shawlerbrook]

Bears will also dig up ground nests.

[Three44s]

For a nest you can not find, give them a treat.

Do this late season only please as the yellow jackets are beneficial early to mid season:

Take a very small amount of Sevin and mix it in some canned cat food. Put it up so pets nor children can access it.

The workers take it to the nest and walla wa!

Other insecticides will kill yellow jackets but most of them stink. Sevin in small doses does not alarm them and they will pack it in along with the cat food.

This can wipe out more than one nest at a time and as I stated before, we need these pesky critters as they are predators to other insects extrodinair. So go easy on using insecticides.

As the season advances their food runs thin and they get cranky. Also with their incredible vision they seek the skin mites on our exposed body surfaces and want to eat them. (These mites live on us and eat our dying skin cells). This is why yellow jackets land on us. The problem is we naturally react and they detect our rising electrical waves (nerve impulses) and being that they have such a sweet dispositions ... well one thing leads to another you know!

Three44s

[Conditor22]

Being a suicide run like that, and a single shot--- it had to have been a bee.

Wasps are semi-autos, and can nail ya over & over.

Also they have different types of venom.
Some people react differently from a bee sting than they do from a wasp.

Wasps get a bad rap!! I've worked around them for years and have never gotten stung.

I've gotten bitten a time or two but never stung.

Hornets and yellow jackets are an entirely different story --- then again. I had a sis-in-law that had a large hornet nest in her back yard, she even built a bench around the tree. They never bothered her and she rarely had any insects or bugs on her property.

[30calflash]

Three44s does bring up that yellow jackets are useful, nothing God put here isn't. They do take out a lot of other insects that are not beneficial to us and more so to them, as food.

A short one, my bosses dad was over 80 yo at the time. Has a large nest on the front of his house under an overhang, becomes an issue. He goes into the garage, starts a fire in the wood stove, grabs his gloves, bee spray, ladder and a garbage bag.

Sets up ladder under the nest at dusk, gloves on, bag in rear pocket. Hoses the nest with the contents of the can, withdraws said bag from pocket and places over the nest up to the house. Tears the nest off the house, closes the bag and calmly walks to the garage, Opens woodstove door and sends it! Closes the door and takes care of a few stings he received.

[shooterg]

In my younger days working convicts for the State, my job one day was driving the dump truck away with storm damaged trees. The convicts laid a tree down(yes, we let 'em use chainsaws !) and when it hit a large nest of hornets did also . I saw 'em pouring out of their crushed home and hit the gas and locked the doors. Several vics were grabbing door handles but they had to just hang on for a couple hundred yards because I WAS NOT opening those doors !
All of 'em could've escaped as the guard and his WInchester 97 was running as fast as he could also. One did require a trip to the hospital, most escaped(ha!) with a sting or 2. I got none !!

[Winger Ed.]

I used to have a old buddy who was a house painter.

He told of painting the outside of a house one time and encountered a big wasp nest.
He'd start at the top with his ladder, and work around and down.
That way, when he got tired, he was working on the ground.

Up in the eves, on a ladder, brushing along,,,,,,,,,,he came up on the nest.
No spray or anything with him, so he painted them real quick.
It didn't kill all of them, but they fell to the ground.
The paint messed up their wings, and the problem was solved.

Later on, the wasps got their revenge.

As he was walking around the house doing the ground level stuff,
he came under where the nest had been, a bunch of them crawled up his legs- then stung him.

[quilbilly]

My hatred of yellow jackets knows no limits. They forced me off of half a giant mule deer once after dozens of bites and stings.
I love the cat food idea with Sevin. I may put some out where I go beach casting for coho salmon for a little while when I go fishing to prevent harming anything else. Last time there they even tried to get into the cooler where the fish were and I got bit twice.