Do you have a Yellow Jacket problem?

[Norcal707]

Well, I've got your solution!

Summertime has returned and with it comes the scourge of Yellow Jackets. For those of us that live in areas infested with the evil Yellow Scourge, here is a very simple method proven to be effective in wiping out any Colonies/Nests within a 1/4-1/2 mile of your home, campsite, etc.

Supplies/Ingredients needed:

Fipronil 9.8% - This is the active ingredient in common topical Dog Flea/Tick medications like TevraPet FirstAct Plus for 44-88lb Dogs (https://www.target.com/p/tevra-pet-firstact-plus-dog-insect-treatment-45-to-88lbs-3-doses/-/A-81531522) which is 9.8% Fipronil in 0.091 fl oz doses. You can also buy Taurus SC for Ant/Termite control in larger 20oz+ lifetime-supply quantities. The bulk stuff is roughly the same percentage of Fipronil as the 44-88lb Dog medication.

Bait/Attractant - You want to use a Bait that YJ's will smell and be readily attracted to and be able to chew off a chunk and fly back to the Nest with. A 12oz container of Canned Chicken or something like a couple of 5-6oz cans of Friskies Whitefish & Tuna cat food will be enough to split into four bait stations.

Bait Stations - You can use something as simple as the cut-off bottom 2-3 inches of a plastic water or soda bottle and a piece of baling wire to hang them from a tree limb, etc.

Directions - Using only one 0.091 fluid ounce dose of Fipronil, mix it thoroughly into your chosen 12oz or so of bait. When preparing your bait source, don't over-process it. YJ's have jaws for biting/cutting chunks of meat off small enough for them to fly back to the nest with. If you over-process/liquefy the bait, it will make it hard for them to carry it off.

Placing the bait stations out early in the morning or late at night will probably work better to avoid getting stung. Try to place/hang bait stations where Cats/Raccoons/Opossums can't get to/eat bait. Don't be tempted to use more than one dose - if the concentration of Fipronil is too strong, it will kill the forager before it gets back to the nest.

Results - Within 24 to 48 hours, you should see a marked reduction in foraging YJ's. If you are in a area that has a large amount of Colonies/Nests, you may have to bait them again from orbit. Once they get bait back to their Nests though, it should be Hasta la vista for the Yellow Scum for a minimum of two months!

I first tested the stuff out on a 4 day camping trip to our local lake. Woke up the first morning to the sound of the YJ's already out searching for food just as the sky was getting light so knew that they were going to be real bad.

Got up, jumped in my truck to escape the Yellow hordes and got busy whipping up a batch of bait and four bait stations. For the bait, I took a fried Chicken Thigh, chopped it up into pretty small pieces with a knife and mixed in one 2.68ml dose of Fipronil.

Divided the bait between the four containers and hung them in different areas around our camp. Almost got stung a couple of times, the YJ's were so aggressive. All four bait stations were busy all day but by late afternoon/evening we were noticing a definite drop in the number of foragers.

The next morning, as dawn broke and I was laying in my tent, I realized I wasn't hearing hardly any sound of foraging YJ's. I would guess we saw at least a 60% reduction in numbers the first 24 hours and by the time we left to go home, I would say it was more like a 90-95% reduction so yes, the stuff definitely works!

From now on, we will never go on another multi-day camping trip without this stuff!

[Polymath]

Thanks, I'm going to try that. I don't like to kill everything, as they do go after aphids and other bugs.
It looks like it's going to be a bad year for them up here too. Starting to see MANY Yellow jackets and Black and White hornets very early in the season.

[Tatume]

In northern Japan where the Japanese beetle is native, they have a number of natural enemies that keep the populations in check. When the beetles were first detected in the United States they had no natural enemies and were able to grow unchecked. One such enemy, the Japanese yellow jacket paper wasp, was deliberately introduced in the U.S. in an effort to control the damage caused by Japanese beetles. At this they are fairly effective. I prefer the wasp to the beetle, and leave them alone.

[jeepyj]

Marked as a referance. Thank you for posting

[MaryB]

I just have paper wasps... they are more annoying than anything. Have to be careful with open cans of pop or beer because they will crawl in and then you get stung as you drink. They do pollinate some, I see them on the clover and in the garden.

[Tatume]

I just have paper wasps... they are more annoying than anything. Have to be careful with open cans of pop or beer because they will crawl in and then you get stung as you drink. They do pollinate some, I see them on the clover and in the garden.

Like the Virginian said when asked why he has a 458 Win Mag rifle: it works, we have no elephants here.

[farmerjim]

One of the LSU entomology professors told me to do a similar thing. He said to use a can of dog food and Sevin. Essentially the same procedure. Food with a slow poison.

[dagger dog]

I've been stung so many times while mowing, running a trimmer that i'm highly allergic to yellow jacket and paper wasp stings, the yellow jackets let off a pheromone that leads others to the threat and they swarm, paper wasps are downright mean and will sting multiple times.

Probably have to get a epi-pen prescription from my doctor, benadryl helps for the pain but does nothing for my shortness of breath.

Will try the poison food this summer for around the house and lawn.

[WheelgunConvert]

If you know where the hole in the ground nest is, a couple tablespoons of orthene dust sprinkled in and around the entrance will knock out the colony in a few hours. I tape a cup to a pole to keep my distance and it has worked every time. Technically you are treating for the cohabitation ants as off label use is frowned upon.

[Adam20]

Fipronil works great for ants also, i use taurse SC to spray around house. I try not to use alot of it kills honey bees

[badguybuster]

Thats not as much fun as pouring a gallon of gasoline down the hole and lighting it :-)

[Norcal707]

Thats not as much fun as pouring a gallon of gasoline down the hole and lighting it :-)

Ditto - As a kid in the 60's/70's, I lived on a small 12-acre Ranch here in Northern California. We would regularly run across large in-ground colonies when cutting firewood/clearing land. My Dad would mark the location with a piece of bright colored rag then would come back well after dark with a quart of gasoline, pour it in, wait five minutes and light them suckers up. Was fun watching the occasional few that made it out fly a couple of feet and go down in flames like a Vietnamese MIG Fighter. He'd pump 25 gallons or so of water from our tractor's sprayer tank into the hole afterwards to make sure a smoldering root didn't spark a wildfire.

Miss you, Dad...

[NyFirefighter357]

Sounds interesting!

[Three44s]

A good jag of diesel works and don’t have to light it.

I have been told that canned cat food, stinky fish flavored is best and a relatively small dose of Sevin blended in is great. If you get carried away with the poison, the “jackets” will shy away because they can smell it.

Sevin is a low odor product contrary to the likes of Diazion or Malathion which are more foul but even the low odor insecticides can be detected and therefore repel your target species if you over load the bait with them.

The tool I like around home and farm buildings is the Yellow Jacket trap that uses their fight pheromone for bait. I use it when the YJ’s get obnoxious as their food supply (other insects) get thinned out. We need to remember that YJ’s that are behaving themselves are doing good work. When their food supply gets thinned out is the best time to lower their numbers.

The trap gets the overall numbers in check without losing the queens for next year if used late season. If you need to whack some queens the trap can do this in the spring.

I qualify my above comments to not apply if you have special issues with YJ’s such as health concerns and understand the need to beat them back more under those circumstances.


Three44s

[PNW_Steve]

I have been stung by YJ's while I was sleeping! Definitely a rude awakening.

I believe that they are the spawn of Satan........

Thank you for the tip. I will be putting out bait stations this weekend.

[dverna]

I do the same with a product called Onslaught. It seems to work reasonably well. It was recommended by someone on the tractor forum I am a member of. The product can also be mixed with water and sprayed on the porch, deck and furniture and is pet/kid safe once it dries.

https://www.domyown.com/onslaught-insecticide-p-376.html?msclkid=ce084d43982214954cee2dfa70be46b5&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Products%20-%20JumpFly&utm_term=onslaught%20insecticide&utm_content=Onslaught

[bakerjw]

I could post my favorite yellow jacket meme but would get a warning.

There are several videos on youtube of people that kill and collect yellow jacket nests. I am keen on keeping their numbers down as well as bald faced hornets as they will mess with honey bees.

[badguybuster]

Carburator cleaner (spray can) kills bees on contact. As soon as the mist hits them, they drop dead

[namsag]

This looks like a great solution, does it affect honeybees? ETA: I know the fipronil will kill them, but are they drawn to the bait? Or do they stick to flowers? Just wondering about collateral damage.

[Norcal707]

This looks like a great solution, does it affect honeybees? ETA: I know the fipronil will kill them, but are they drawn to the bait? Or do they stick to flowers? Just wondering about collateral damage.

Never heard of honeybees eating meat so highly doubt they'd be attracted. A unattended open can of sweet soda, yes.

[yeahbub]

Wow, the bait approach makes great sense. The OP's right, those little nasties will be attracted from a long way off. I used to have to take the grill grease out to the reeking grease tank when I worked in fast food in college and there were clouds of them out there. Chowing down on waste burgers and drink syrup bladders in the dumpsters too.


Carburetor cleaner (spray can) kills bees on contact. As soon as the mist hits them, they drop dead

Amen! In fact, any thin solvent will poison/drown insects very quickly - the thinner and lower the surface tension, the better. One of my favorites is CRC Electro-motive cleaner which is non-flammable. Used it to go cockroach hunting every morning back when my apartment kitchen was infested. When I turned the light on, the place would come alive with them scrambling to get away. Very effective. Starter fluid is good, works fast. A co-worker once gave me a gas can full of last year's methanol dragster fuel - works great! That said, the down side to most of these is fumes/flammability/ventilation and that they may affect painted surfaces or vinyl siding rather badly, so watch out there. I used engine cleaner or something I grabbed off the rack in a light fixture with a huge paper wasp nest in it and it killed all 20 or so in seconds. They didn't even try to fly - just fell straight down and barely moved. Trouble was, the paint turned rubbery for some time. It's still there, but it doesn't look like it used to. . . .

I often wondered what a scoop of dry ice chips or some liquid nitrogen would do if poured into a yellow jacket burrow. No ground contamination with chemicals and the cold gas would displace all the oxygen for the ones which aren't just frozen solid trying to get out. I never had ready access to such exotic materials, but it's an interesting idea.

[GregLaROCHE]

This looks like a great solution, does it affect honeybees? ETA: I know the fipronil will kill them, but are they drawn to the bait? Or do they stick to flowers? Just wondering about collateral damage.

We need to protect honey bees. They are very important for agriculture, that ultimately produces the food we eat.

[dverna]

Bees will not be attracted to baits with meat. If you bait with a sugary component adding vinegar will keep the bees at bay.

[yeahbub]

Quite right about the importance of bees. I saw a video about areas in Japan where there are no bees, and to keep various crops going, they have people going around hand-pollinating the fruit trees and other stuff. Sounds nightmarish to have to shoulder a burden like that.

[Der Gebirgsjager]

The yellow jackets can become a real menace. I had some property over in the Oregon Coast Range for about 18 years and we had a vegetable garden. We'd see a few around but didn't think much of it. One day I was out looking for some veggies and there seemed to be more than usual. I got stung a couple of times, so backed off and observed. I spotted a hole about the size of a tennis ball where they were coming and going from underground. I got a 30 minute highway flare, fired it up, and stuck it in the hole. Lots of smoke coming out of the hole, and pretty soon on the other side of the garden fence I spotted smoke coming out of various little holes and cracks in the ground. After about 20 minutes the grass caught fire over an area about 20'x20'. After it burned out the ground had sunken in about 4-6 inches. There must have been lots of paper nest underground. I was standing by with the garden hose, but the fire didn't spread. There remained a charred, sunken in place there for the rest of the summer.

DG

[Norcal707]

The yellow jackets can become a real menace. I had some property over in the Oregon Coast Range for about 18 years and we had a vegetable garden. We'd see a few around but didn't think much of it. One day I was out looking for some veggies and there seemed to be more than usual. I got stung a couple of times, so backed off and observed. I spotted a hole about the size of a tennis ball where they were coming and going from underground. I got a 30 minute highway flare, fired it up, and stuck it in the hole. Lots of smoke coming out of the hole, and pretty soon on the other side of the garden fence I spotted smoke coming out of various little holes and cracks in the ground. After about 20 minutes the grass caught fire over an area about 20'x20'. After it burned out the ground had sunken in about 4-6 inches. There must have been lots of paper nest underground. I was standing by with the garden hose, but the fire didn't spread. There remained a charred, sunken in place there for the rest of the summer.

DG

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[GregLaROCHE]

I hate yellow jackets. I didn’t realize I was allergic to them until I was 55.

[kelli]

My Grandma used to say, " A hornet's nest isn't interesting until you poke it with a stick."

[hoodat]

Problem with yeller jackets?? Heck no! Around here we grow them by the millions. They are big and healthy. One of the most common wild-life species we've got. jd

[Mr_Sheesh]

Allergic to 'em here too, time to get a new epipen soon.

[farmerjim]

Allergic to 'em here too, time to get a new epipen soon.

Don't get the epipen!

Get epinephrine filled syringes. I get 2 for $5. Epipen $ 250- 500.

[farmbif]

not Yellowjackets but I had a very serious wasp problem until I hired orkin, they come out 3 or 4 times a year and I hardly ever even see any wasps or yellow jackets anymore. I tried all the homemade traps and never got any to work very good.

[358429]

The yellow jackets can become a real menace. I had some property over in the Oregon Coast Range for about 18 years and we had a vegetable garden. We'd see a few around but didn't think much of it. One day I was out looking for some veggies and there seemed to be more than usual. I got stung a couple of times, so backed off and observed. I spotted a hole about the size of a tennis ball where they were coming and going from underground. I got a 30 minute highway flare, fired it up, and stuck it in the hole. Lots of smoke coming out of the hole, and pretty soon on the other side of the garden fence I spotted smoke coming out of various little holes and cracks in the ground. After about 20 minutes the grass caught fire over an area about 20'x20'. After it burned out the ground had sunken in about 4-6 inches. There must have been lots of paper nest underground. I was standing by with the garden hose, but the fire didn't spread. There remained a charred, sunken in place there for the rest of the summer.

DGThe nuclear option!!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[NyFirefighter357]

Good to know

[Mr_Sheesh]

Farmer Jim, good info. On my insurance the epipen is free, but that could change.

[Polymath]

Yep this works. Used Advantix II for the poison. Got to keep the meat moist though, (chunky chicken cat food) 1 teaspoon of bait to a bottle. 3 drops per tablespoon was too much and the bees were dying in the bait bottle before they could take back to the nest.
so 1 drop to 1 tablespoon of chicken stir well. a little dab in a soda bottle with a window cut out, hang in a tree.
:awesome::awesome::awesome:

[bedbugbilly]

Thanks! Copied, pasted and printed one to keep.

I used to fight them every year - they would their nests in mole runs and all of a sudden, when I drove the mower over the mole run opening those nasty little critters would nail me. I tried a variety of things but your solution sounds like a winner! Many here will greatly appreciate you sharing this!

[Conditor22]

Not super effective but strangely satisfying.
Saw a yellowjacket hole while cutting the lawn.
Tied the mower handle so the mower would stay on, pushed it over the hole.
Sat back and listened to the thunks and watched parts fly out the side of the mower.

[James Wisner]

The last underground Yellow jacket nest I burned, was out by the County road, between two of my big apple trees in a old mole run.

Went out just at dark and poured a pint of gas down the hole, waited a few minutes and dropped a match down the hole and got back.
Had a WHUP, and then the blue flame come out the top of the hole, some of the half dead yellow jackets were crawling out of the hole in flames.

The funny part was the neighbor was leaving for work, this was about a half hour after dark, all you could see was the blue flame coming out of the ground about a foot high. He stopped and backed up and sat there watching the flame. I was standing by one of the apple trees and asked him if all was OK, he did not see me there and wanted to know that the blue flame was. I told him, he said burn them all I am Allergic to bees.

JW

[Mr_Sheesh]

Allergic to wasp venom here, thats a good start on killing those :)

Anakit is a good thing to carry, hoping I never need it.

[Geezer in NH]

A good jag of diesel works and don’t have to light it.



Three44s

Tastes great in the wells also. NOT

[358429]

Tastes great in the wells also. NOTHahahahahaha! I killed a bunch of wasps with dawn soapy water from a squirt bottle, I stomp on them with boots when they fall down. I also hate wasps hahahaha! I would want to fill their below ground colonies with molten zinc wheel weights, except thats really dangerous!

Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk

[Three44s]

Tastes great in the wells also. NOT

A partial gallon of diesel (full gallon for a very large nest) in the soil where an underground nest is situated stays in the paper, won’t get in your well.

Three44s

[chuck40219]

I have not had a problem with wasps or yellow jackets in a while. My problem is with horse flies, would the bait and flea poison work for them. I know each time they bite me they must take a pound of flesh. I get a more severe reaction each time I get bit.

chuck40219

[quilbilly]

This has been a strange year in our neck of the woods. Very few yellow jackets, hornets, or bears are around so far. I am waiting in semi-terror for the first Asian murder hornets to show up. We are only 35 air miles from where they have been found near Blaine, Wa. Those giant hornets do have to cross a lot of water to get here, however.

[Butzbach]

Don't get the epipen!

Get epinephrine filled syringes. I get 2 for $5. Epipen $ 250- 500.

Any advice for someone like me who is allergic to epinephrine? Found out they add it to Novocain to make it act faster. I was having panic attacks and a racing heart at the dentist until a woman doctor in Indy explained what was going on. They have Novocain without epinephrine but you have to ask for it. Dentists don’t like to use it as it lengthens your appointment and cuts down their billable hours.

[Butzbach]

I have not had a problem with wasps or yellow jackets in a while. My problem is with horse flies, would the bait and flea poison work for them. I know each time they bite me they must take a pound of flesh. I get a more severe reaction each time I get bit.

chuck40219

There is a horsefly trap you can build with 1/2 of a 55 gallon drum partially filled with water. It’s phenomenal. Ranchers use them. Turns out horseflies are attracted to big dark objects. This rig uses a dark colored drum cut in half if memory serves. There is some kind of one-way baffle on the top and the flies end up drowning. Not sure if they use a pheromone bait or just the visual dark object.

Found it. He’s in your neck of the woods too: https://littlethings.com/home/horsefly-backyard-trap/3148581-1

[Moleman-]

We have a dozen or so large Linden trees that flower in the late summer. When they do the trees will hum with bees/yellowjackets/wasps/bald faced bees ect loud enough for my half deaf ears to hear. Don't mind the honey and bumble bees, but the yellow jackets and bald faced bees usually sting someone every year. So far this year it's been only me. I'm not allergic but my wife is and has to carry an epi pen. The yellow jackets make nests in/on our house every year and it's been a yearly issue to get rid of them. Tried the sprays, pyrethrin, vacuum ect and figured I'd try the Fipronil. I used tuna and "Pet Armor Plus" (9.8% fipronil) that was available at the local grocery store. Over 3 days I noticed no YJ on the tuna and the number of them going in/out the corner of our house seemed the same. I've also had out 3 traps which don't seem to do very well either. I believe it's the rather large amount of flowers blooming on the trees that drowns out any YJ the tuna would normally attract.

So on the evening of day #3 I sprayed around the hole they had chewed in our wood siding where it met a mortar line in the bricks to kill the guard YJ's and squirted a tube of fipronil into the main hole the YJ were using. Day #4 no change that morning. In the afternoon it seemed like there were fewer of them coming and going and after dark a second tube of fipronil was squirted into the hole (no guard yellow jackets that time) . Day #5, so far I haven't seen any coming in or out of that nest. I've watched the nest for a few minutes 4-5 times now. Before it was always over 50 of the little jerks for the same time frame, but now nothing. I believe a better approach will be to soak some felt or yarn with the fipronil and insert that into the hole with a long stick next time so that it doesn't soak into the brick or wood as easily.

Thanks Norcal707

[Norcal707]

We have a dozen or so large Linden trees that flower in the late summer. When they do the trees will hum with bees/yellowjackets/wasps/bald faced bees ect loud enough for my half deaf ears to hear. Don't mind the honey and bumble bees, but the yellow jackets and bald faced bees usually sting someone every year. So far this year it's been only me. I'm not allergic but my wife is and has to carry an epi pen. The yellow jackets make nests in/on our house every year and it's been a yearly issue to get rid of them. Tried the sprays, pyrethrin, vacuum ect and figured I'd try the Fipronil. I used tuna and "Pet Armor Plus" (9.8% fipronil) that was available at the local grocery store. Over 3 days I noticed no YJ on the tuna and the number of them going in/out the corner of our house seemed the same. I've also had out 3 traps which don't seem to do very well either. I believe it's the rather large amount of flowers blooming on the trees that drowns out any YJ the tuna would normally attract.

So on the evening of day #3 I sprayed around the hole they had chewed in our wood siding where it met a mortar line in the bricks to kill the guard YJ's and squirted a tube of fipronil into the main hole the YJ were using. Day #4 no change that morning. In the afternoon it seemed like there were fewer of them coming and going and after dark a second tube of fipronil was squirted into the hole (no guard yellow jackets that time) . Day #5, so far I haven't seen any coming in or out of that nest. I've watched the nest for a few minutes 4-5 times now. Before it was always over 50 of the little jerks for the same time frame, but now nothing. I believe a better approach will be to soak some felt or yarn with the fipronil and insert that into the hole with a long stick next time so that it doesn't soak into the brick or wood as easily.

Thanks Norcal707

Glad the Fipronil is working out for you!

[BrassMagnet]

I really detest using poisons/pesticides/herbicides. I try to avoid them whenever possible. I am not fanatical about it. I will use them when other methods fail. With that said, here is a method I learned as a child:
Suspend a piece of smelly fish over a bucket or pan of water. Add a few drops of dish soap to the water. The yellow jackets/hornets will eat their fill and then they will let go and drop into the water and drown. Canned mackerel works well. Fresh or frozen fish also work. Whole fish can be used, just partially filet them and let the filets hang by the skin.
No poisons. Works slower than poisons. Only kills meat/fish eaters. You can even buy the poison for a backup plan when you buy the mackerel or other fish.

[toot]

Brass Magnet, I think that is the way to go,

[farmbif]

I've gained an aversion to using cides as I watch my cousin going downhill fast with leukemia probably as a result of using stuff on the farm. he's part of that roundup lawsuit if he lives long enough to spend the check the lawyers will send him.

[canyon-ghost]

Here's my solution and how it came about. I'm somewhat allergic to insect stings. I read the Raid can long enough to know they use Permethrin oil. It's made from chrysanthmum oil. It's also used as fly spray for livestock at 1% strength. I buy Martin's 10% from Amazon and dilute it to around 2%. It kills any insect in Texas.

Ron

[bakerjw]

We had a nest at my MILs next door. I bought some of the new foaming spray and waited until dusk. Hosed the hole a few times and the next day...NADA.