I discovered a nest of jellowjackets in my flower garden and decided to get rid of it using a technique I had read about but never tried before.

After dark, I went to the nest hole by flashlight and placed a glass bowl (acually the glass top of a cheese board) over the hole. Then I placed dirt around the sides of the bowl to seal it.

I was surpised that there were yelllow jackets at the entrance of the hole even at night. Perpahs they were sentries.

After about 7 days, all of the worker jellowjackets were dead. Only four were left that looked a bit different from the dead fellows. Perhaps they were queens. They lived for another 8 days and then died.

-- walt (fairleafarm@hotmail.com), September 28, 2000

Answers

Never tried that! Personally, I've used the "park the lawnmower over the entrance" and "pour the gas down the whole" methods.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), September 28, 2000.

I also use the gas down the hole followed by placing a brick on the entry method. Seems to work fine. Last year we had what the local ag agent called "German Wasps". Basically they looked like yellowjackets on steriods. Would congregate around my outside porch light. Fairly easy to kill with the swatter in the morning when they hadn't warmed up yet.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 28, 2000.

Our problem is that we KNOW the nest is somewhere--the buggers stung Hubby numerous times when he tried to mow there--but we don't know exactly where. These guys are MEAN!!! And right there is our persimmon tree, just starting to get ripe, and I'm afraid for me or mine to feech out the fruit.....

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), September 28, 2000.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!! I absolutely detest yellow jackets. So far, have not seen any at all here on the new homestead in Alabama, but I will tuck this nugget of advice away for when I DO..God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), September 28, 2000.

What an interesting idea. I have also seen a method wherein the idea was to attract a skunk to the site by leaving out food for it (how you got a skunk and not a coyote, raccoon, or stray cat I don't know) and that the skunk, attracted by the food would then finish off the nest of yellowjackets. Apparently they think that they're a treat.

-- Julie Froelich (firefly1@nnex.net), September 28, 2000.

Based on the posts above, I know this won't be popular, but I prefer to maintain a truce with the yellow jackets. I have been "attacked" by them twice -- both times, I "attacked" their nest first. Accidentally, because I didn't know they were there. The first time, they were in a compost pile, and I squashed it down with a digging fork. The second time, they were in a hole in the ground and I ran the lawn mower over it. That year, I avoided annoying them by not mowing that area until late in the fall.

It does seem that they get more aggressive around a sugary food source. Sometimes avoiding them is not possible, though I have had success driving away individuals who were after something sweet by acting like a predator. That is, I swat at them, in the air, with my flyswatter. I theorize that the "SWOOSH" of air seems like a predator attack, and they usually go away.

Then too, I have lots of gone-feral flowering oregano far away from where I usually am, and it seems to keep them happy. Also lots of other wasps and bees. I have never seen so many different kinds in one place as on the oregano. Perhaps it's because there isn't much flowering at that time of year.

I did a search on yellow jackets, because I thought there must be some reason for their existence. This is part of what I found:

YELLOW JACKETS

Yellow jackets (Vespula species, Vespa species and Dolichovespula species) are considered beneficial around home gardens and commercially grown fruits and vegetables at certain times of the year because they feed abundantly on insect pests such as caterpillars and harmful flies. Unfortunately, in late summer and early fall when their populations peak, the yellow jackets normal insect diet disappears and their feeding habits become a problem to man. At this time of year, the yellow jacket has an appetite for much the same food and drink as those consumed by man. Also, yellow jacket stings can result in a life-threatening situation, especially if the person is allergic to yellow jacket venom.

IDENTIFICATION

The yellow jacket worker is about = inch long and has alternating yellow and black bands on the abdomen. Foraging yellow jackets are often mistaken for honey bees by the untrained eye because of their similar appearance and the fact that they are sometimes attracted to the same food source. Honey bees are slightly larger than yellow jackets and are covered with hair or setae which are absent on yellow jackets. Foraging honey bees can be identified by the pollen baskets on the rear legs that are often loaded with a ball of yellow or green pollen. The yellow jacket has a smooth stinger that can be used to sting multiple times, whereas the honey bee has a barbed stinger than can be used to sting only once.

LIFE CYCLE

Yellow jackets are social insects that have a colony division of labor between undeveloped female workers, males and fully developed female queens. Newly mated queens are the only members of the colony that overwinter (survive the winter). In South Carolina, the yellow jacket colonys life begins in April or May when the overwintered queen emerges and begins the establishment of a nest which is normally located in a soil cavity such as an abandoned mouse nest or hollow tree. Other possible nest sites are in buildings, including attics, porches, eaves or sheds.

The queen builds a small paper nest and lays several eggs which hatch and mature to adult workers. This first generation of infertile workers undertakes all tasks of nest expansion including foraging for food, defending the colony entrance and feeding the queen and larvae (immature forms). The colony rapidly increases in size and the number of adult yellow jackets may reach several hundred by August.

Nests are constructed of several layers of comb made of tiny bits of wood fiber chewed into paper-like pulp. During this peak population period, the colony produces reproductive cells that mature and provide future queens and reproductive males that eventually leave the nest for mating flights. Mated queens fall to the ground and seek out a protected overwintering place such as a brush pile, a hollow tree or a building. Males that have successfully mated quickly die.

The parent colony begins to dwindle rapidly in fall and the foundress queen and all workers die with the onset of cold temperatures. A new colony cycle begins the next spring. During the fall of the year when colonies begin to die, skunks and bears dig into the underground nests and feed on the immature yellow jackets. Above-ground nests will persist in dry areas, but they are rarely used again the next spring. A huge southern yellow jacket colony was discovered in Charleston County in August 1991, containing an estimated 250,000 yellow jackets. The nest was thought to have been re-inhabited for more than one year.

FOOD

The diet of adult yellow jackets consists mainly of food rich in sugars and carbohydrates, such as plant nectar and fruit. Also, foraging adults search for meat that is high in protein, such as insects and fish, which they chew and condition in preparation for larval consumption. The larvae in return secrete a sugary substance that is consumed by the adults. This exchange of food between the adults and larvae is known as trophallaxis.

In late summer and fall, the normal food materials are in short supply, so the yellow jackets scavenge for alternate food sources which many times leads to major conflicts with human activities. Late- season foods include carbonated beverages, juices, candy, ham, bologna, fish, cakes, fruit, vegetables and ice cream. Large numbers of these pesky insects can totally disrupt a picnic and are often a nuisance around homes and outside restaurants.

Yellow jackets are known for their presence around beehives in fall and will enter and rob honey if given the opportunity. They can become a major stress around weak honey bee colonies that cannot protect their food stores.

TRAPPING YELLOW JACKETS

There are several inexpensive non-toxic bait traps available for yellow jacket control, including the Wasp Trap, the Oak Stump Farm "Yellow Jacket" Wasp Trap and the Yellow Jacket Inn. Visit your nearby garden center or check out a gardening mail order catalog to investigate the availability of these traps.

Traps should be placed around the perimeter of human recreational areas well in advance of outdoor activities. Traps may be placed along side dumpsters or restaurant loading docks. Most trap directions call for a reservoir to be filled with an attractant such as sugar water. Exhausted yellow jackets fall into the liquid and drown.

Traps should be serviced daily to remove dead insects because the odor can become very offensive. Wash the trap with soap and water after several days use. Monitor the traps attractiveness to beneficial insects such as honey bees and alter the bait if necessary. Raw bologna has proven to be a very successful yellow jacket bait and it does not attract beneficial insects.

Homemade Traps: A crude yellow jacket trap is made by hanging a raw fish or piece of liver (slightly diced on the exterior) by string about 1 to 2 inches above a container of detergent and water. The detergent will act as a wetting agent and eliminate surface tension which will improve trap efficiency. Foraging yellow jackets are attracted to the raw meat and will often become overloaded with food and fall into the water and drown. This method of yellow jacket control is not as efficient as nest elimination but it may help reduce the population to acceptable levels.

"Bee Lining" for Fish Bait: Bee lining is a method by which a person may locate a yellow jacket nest by observing foragers as they return to their colony with food. A freshly caught small fish should be diced slightly on the exterior with a knife and hung in a tree about 5 to 6 feet off the ground. Foraging yellow jackets will be attracted to the raw fish and will chew off a tiny particle of the meat. By close observation, a person can follow the flight line of the yellow jacket back to her nest. The foraging yellow jacket will normally make a "bee line" straight to the nest which is often no more than 1,000 yards from the food source. Fishermen have been known to use this procedure to discover yellow jacket nests and use the grub as excellent fish bait.

SAFETY MEASURES

Precautions should be taken when working or playing in areas that are likely to be inhabited by yellow jackets. Logging equipment operators often disturb nests in the forest that can make their work very dangerous. A veil, hat and pressurized container of wasp or hornet spray is highly recommended during summer and fall.

If a colony is disturbed, a person should slowly walk away with both hands covering the face to protect the more sensitive body areas. It is best to walk toward dense vegetation or enter a vehicle or building to avoid the stinging insects. Swift movements will only attract more yellow jackets. Persons highly sensitive to yellow jacket venom should always carry a sting treatment kit during outdoor activities.

A yellow jacket does not leave a stinger in its victim, so therefore it can sting multiple times. To reduce swelling following a stinging incident, a person may use several sting remedies. A convenient material to place on the sting site is moistened table salt. Mound the dry salt on the sting entry point and moisten with a few drops of water. Leave the salt on the site for several minutes. This procedure must be applied within three to four minutes following the stinging incident to be effective.

Yellow jackets and other stinging insects often get inside moving vehicles, which may result in a very dangerous situation. The driver should carefully stop the vehicle on the side of the road and all passengers should exit on the front passengers side of the vehicle to avoid traffic. The driver should open all windows and leave the passenger doors open to allow the insects to exit the vehicle. Flying insects normally go immediately to the windows when inside a moving vehicle in an attempt to escape and are rarely in a defensive posture inside a moving vehicle unless provoked by an occupant. Persons should refrain from swatting the insect inside the vehicle.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), September 28, 2000.

Just a quick note: If you make a paste out of activated charcoal and put it on the sting site, keeping it moist with wet paper towel on, it will take out the sting. In my husband's case, he was stung by 5 paper wasps and it felt sore only when he pushed on the site. Before I knew about this, my father-in-law was bitten by three jackets and had a fever that night and was sick for a few days after.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), September 28, 2000.

Ken, those German Wasps are European Hornets, we have them. They are attracted to light at night, that is why they come in our house. We got a large bug zapper(first one) and pulled it high in the tree the nest is in (10 feet off my porch) and it gets them. Since we got the zapper, they havn't come in the house. The zapping makes them mad, and they all start attacking it and it zaps them. There is a tub of water under the zapper to get the ones just stunned. We have go in the house, shut the doors, plug in the zapper first, and then we can turn on some lights inside. Nasty hornets. Found a web site on them. You can trap the queens in March with apple juice traps. In some places there is actually a bounty on these queens. For the yellowjackets, if you know where the hole is, a cup of sevin dust and a wet clump of dirt over the hole will work too. After dark.

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), September 29, 2000.

Another trick that works with all manner of pests -

Empty 2-liter bottle. Cut off top just where the top curves out to the largest diameter. Then turn that part upside down and insert it back into the rest of the bottle. So the top points at the bottom. (Easy to do, hard to describe...)

Anyway, fill the bottle with about 1/2 inch of desired "bait" and place carefully. Critters fly/crawl in but can't leave.

cheap cheap :=)

-- j (jw_hsv@yahoo.com), September 29, 2000.

Cindy:

Actually I was hoping they would come back. When swatted they made excellent fishing bait.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 29, 2000.

I like the pouring gas or kerosene down the hole and lighting them up! Yellow Jackets are very mean insects. Very interesting information about them, but how on earth do the fishermen get the grubs with 100's of mean yellow jackets after them?

-- Michael W. Smith (kirklbb@penn.com), October 01, 2000.

It may sound like smoke and mirrors, but the hint of hanging fish (skinned, so they can get at the meat) over a bucket of water with a drop or 2 of detergent DOES WORK! I hadn't heard of using liver, but the fish will indeed decimate their ranks! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), October 04, 2000.

I have used a method several times to get rid of yellow jackets and other wasps that have nests in the ground, in concrete block foundations, in rockeries, in a wood pile, or other low places.

I bring my shop vacuum out near the nest, and tape the nozzel to a long pole. Then I turn the vacuum on, and using the pole push the nozzel right in front of their nest entrance. The wasps returning to the nest go swoosh up the nozzel. The wasps coming out to see what the heck is going on go swoosh up the nozzel.

Let the vacuum run all day, and by the end of the day you will probably have no wasps left. Then I turn the vac off, cover the nozzel with aluminum foil, and just leave the vac out in the sun for a day or two. All the wasps inside will be dead.

Once all the wasps seem to be gone, I treat their nest with wasp spray to kill the larve.

Not only does this work great, but it is really very satisfying to see those devils go swooshing up the nozzel. Heh heh.

Best wishes, Curt...

-- Curt (curt@teleport.com), August 22, 2001.

Joy, I appreciate your concern for the little shitheads. The yellow jacket is the only creature on earth that I truly hate. I've been stung by them probably at least a thousand times, mostly when I worked in the woods (trying to save THEIR habitat, among other things.

I used to get stung an average of four or five times every other day, during dry, hot summers. They've also attacked my wife and kids, seemingly without provocation. Sorry, but I have no mercy on them.

In fact, I LOVE bald faced hornets, who like to hover over my cat's food dish, waiting for yellow jackets to steal cat food. The hornets would dive bomb the yellow jackets; a big wrestling/stinging match would result, with the two insects eventually flying away together, with the hornet on top. The hornet would generally fly up to a low branch on a nearby willow tree, from which it would hang by one hind leg, using the other legs to pull off the yellow jacket's legs, wings, and finally, the head. Then it would eat the yellow jacket. I would often yell encouragement to the hornet. (This sounds terrible, doesn't it?)

The bald faced hornets pack about five times the whallop that a yellow jacket does, but I've never been attacked simultaneously by an entire nest of hornets, like I often have been by the yellow jerkets.

By the way, the best non toxic treatment I have personally found for the litlle shits is to wait until after dark, when most the hive is at home, then pour boiling water down the hole. As much water as you have the patience to boil (I think I've used about a gallon in the past, but we haven't had any yellow jacket's nests in many years now.

JOJ

-- jumpoff joe (jumpoff@ecoweb.net), August 22, 2001.

I agree with you, JOJ...those yellowjackets are a pain in the a..!! I have watched the bald-faced hornets hover around my pig's feed trough just waiting for a yellowjacket or two to happen along. When they do, it's all over for the yellowjackets!! Yeah! Anyways...I've heard it said that yellowjackets have two or three entrances to their underground burrows and you'd have to block all to truly destroy the nest!??

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), August 22, 2001.