I hate Yellow Jackets!

[Ken45101]

I have a hillside pasture that I've learned not to mow in late summer

It's steep so I have to back down it and rutted so I couldn't hurry the tractor out of there! Tried setting the brake but I was in too much of a hurry and missed a half dozen times (ouch!). Finally got out after a dozen stings. Went back a couple of hours later, leaving that area alone and starting at least a hundred feet away. Got hit again a dozen times!

I've never been able to find the hole, the weeds and grass are too high.

Hopefully this winter I will clear the area with the skid steer and then be able to mow it earlier in the year and maybe find where those varmints are!

I like the enclosed cab approach. Unfortunately, I don't have one

BTW it's also exciting when you are horseback riding and stir up a nest and the horse starts bucking!

Ken

 

[CowwFace]

To eradicate a YJ nest; after the sun goes down, place some liver right near the hive entrance. If you have a skunk nearby, it will smell the liver, and discover the nest at the same time. If you don't have a skunk nearby, the aroma of the liver will soon bring one.

Once the skunk discovers the nest, he will gladly tear it apart to eat the contents. This always works for me.

Where else but TBN could one gleen such great advice... I'm almost wishing for a nest just to try this out!!! Have to keep the dog indoors for a few days though..

Carry on,
Phill

 

[CowwFace]

Okay. That for real?

How would you like to discover this nest in your car?

I say throw a slab of liver in there and watch the show!!


hehe,
Phill

 

[AchingBack]

I like the "natural" method proposed by AchingBack, but for expediencie's sake (and not wanting skunks around the house), I use a reasonable amount of gasoline. After dark (when everybody's "home") & don't light it. Stuff a rock in the hole when you're done. I've never had a nest come back after that.

Best,

Tom

Gee, I don't even know if we have any skunks in the neighborhood...

Tom, I'll tell you why I don't like using gasoline - it is very dangerous. I was building a fence for a lady in town. Right where I had to locate a post, was an active, in ground YJ nest. As soon as I saw it, I stopped work, and returned with gas, poured some into the hole, surrounded by green ivy, and left for the day.

The following morning found the hive still active. I poured in more gas, waited a few minutes, stood back about six feet, and tossed a piece of lighted paper toward the hole. I fully expected a quick whoosh, followed by quick ignition. Not so, underneath the lush green ivy was a few years of shed leaves, and boy did they burn. I caught a utility pole on fire because it was covered with ivy. The flames could be seen for a couple of blocks. A worker at the donut shop called in the fire, which by then I had under control with a garden hose. Still, I had to explain to the fire crew just what happened.

Now days, my weapon of choice is good ole starting fluid. Go out after dark with a flashlight, and see if there isn't a guard YJ by the hole. You might see a couple. Immediately, knock 'em down with the spray. Continue spraying into the hole for at least ten seconds. Put a rock over the hole, problem solved. Night night little ones.

 

[AchingBack]

Where else but TBN could one gleen such great advice... I'm almost wishing for a nest just to try this out!!! Have to keep the dog indoors for a few days though..

Carry on,
Phill

I've had skunks find these nests by their sense of smell, no liver involved. One day I was walking through one of my fields, and saw the remains of a torn up hive I had not baited. Years ago, I read an account of how the skunk operates: Once the skunk discovers the hive, it sits right next to the entrance, wagging its tail, using it to taunt, and collect the little striped delicacies. If he can't eat them all, no problem; there are more members of the family nearby, awaiting their turn at the table.

 

[slaveToHorses]

We are clearing a new pasture. My neighbor was disking for me when he ran over a nest. Quite the cloud. He didn't notice until he had turned around. The disks sit pretty far back from the tractor.

That night I went out after dark and poured a mixture of 4oz/gal of Cypro WD and water with a little dish soap. Never saw a single one come out. That stuff works really well. It is a powder and you can use it to kill insects that are using a remote entrance by just dusting the entrance. I finally got myself a bee suit because we get nests every year and my wife is allergic. I let the pros do the ones that are high off the ground though. I don't want to get swarmed on a ladder!!

When I checked the next day I saw that a skunk had been by and opened up the nest. I wish it had come by before then. I am sure that didn't do the skunk any good.

 

[Tractorbeam]

I say throw a slab of liver in there and watch the show!!

Ha! It just might work. Apparently they like meat...

 

[buckeyefarmer]

I found a nest the other day while mowing, one got me. Also had them build a nest behind the side mirror of my pickup.

 

[pitt_md]

Don't Try This At Home!!

When I lived back in upstate NY many years ago my front yard has 6' bank down to the road. The YJ's Had a mighty big nest and I had two small kids at the time. After they and their friends had been stung several times i decided i would take out the nest. I tried a garden hose, poking sticks (yes really),
hornet spray, and everything else i could think of. I guess the nest was back in the ground far enough that none of previous tactics were effective. Along comes my good friend Billy who was known for his ability to aquire illegal fireworks. Billy just happen to have a 1/4 stick of dynamite and it seemed like a good idea at the time to light it and jam it down the hole. Well the ground shook and the neighbors all came boiling out of their houses The police came , dirt was all over the road in big chunks, and the bank of what used to be my front yard had a 2 -3 foot deep indentation that exposed the natural gas pipe. After going to court and paying a hefty fine where the judge called me "extreamly stupid" they let me go back home to my wife to try and explain that I was not really trying to blow up the neighborhood. The good news is that I vaporized everylast YJ in the area.

 

[petegoud]

Here's a trick that works very well. Place a bucket of water with some liquid detergent in it as close to the nest has you can get it. With a wire, suspend some meat about 1" above the water. When the yellow jackets land on the meat and take some off, they always fly down a couple of inches before flying off. That way when they hit the water (no surface tension because of the soap) they drown. You'll be surprised how many you get. This method might not be as fun as pouring gasoline into the pile, or blowing it up, but it is a little safer, and it does give you the satisfaction of being able to see exactly how many you've killed. The local enviromentalists also won't be after you.

 

[RWEST]

Some of those stories are hilarious!!!

Those things just always seem to be in a bad mood.. Dunno why.. We use the "wait till dark then sneak up on the nest and blast 'em with every bug killer known to man" method. Seems to work pretty well.

 

[TomOfTarsus]

Don't Try This At Home!!

When I lived back in upstate NY many years ago my front yard has 6' bank down to the road. The YJ's Had a mighty big nest and I had two small kids at the time. After they and their friends had been stung several times i decided i would take out the nest. I tried a garden hose, poking sticks (yes really),
hornet spray, and everything else i could think of. I guess the nest was back in the ground far enough that none of previous tactics were effective. Along comes my good friend Billy who was known for his ability to aquire illegal fireworks. Billy just happen to have a 1/4 stick of dynamite and it seemed like a good idea at the time to light it and jam it down the hole. Well the ground shook and the neighbors all came boiling out of their houses The police came , dirt was all over the road in big chunks, and the bank of what used to be my front yard had a 2 -3 foot deep indentation that exposed the natural gas pipe. After going to court and paying a hefty fine where the judge called me "extreamly stupid" they let me go back home to my wife to try and explain that I was not really trying to blow up the neighborhood. The good news is that I vaporized everylast YJ in the area.

Wins the thread!!

& yes, don't try that at home!

 

[George2615]

Finally got rid of my yellow jacket nest. After waiting a few days from my previous post a friend of mine came over one night about 9PM. We walked over to check and found they were in the hole with a few by the top guarding the nest. I mixed up a mixture of gas and diesel (about 1.5 gallons of each). My friend was the brave one and donned several layers of clothes, a net over his hat to protect his face, gloves, duct taped pant legs, arms, and neck area. As I held the spot light (at a safe distance) he doused the hole with about 2 gallons of the mixture and covered the hole with a board and put a weight on to hold it in place. The remainder was poured on the surrounding ground. The next day the area was doused again and set on fire. Today, (3 days later) the ground was still smoldering. We noticed that an area of about 3' in diameter had sunk into the ground so we assume the nest was about that size. We dug a little with a shovel and found some remains (nest and YJ's). Strange thing was there were still a few YJ's that must have been away from the nest when it was doused because they were flying around the area looking for the hole.

 

[woodchuckie]

I don't know if all nest have it but one I burned one time had another entrance/exit and stung my grandson while we were standing around watching the fire. It was about 10 feet from the other hole.

 

[radioman]

Finally got rid of my yellow jacket nest. After waiting a few days from my previous post a friend of mine came over one night about 9PM. We walked over to check and found they were in the hole with a few by the top guarding the nest. I mixed up a mixture of gas and diesel (about 1.5 gallons of each). My friend was the brave one and donned several layers of clothes, a net over his hat to protect his face, gloves, duct taped pant legs, arms, and neck area. As I held the spot light (at a safe distance) he doused the hole with about 2 gallons of the mixture and covered the hole with a board and put a weight on to hold it in place. The remainder was poured on the surrounding ground. The next day the area was doused again and set on fire. Today, (3 days later) the ground was still smoldering. We noticed that an area of about 3' in diameter had sunk into the ground so we assume the nest was about that size. We dug a little with a shovel and found some remains (nest and YJ's). Strange thing was there were still a few YJ's that must have been away from the nest when it was doused because they were flying around the area looking for the hole.

Sounds like what my father would do.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Back in my younger days I just blasted the nest with my ole Winchester 12 gauge if it was in a good enough spot to shoot...

 

[skent]

We've been fighting a nest for 3 weeks now, they got between the siding and the house right beside the dryer vent, so we couldn't use the gasoline method. We counted over a hundred going in and out in less than a minute. I tried the 25' spray - didn't hurt them at all. Tried using a room fogger attached to a long pole (vent was 10' off the ground), held it up to their entrance hole in the evening - didn't hurt them a bit. Then I got the idea of using a shop vac. We duct-taped the wand and a few hoses together with a long pole and proped it againt the vent, so anyone going out or in got sucked into the shop vac. Worked like a charm - First day after 3 hours, we has 3" of yelow jackets in the bottom of the shop vac. Waited until the next weekend, checked for activity, now we only had 40 or so going in and out in a minute. Did the shop vac thing again this past sunday, much less trapped in the vac, but now I believe the nest is dormant as I have yet to see any activity. I found leaving them trapped in the shop vac, they were dead in less than a week.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I did that shop vac trick once on a vent in my house. After 20 minutes of sucking up bee's I was getting tired of that routine standing on a ladder. Now I had a shop vac full of ticked off bee's. I didn't want to turn it off too long because they could fly out of the hose with it turned off. I sprayed a can of carb cleaner down the hose. That stopped them. I had about 3 inches of bee's in the bottom. The nest I left until the first freeze. Then I went up into that crawl space. The nest was about 36" tall by 24" wide and 24" thick.

 

[Ken45101]

I would be careful as to what you spray into a shop vac. Some of it could be flammable or could destroy the motor in the shop vac. Of course a good explosion and fire probably would terminate the bees.....you just don't want to join them

 

[Treemonkey1000]

Yep thanks for the advice. I knew enough not to have the motor on spraying that stuff in there. I served as a fireman for awhile and learned a bit of wisdom from that life. Plastic bodied shop vac helped. Dumped out the dead bee's and let the vac air out. I was sure surprised by how many bee's I sucked up and they were still coming...