How to kill Yellow Jackets?

[CDsdad]

Richard, they've got a hole or a hive somewhere nearby. If they are yellow jackets it'll most probably be a hole. If they are dirt dobbers you should be able to find their mud nest nearby somewhere. I'm not allergic, so when yelow jackets or wasps sting me, it's on, they all die. Nothing makes me madder than bushhogging and running over a yellow jacket hole. Bleach will get them also.

.....This wasp nest was larger than a soccer ball, about a cubic foot.

That's what hornet's nests look like down here. I've never seen one on a house though. Generally they are in the woods or in a old barn hanging from limbs or rafters. As mentioned above, a shotgun (where feasible) and a can of wasp killer will work wonders.
We have the plenty of the good old generic red wasp around here, and I have knocked down as many as 5 wasp nests around my house after coming in from work. Kids and wife don't deal well with them, they are semi-allergic. I like knocking down nests and then batting the wasps with a broom handle. My wife brags on how good her 12 year-old husband can bat wasps. I'm also tough on bees, dirt dobbers, stray dogs, and the occasional wandering tom cat.

 

[California]

...That's what hornet's nests look like down here. I've never seen one on a house though. Generally they are in the woods or in a old barn hanging from limbs or rafters.

A friend on another site referred me to a description of Western Yellowjacket Wasp and I think that's what I have here. The locals also say 'Paper Wasp' because the nest looks like wrapped paper.

The exterminator did a second rate job. He froze the nest in daytime, then left me a note saying he couldn't take it down because so many wasps showed up from elsewhere to see what was going on. He removed it on his second visit. I think he would have killed a lot more wasps if he had done this after dark when they were all at home.

I've subsequently encountered wasps in a storage shed where I had only seen a few before, and I had some lapping splashed water off my arm while I was filling a water-transport tank to carry on the tractor. I blew them off, and they didn't seem angry.

I expect I will find more nests somewhere. That first one blocked the exit from upstairs if they got angry so it had to go - immediately.

 

[CDsdad]

That's real close to what a hornet's nest looks like. Definitely different critters, though.

 

[CDsdad]

Here's what we've got around here.

 

[Podunkadunk]

Sunspot,
Yep, I hate those mud daubers! They don't sting, I mean they do, but aren't aggressive like yellow jackets, paper wasps or hornets, but they sure do make a mess in my garage. Heck, one even put a mud hut on my pto shaft.

California,
Around here that nest would be the exclusive home of a hornet, but I reckon out in Cali, yellow jackets make nests like that too. Amazing. I'm really afraid of hornets and when I'm out in the boonies around the house and see a nest, which isn't often, I avoid it. I know a cattle farmer who was bushhogging a pasture, he had gotten to the final row, which happened to be the fence row. The fence row had overhanging oaks into the field he was cutting. Anyhow, you can see where this is going. Yep, he bumped a hornet nest with the canopy atop his tractor. 17 stung him before he could get off the tractor and run away. He spent a couple days in the hospital recovering ! They are bad news and pack a painful sting.

My first thought when reading this post is "where's Thingy when you need him"? He did a funny post about yellow jackets once. Still makes me chuckle thinging about it...haha. Gas is the best for yellow jackets in a hole. Hit them at night. They can't see at night and will only leave the hole if absolutely necessary. Grab a flashlight and a gallon of gas, 2 cycle works great, the oil in it gives it some residual killing power . Anyhow, pour it in the hole, then put something atop the hole (a concrete block perhaps) or either kick the dirt over the top of it...seals them in. That's it. Problem solved.

Paper wasps- around here in the "we're all ignorant south" we call them either Guinea wasps or Red wasps. The Guinea's are yellow/brown banded Polistes nest - Polistes arizonensis - BugGuide.Net. The Red wasps are black winged, red bodied and bigger than the Guinea's Paper wasps on nest - Polistes annularis - BugGuide.Net. Both hurt and both seem to go out of their way to sting if you disturb them.



Good luck!
Podunk

 

[NuBota]

Last year I came across 3 different yellow jacket nests - in the course of six weeks. Got stung every time (about 20 total). Luckily I'm not allergic. But learned a few fun facts

There are two types of yellow jackets in Maryland - big ones that sting like wasps (stinger not barbed) and little ones that leave the stinger in you. Can't remember the names.

Nest1 - in flower bed - got stung by one en route that got caught in my shirt. Took the he-man approach, sprayed wasp/hornet killer, raked back mulch, sprayed more, dug up nest and beat the heck out of it with the shovel. How I didn't get stung I have no idea.

Nest 2 - pulled out small stump - - jumped out the truck to undo the chain - bam! - hit like 10 times. Nest fully exposed - stood way back and sprayed the heck outta them

Nest 3 - Mowing 20 degree hill (sideways) on my lil' lawn tractor - right over the nest - again hit about 10 times, almost rolled the tractor. The things actually chased me this time. Found the hole that evening - watching activity like others said - used 10' pvc pipe to point to the entrance - then after dark, flashlight and two cans of raid right into the hole.

I really hope no one saw me - cause I had to look like a spaz when they swarmed me

 

[California]

Here's what we've got around here.

California,
Around here that nest would be the exclusive home of a hornet, but I reckon out in Cali, yellow jackets make nests like that too.

Here's a photo (enlarged from 10x zoom) of mine. I think it's a match to the textbook photo in my earlier post.
View attachment 105461
These guys are gentle. There is a family pear tree down in back of the apple orchard. At harvest the whole thing is sticky with sugar dripping everywhere. Picking pears, I am right up there with a dozen or so yellowjackets flying around. I haven't been stung. (But my wife got stung when she swatted one in her sleeve).

This attraction to sugar is another match to that textbook description.

Thankfully they never attacked anyone on those outdoor stairs, where your ankles passed a couple of feet from the nest.