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Best way to kill yellowjackets (nest in ground)?


wiegie
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So, while cutting the grass for the first time at my new house yesterday, I discovered that there is a really large nest of yellowjackets living in the ground on the side of my house. (Thankfully I only got stung once, although so did my 2 year-old who was outside later on... at least we now know that he isn't allergic to yellowjacket stings.)

 

I know the nest is large because when I was standing about a yard away from the small hole that the yellowjackets were flying out of, all of a sudden the ground beneath one of my feet began to sink and sure enough I opened up another hole that more yellowjackets started flying out of.

 

I went to the store last night and got two cans of wasp and hornet killer and emptied them into the holes, but it didn't seem to have any effect. Then this morning I stuck a hose it into one of the holes and flooded it so much that water was bubbling out of both holes. This evening I might go back to the holes and squirt a lot of dish-detergent into them and then flood the holes again (I read on the internets that some insect professor had recommended this method).

 

Anybody got any good ideas on how to kill off the nest?

 

(In my younger days I would have approached the problem with gasoline, an aerosol can, and a match.)

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It's not cheap but it's fun. Fire extinquisher. Or hairspray and lighter. Your 2 year old will think you are AWESOME when he looks out the window and you're doing the flamethrower bit.

:wacko: And wiegie will have a fire truck parked on the street waiting for him.

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Depending on how close to the house it is you can buy a gallon of gas and pour it down the hole. Throw a match on it if you feel so inclinded. Dealt with many in my lifetime this way but only lit them in my younger days. Drenching with gas is plenty good enough. You'll need to probably re-sod the area next spring.

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I had a similar problem a couple years ago, the can of spray took care of them for a little while (or so it seemed), but before long they were back strong. I put out some traps and that really decimated them. to finish them off I used the shovel, filling everything in with dirt and really packing it down.

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Park your car next to the nest and they'll leave so they don't have to be seen next to it. shrug:

Alas, the '94 Tercel did not come with us to the new house. We gave it away to a family we know that is really down on their luck (so much so that even getting a 14 year-old tercel was a cause of some happiness).

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Congratulations on the new home!

 

A friend of mine inadvertently stuck a shovel into a yellowjacket next last weekend. Half a dozen stings later, her leg was so swollen she couldn't wear shoes for nearly a week.

 

They tried boiling water but that didn't do too much. I think their next plan involves some sort of insect poison and a bucket over top of the exit so there's nowhere for them to go. Apparently, part of the problem is that the bees dig downward initially, but the the nest curves back upward, so many liquid involved solutions don't do the trick. I'll suggest the gasoline to them though....

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I deal with this every year or so in my yard. I now walk the yard every spring looking for nests before I mow for the first time. Gasoline definately works(you don't light it) so long as you can live with the environmental guilt of pouring a significant amount of gasoline directly into the ground. Wait until dusk, as the yellow jackets are less active and presumably, back for the night. All in the hole will die. Those outside the hole won't try going back in.

Edited by billay
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I went to the store last night and got two cans of wasp and hornet killer and emptied them into the holes, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

Buy the good stuff that kills black widow spiders, scorpions, etc. Wait until dark and spray an entire can into each hole. That will work. If you can't find the good stuff, call Ehrlich or whatever local exterminator you have.

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Went to the store and bought a few more cans of wasp and hornet spray (including some stuff from Ortho that foams up). A little after sunset I went out and sprayed both holes with a can of the Ortho stuff. Then I dumped a bunch of topsoil to cover the hole I created by mistake last night. There were still some yellow-jackets flying around, so I shot them down with a different can of spray. Then I went back inside for a while. When I went back out later it was pretty dark and I didn't see any yellow jackets flying around. I unloaded a hole can of the foaming Ortho spray into the original hole (which is what the spray's directions said to do). Then I dumped dirt onto that hole as well. I stomped down the dirt over both holes. Then I hung up one of the yellow-jacket traps that Az was talking about 20 feet from the nest.

 

We'll see tomorrow if I had any success.

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Just keep running over it with the mower, eventually they will all be chopped up and nicely bagged for disposal. Don't let their swarming and stinging scare you, they are actually quite fragile creatures and will eventually be chopped up by the mower blade.

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Alas, the '94 Tercel did not come with us to the new house. We gave it away to a family we know that is really down on their luck (so much so that even getting a 14 year-old tercel was a cause of some happiness).

 

Well, that's great!! Did you replace it with the Chevy or the Ford???? :lmao:

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I have this problem every now and again. Last year I had a huge nest underground. I used THIS.

 

I bought the concentrate and mixed up about 5 gallons. I waited until dusk and poured it all over the place. Killed them all.

 

BTW, with hornets I have not had good luck with the powder.

 

Good luck.

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