The easiest and most environmentally safe way to destroy a yellow jacket nest is to use soap. A solution of liquid laundry or dish soap and water is an effective and chemical free way to destroy a nest. Simply pour the mixture into the ground where the nest is located.
Treat the nest with pyrethrum aerosols such as Stryker 54 Contact Aerosol or PT 565. Pyrethrum forms a gas that will fill the cavity, killing the yellow jackets on contact. Wait until the aerosol is dry, and then dust in the opening with insecticide dust such as Tempo Dust.
To kill yellow jackets and hornets underground, use Ortho® Bugclear™ Insect Killer For Lawns & Landscapes Concentrate. It can be used in a tank sprayer or with the Ortho® Dial N Spray® Hose End Sprayer to kill on contact and keep stinging insects from coming back to their nest for 6 months.
Yellowjackets look for food close to their nest – usually within 1,000 feet. Yellowjackets often make their nests underground in an abandoned gopher hole but are also known to nest in wood piles, dense vegetation (like Italian cypress and ivy), utility vaults, and other enclosed spaces.
Small Mammals
Like bears, skunks gain a large percentage of their dietary protein from insects and are one of the yellow jacket’s main predators. Depending where you live, moles, shrews and badgers will also consume yellow jackets in their nests.
Yellow Jacket Nests
Most frequently, the nests lie just below the surface, with the entrance concealed beneath a dense bush or by thick grass. Nests in burrows can be as deep as 4 feet deep. Their paper nests, built inside the burrows, are approximately the size of a soccer ball.
Pour the hot, soapy water into the entrances of the nest. The water should be enough to drown and kill the yellow jackets. The soap is a precautionary backup as the soap will hinder their motor skills and render their ability to sting and defend.
The nest may have more than one entrance, but yellow jackets do not create a second escape hatch. The queens establish a nest wherever they find a suitable existing hole; perhaps a root rotted away or a rodent abandoned a nest.
Repellents – Conventional mosquito and tick repellents will not prevent persistent foraging by yellowjackets. While formulations containing DEET may lessen the tendency of wasps to alight on bare skin, long-sleeve shirts and pants are probably a better option when hiking or camping.
Sevin® Insect Killer Concentrate, used with a pump-style sprayer, provides an economical option for treating nests, ground holes and areas yellow jackets frequent.
Act at night: If you absolutely must approach a yellow jacket nest, do so at night. They are most active during the day and return to their nest at night, which means the chances of being stung are reduced when it’s dark.
They may look like bees, but ground nesting yellow jackets are actually members of the hornet family. … Get a large glass bowl and use it to carefully cover the hole first thing on a cool morning, when the cold weather keeps them inside the nest or moving very slowly outside of it.
Yellow jackets and hornets do NOT reuse the same nest the following year. All that is left is harmless paper. Some people like to caulk cracks, close up holes, fill in holes in the yard, or remove old nests from last year. April is a perfect time to do this because there are no nests in milder climates.
Most yellow jackets build their nests underground but a few species build them in trees or buildings. They are scavengers and hunters that target protein for food and are beneficial for eating insects, both dead and alive.
Diet. Yellow jackets are pollinators and may also be considered beneficial because they eat beetle grubs, flies and other harmful pests. However, they are also known scavengers who eat meat, fish and sugary substances, making them a nuisance near trash receptacles and picnics.
A typical yellow jacket nest is anywhere between 500 to 15,000 cells and contains several thousand insects. In the southern parts of the United States, mild winters followed by early springs play a hand in the unchecked growth of certain colonies.
In the process of stinging they mark you with a chemical odor that makes it easy for other wasps to find you. If you run, they will chase you and they are faster than you. Yellow jackets and paper wasps will not chase you very far, unless you have destroyed their nest. Hornets can chase you up to 300 feet (100m).
Controlling Yellow Jackets
Hanging traps in the tree branches and setting them on the fence posts around your yard won’t eliminate the yellow jackets from your yard, but you’ll have fewer to deal with. Wearing protective clothing while mowing in the cool of the evening or morning should keep you safe from stings.
Citronella oil is typically used as a repellent for flying insects and may be effective against yellow jackets. … The aroma of the citronella will disperse when the candle is lit, keeping many flying insects away. Wormwood is the only plant currently thought to repel yellow jackets, according to Ask the Exterminator.
They can quickly turn your outdoor environment into an unpleasant area. Insecticides used to control wasps are readily available from various manufacturers. Sevin dust — which is versatile lawn and garden pesticide — is one of these products that can effectively kill wasps.
Sevin
Sevin (Figure 1) is a familiar insecticide brand name for home gardeners used to control insects in lawns, on ornamental plants, and on vegetables. Sevin and the active ingredient carbaryl are practically synonymous.Aug 29, 2018
Once a nest is useless, the wasps will go dormant, and it is safer to remove the entire nest so that the wasps know not to return to your wasp-intolerant abode.
It can be done without poisonous sprays or other toxic substances: mint oil or Dr. Bonners peppermint soap and boiling water poured down the hole. It needs to be done in the evening, after the air has cooled, and the yellow jackets aren’t active. Be sure to block up the opening so that it doesn’t happen again.
Boiling water is an excellent way to kill yellow jackets, at least under certain circumstances. It is a particularly viable way of destroying an inaccessible underground hive, as it can flow freely down into an entrance and kill the occupants.
Many people will attempt to kill a nest simply by plugging the entry hole from the outside. This almost always results in a home or business full of bees. Yellow jackets never just lie down and die. If their primary entry point is blocked, they will always look for another way out.
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