Yellowjackets

[mikejapan]

Anybody have a good way to control these things. I hung out some plastic water bottles with sugar water but was wondering if there is a better way to handle them.

 

[Julie]

wait until dusk when they are all in the nest and pour gasoline into the nest.

 

[tfries]

We have been the baiting system I have linked below this year. It seems to be working well. We have tried canned tuna and canned cat food as an attractant. The Friskies Ocean Whitefish puree seems to work the best so far. What is good about this is that the workers carry the bait back to the nest and share it with the other workers. Traps only trap and do nothing to control the nest.

http://www.amazon.com/Alpine-Yellow-Jacket-Station-Onslaught/dp/B003ORVT60/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346299498&sr=8-1&keywords=onslaught+bait

 

[DoctorCAD]

While in the Willamette Valley, we talked to a winery worker that said that yellowjackets had infested their grape fields last year. They had a very dry spell and the yellowjackets were boring into the grapes to suck out the liquid in them. Really makes wine tough to make when the grapes are hollow!

They used an airplane to spray insecticide.

 

[tfries]

While in the Willamette Valley, we talked to a winery worker that said that yellowjackets had infested their grape fields last year. They had a very dry spell and the yellowjackets were boring into the grapes to suck out the liquid in them. Really makes wine tough to make when the grapes are hollow!

They used an airplane to spray insecticide.

Yes, that is what happened to us last year. We had to harvest early otherwise there would have been nothing left. We borrowed bee suits from a friend and used a shop vac to suck off the buggers. My wife followed along after me and snipped off the clusters.

 

[JoshDivino]

When I was young(er) my grandpa used to grow his own grapes, he had this issue once to and he handled in like this,
He had a salmon fillet (uncooked) hanging from a string tied to a tree branch, and about 4 inches under the salmon he had a bucket of water. The yellow jackets would eat so much of the salmon that they couldn't fly, and they would fall into the bucket and drowned.

Sounds like an old wives tale, but I promise it worked!

 

[Ernest T Bass]

This is how I handle the yellow jackets. I usually have yellow jacket nest 3 or 4 times a year and usually find them after getting stung. After the hurt eases up a little and the yellow jackets have calmed down, I ease up on the area where I got stung and watch for them, I watch until I see where they go in the ground. Then I place a stick ( a long one) with the end of the stick at the hole in the ground. About an hour after dark I ease out again with funnel, quart of gas and a brick. Stick the funnel in the hole, pour the gas in and slam the brick over the hole. The fumes from the gas is what gets them. I have read somewhere that sometimes there are two holes but I have never had one that had two holes. Sometimes you will find 5 or 6 yellow jackets setting on top of the hole, "Bee-Bopper" will get them, but you have to move fast after you spray them, it kinda makes the rest of them a little mad. A couple of weeks ago I found something that had a sting "worster" than a yellow jacket, I don't know what it was, they had a nest in a pile of leaves, they were bigger than a wasp, but looked like a wasp, they were black with white stripes on em, like I said they are bad boys, hurt a lot "worst" than a yellow jacket.
Semper Fi
Bud

 

[GreginND]

I keep hearing on this and other forums about people dumping gasoline into the bees nests. Please folks - DO NOT DO THIS!

You are contaminating the soil with benzene, toluene and other pollutants. Why would you do this when there are safer sprays to use for bee nests?

 

[DoctorCAD]

I keep hearing on this and other forums about people dumping gasoline into the bees nests. Please folks - DO NOT DO THIS!

You are contaminating the soil with benzene, toluene and other pollutants. Why would you do this when there are safer sprays to use for bee nests?

Makes a fine octane 87 wine!

 

[ThePlantGuy978]

I keep hearing on this and other forums about people dumping gasoline into the bees nests. Please folks - DO NOT DO THIS!

I TOTALLY AGREE!!! DON'T CONTAMINATE THE GROUND!!!! THERE ARE BETTER AND SAFER WAYS!!!

You are contaminating the soil with benzene, toluene and other pollutants. Why would you do this when there are safer sprays to use for bee nests?

 

[Sashie]

I can't find their nest. Any tips?

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I ALSO TOTALLY AGREE ! I will refrain from pouring my 3 or 4 quarts of gas in hornets nest. I'll do my part, after all there are thousands of miles of asphalt roads that are oil base and that leaches into the soil. Also, look at the automobile junk yards, they have at least a foot of oil soaked soil under them. And the chemical plants, I worked at a chemical plant where the by-product was SO2 and we legally vented more SO2 in one hour (and that was 24/7) than probably all the wine makers all over the world use in a life time. Trains, planes, cars and buses, need I say more? All of us should do our part. I for one will do my part, I'll buy the chemical spray that is made by one of the chemical plants, transported in one trains, delivered to the store in one of the trucks and brought home in my car.
Semper Fi
Bud

 

[Rocky]

I can't find their nest. Any tips?

I seem to find them when I least expect it. I was mowing my lawn and going around a street sign ("Slow, Children Playing") and I bumped the support with the mower. I was immediately attacked by yellow jackets that were making a nest between the sign and the support post (which was perforated U-channel steel). I was hit a few times so I went to the house and got my Black Flag Wasp and Hornet spray, sprayed the support post and it rained yellow jackets.

Another time, a few weeks later, I stepped on the plastic stepping stones I have leading through my plant bed to the hose bib. The cirtters had a nest on the under side of the stepping stone and immediately attacked. Black Flag to the rescue again and since then, no problems. I think I must have whacked the queen because among the bodies was a very, very large one.

I have also seen them making holes in the ground about the size of a dime and flying in an out of them. Just keep your eys open and use a spray. Also, when you find one hole in the ground, be careful as there will be several others near by. Also, due to the heat and dry spell, they are very aggressive this year.

 

[Ernest T Bass]

I usually ease up to the area where I saw them, that was after I got stung. I think it's best late in the evening when they are going back to the nest. Watch for any yellow jacket and try to keep him in sight and watch where he goes, then ease up to that area and stand still and watch some more. It takes time and is a lot of trouble, but, if you find the hole it's worth it. You'll find it, just keep watching and get them buggers.
Semper Fi
Bud