Interesting.... Well that certainly would be a satisfactory way to end this sort of problem. I wonder if putting new items around a nest would be just as effective in changing the visual cues?
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Yellow jackets...
- Thread starter Rich Z
- Start date
Interesting.... Well that certainly would be a satisfactory way to end this sort of problem. I wonder if putting new items around a nest would be just as effective in changing the visual cues?
Rishi
New member
:-offtopic One of the profs at the university I just graduated from was Nikolaas Tinbergen's last Ph.D. student!
Anyways, I hope those nasty buggers don't keep bothering you! (Yellow Jackets, not trolls...
)
diamondlil
Mice! They taste so nice!
I'm a big fan of diatomaceous earth, I use it because the ninja cats have developed a reaction to the various spot-on flea treatments and I've got a couple of scars on my arm from unsuccessful scruffing and spraying adventures. Maybe you could get it puffed into the hole leading into the nest? It's not target specific so would kill all invertebrates it contacts but puffing it in and around the wasp nest entrance should hopefully reduce bykill
A few days ago, Connie went and removed those plant pots from around the nest entrance, and apparently the bees didn't like that much. They vanished. The nest was apparently abandoned. I was hoping they took off for the deep woods so they wouldn't be a nuisance around here close to the house. Since I hadn't seen a trace of them for several days, I was thinking that this was likely the case.
Well, Connie found the new nest this morning. Out by the pool enclosure. She was cleaning the automatic pool cleaner when one got her on the leg. Luckily she didn't get stung by more of them, as she said they were all over the place when she dropped the part she was rinsing off right on the nest entrance. OK, so this is WAR now.... I am NOT going to have a bunch of bugs dictate to Connie and I where we can or cannot go on our own property.
There is a small depression in the ground that they are building their new nest in, right in front of the door to the pool enclosure. Odd thing is that I was just out there yesterday with the new pressure washer I was using to clean off the pool enclosure with, and they weren't there then, or likely they would have been offended at my being so close to them. So I'm guessing this is a brand new nest they are beginning to build.
Time to nip this in the bud before they decide to relocate somewhere else. I'll eyeball where that entrance is and tonight spray it with the wasp spray I picked up and cover over the entrance.
Well, Connie found the new nest this morning. Out by the pool enclosure. She was cleaning the automatic pool cleaner when one got her on the leg. Luckily she didn't get stung by more of them, as she said they were all over the place when she dropped the part she was rinsing off right on the nest entrance. OK, so this is WAR now.... I am NOT going to have a bunch of bugs dictate to Connie and I where we can or cannot go on our own property.
There is a small depression in the ground that they are building their new nest in, right in front of the door to the pool enclosure. Odd thing is that I was just out there yesterday with the new pressure washer I was using to clean off the pool enclosure with, and they weren't there then, or likely they would have been offended at my being so close to them. So I'm guessing this is a brand new nest they are beginning to build.
Time to nip this in the bud before they decide to relocate somewhere else. I'll eyeball where that entrance is and tonight spray it with the wasp spray I picked up and cover over the entrance.
Last night I got my weapons prepared. Ortho wasp spray and a BIG rock to place on top of the nest entrance. I then put on long pants, a jacket, gloves, and a hat. Figuring I would limit the amount of exposed bare skin as much as possible. Even at nightfall the temps were still hitting around 90 at that hour, so coupled with the tension of the impending battle (or slaughter, if everything went according to plan), my sweat was running freely and profusely.
I squatted about 6 ft. from the nest entrance and watched the yellow jackets returning from their foraging as the light gradually diminished. I held that post till it got so dark that I could no longer see if their were any more bees returning, but still light enough that I could still barely see the hole in the ground. I grabbed the wasp spray and pointed it at the hole and pressed on the button on top of the can. WTH? Nothing. Pressed again. Nothing.... :eek1: Great...... Connie was over on the porch watching me (she said she wanted to be nearby in case she needed to drag my bee sting riddled corpse away), and yelled over that the button on the can was REALLY hard to depress. She used it earlier in the day on a wasp nest on the porch. I pointed the can in another direction and used my THUMB and REALLY pressed on it, and that seemed to break it loose. So I then pointed it at the nest entrance and let loose with a stream. WTH (again)? This stuff has the consistence of highly pressurized shaving cream. So in short order I had a big mound of white foaming shaving cream on top of and all around the nest entrance. Not sure how much, if any, actually went INTO the hole, since it was so thick, but I was kind of committed at this point. So I foamed it up BUT GOOD. I tossed the flat rock on top of the hole anyway (at least I hoped it was on top of the hole, kind of hard to tell now), spraying more all around the edges of the rock for good measure, just hoping for the best. But that certainly did not go as planned. I guess I violated one of the cardinal rules of doing battle. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS.
Today I inspected my work. The rock seemed to be covering the hole, so at least I did that accurately. The foam was gone, of course, so hopefully it then flowed into the nest. I watched the area for quite a while and eventually a yellow jacket showed up and crawled underneath an edge of that rock. I used a pole and pushed the rock in that direction to cover up any part of the hole that might have still been open. And I watched some more. Only saw one more yellow jacket, and this one, too, appeared to be trying to return home to the nest. He just flew off when he apparently could not find the entrance. I did not see any other opening anywhere nearby with yellow jackets congregating around it, so hopefully this was the only entrance to that nest. I don't think that nest could have been there too long, as Connie and I have been in that same area a LOT over the last several days before Connie got stung.
I'll leave things be for another day or two, then I'll flip that rock (actually it's an old piece of asphalt) off of the hole and see what happens. But I'll have my guard up in case another nest springs up somewhere else. I think Connie got shaken up by that sting, as she isn't all that keen to get outside and do any more gardening at the moment. I know the feeling, as I'm pretty jumpy too whenever any bug lands on me now... Enjoying nature isn't quite so easy to do when it bites and stings you.
I squatted about 6 ft. from the nest entrance and watched the yellow jackets returning from their foraging as the light gradually diminished. I held that post till it got so dark that I could no longer see if their were any more bees returning, but still light enough that I could still barely see the hole in the ground. I grabbed the wasp spray and pointed it at the hole and pressed on the button on top of the can. WTH? Nothing. Pressed again. Nothing.... :eek1: Great...... Connie was over on the porch watching me (she said she wanted to be nearby in case she needed to drag my bee sting riddled corpse away), and yelled over that the button on the can was REALLY hard to depress. She used it earlier in the day on a wasp nest on the porch. I pointed the can in another direction and used my THUMB and REALLY pressed on it, and that seemed to break it loose. So I then pointed it at the nest entrance and let loose with a stream. WTH (again)? This stuff has the consistence of highly pressurized shaving cream. So in short order I had a big mound of white foaming shaving cream on top of and all around the nest entrance. Not sure how much, if any, actually went INTO the hole, since it was so thick, but I was kind of committed at this point. So I foamed it up BUT GOOD. I tossed the flat rock on top of the hole anyway (at least I hoped it was on top of the hole, kind of hard to tell now), spraying more all around the edges of the rock for good measure, just hoping for the best. But that certainly did not go as planned. I guess I violated one of the cardinal rules of doing battle. KNOW YOUR WEAPONS.
Today I inspected my work. The rock seemed to be covering the hole, so at least I did that accurately. The foam was gone, of course, so hopefully it then flowed into the nest. I watched the area for quite a while and eventually a yellow jacket showed up and crawled underneath an edge of that rock. I used a pole and pushed the rock in that direction to cover up any part of the hole that might have still been open. And I watched some more. Only saw one more yellow jacket, and this one, too, appeared to be trying to return home to the nest. He just flew off when he apparently could not find the entrance. I did not see any other opening anywhere nearby with yellow jackets congregating around it, so hopefully this was the only entrance to that nest. I don't think that nest could have been there too long, as Connie and I have been in that same area a LOT over the last several days before Connie got stung.
I'll leave things be for another day or two, then I'll flip that rock (actually it's an old piece of asphalt) off of the hole and see what happens. But I'll have my guard up in case another nest springs up somewhere else. I think Connie got shaken up by that sting, as she isn't all that keen to get outside and do any more gardening at the moment. I know the feeling, as I'm pretty jumpy too whenever any bug lands on me now... Enjoying nature isn't quite so easy to do when it bites and stings you.
LBoz
Original Curmudgeon
Yuck! I went through this last year and it is NO fun. I pretty much did what you did, but put tin foil in the holes. Those evil little brats are strong, though! My home seems to attract yellow jackets, carpenter bees (who also have a somewhat nasty sting) and cicada killers in the yard. This year, I made sure to put out traps in the lawn far away from my actual dwelling in hopes of snaring the queen and preventing nests. I can only say that I haven't seen many, and have only seen one within my house and it was weak and easily killed, but there are tons in the traps. I just use sugar syrup to attract them, not the commercialized attractants. Best of luck to you both!
Shelby Craig
New member
this is really late, but my dad poured gas down in the hole of the nest and sat it on fire and ive never seen any around my house since...
I thought I saw some honey bees hanging around the area the other day, so I pulled the rock away from the hole to see what would happen. Nothing...
But I'm still keeping my eyes peeled in case they've simply relocated.
Perhaps I should get some of those yellow jacket traps.... But I think the raccoons would be all over them. They get into everything around here.
But I'm still keeping my eyes peeled in case they've simply relocated.
Perhaps I should get some of those yellow jacket traps.... But I think the raccoons would be all over them. They get into everything around here.
Shelby Craig
New member
Pour gas on them too
Haha I'm just joking that would be horrible...I catch them in one of the cage traps and take them miles away to relese them
Haha I'm just joking that would be horrible...I catch them in one of the cage traps and take them miles away to relese them
Yeah, I couldn't bring myself to hurt the raccoons. They are cute little buggers. Earlier in the Spring we had three young ones playing around on the porch at night. I went out there and gave them a scolding and they just walked off the porch in a line, right past my feet, looking up at me with sheepish looks on their faces like they knew they were being bad.
I just hope they don't cross the line like the squirrels did......
I just hope they don't cross the line like the squirrels did......