Getting rid of yellow jackets

I was stung by yellowjackets--they are coming from a hole under my blueberries--I want to pick berries now; they are at their peak, but I need to get rid of the nest! I am afraid to go near them--In the past I have driven my car up to a nest and cracked the window and sprayed into their hole with a garden spray pump but this one is not accessible by car. (Also it was almost a disaster; a yellow jacket got in and I jumped out of my car and didn't have the brake on...) Any ideas?

I would call a pest control company and find out what they can do to get rid of the nest without harming your edibles. I know there are organic and environmentally-safe products out there. I recently had a crazy ant problem and the product that the pest-control guy used to spray the perimeter of the house was supposedly environmentally friendly. Well, friendly to MY environment, but not the crazy ant environment. ;) Bees are not something that I would want to mess with either. Leave it to the professionals.

I agree on calling in a pro. But if you want to try to get rid of them yourself, wait until night--they all go into the nest then to settle down for the night and aren't as likely to come out and sting you. Not that it's a guarantee, but you're less likely to be attacked then vs during the day when they're active. Of course when it's dark you can't see as well so the pros are still your best bet.

Thanks for the advice--but I am not one to call "pros" without giving it a go myself! So I found my fleece lined winter jeans and stuffed them into knee high boots--wore several layers of clothing topped by a nylon raincoat (not easy to do during the summer in Alabama!), and topped it off with a net for my head and a straw hat. Stylish, huh? Well, I put some not so environmentally friendly pesticide into my garden pump and pumped it up as hard as I could and put the nozzel right into their hole and let it rip.

It worked!

Now THAT'S the way to do it! Bravo, PP.

Glad you got rid of them!

Have been stung many times by these critters. Worst was when I stepped in a nest in the leaves. Kinda funny to my boss as I ran down the street kicking shoes off and pulling my pants off. Had 37 hits. I use a foam wasp and hornet spray because it puts the most chemical where you want it and can be used a distance away from the hole, and is portable. It also kills any returning things that weren't inside the nest. Hope you find the nests before they find you.

Thanks--It seems this is a banner year for them. I have found no fewer than four nests in my yard. Makes me wary about strolling around and mowing grass--a shame because I love yardwork.

I got 17 one time while riding the mower over a big nest. The mower had a problem that it wouldn't get out of low gear and I couldn't get away. I got a new mower after that.

Please send them to me here in Montana. I love them to eliminate all aphids, leafworms, and any undesirable parasite that exists.

You would be welcome to them!! If only I could figure out a way...Vacuum into a container and FedEx?

Just pick through them in the nest and send me the queen. LOL

ThankS for the inspiration! I have a bee problem (everytime this year, we have a battle over my only tree) This time we waited too long and more are moving in daily (or hatching). I've called weed and pest, they told me what product to buy. No one will come and kill them for me! I thought about it and i think it might be worth it to get my winter garb on and just do it!

I've also heard that an old hornets nest placed in a tree keeps from any bees or wasps from moving in.. Any thoughts?

I never see Bee nests in my property. Therefore I suspect that the wasp is selectivly probably eating the babies. Or repel their nests and queens. I love both so I would let the bees take over the tree but they will eat the apples. I would bundle up and get a mosquito hat with webbing and move the nest to somewhere it is accepted. Kind of fun watching the bees attack through the net. Bees can't eat through the cheeze cloth so I would get a fish net and hang the nest in there.

Honeybees I would let nest in my tree--they aren't aggressive like yellow jackets and will pollinate your other trees and plants. If you really want to get rid of them try your local beekeeper association
http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/bee_removal.phtml
http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/bee_links_data-3031.phtml
http://www.bees-on-the-net.com/wyoming-beekeeping-clubs.html
Try these links!
Don't poison them; they might spread the poison to bee blossoms and contaminate other hives. Bees are having a tough time these days.
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/about/intheworks/honeybee.htm

Was stung recently, no fun at all, and since then have found 2 more nests in the ground. Bought spray, was too chicken to use it. A friend told me his method is to put a big clear glass bowl over the opening--if they can't get out of the nest, they die. I covered one hole last night with the clear plastic top of my popcorn popper. This morning they were swarming around frantically, batting against the plastic and (I hope) stinging each other. Then, while mowing, nearly ran over another nest...will cover it with a big glass jar tonight and keep my fingers crossed. Getting rid of them without pesticides would be really nice.

Let me know how that works out! Maybe you could put a pesticide soaked sponge in the bowl before inverting it then a vapor would build up in there and later you could pick up the sponge and dispose of it in an environmentally safe manner.

Geez, I feel lucky after reaching about everyone getting stung. I have all kinds of stingy things flying around my yard, common bees, wasps, mud daubers, and bumblebees. Somehow they all seem to get along and I have never found an active nest. Just a few small vacant wasp nests. They seem to be obsessed with my huge laurel hedge even though it has no blooms, and they go bananas for all the fuchsias too. I was petrified when I had to trim about 300' of that laurel though, I was ready to drop and run at any moment.

Something else I found really interesting was my almost 2 year old seems to have a instinctual healthy respect for all of them. He just points to them, but never try's to grab or mess with them.

You think we have it bad...Yellowjackets have invaded Hawaii (probably arriving in shipments of Christmas trees) and are killing off native insects, lizards and other fauna. They are not killed off during winter months and so are growing in huge nests:
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2009/Jul/28/br/hawaii90728008.html

My friend's glass-bowl-on-top-of-the-nest didn't work--the yellow jackets swarmed around a lot, trying to get out, and some did. Then I waited for dark and sprayed both nests with pesticide, which got rid of wipe one nest, but not the other...Tomorrow I'm calling in the pros.

Dark is the answer. I've treated nests in ground a few different times at dusk with no problem.

I had one in a flower bed between the sidewalk and the side of the house. My lab would go the long way around. I finally figured out why. They were popping him in the butt when he went by.

The only way I found what and where it was, I accidently set a water can down on the hole. Those guys were madder than hornets bumping off the container. I slowly eased up to it and hooked the can with a long hook and removed it. Then later after dark, I took care of them.

I agree, I would ask everyone to offer protection for the bees. Only in the southern areas do you need to worry about them being killer bees.

Even this year we are not seeing the yellowjackets like normal but it has been too dry.