Hi! I graduated from Georgia Tech so I'm a Yellow Jacket fan, but when it comes to them in my flower beds, I have to draw the line.
When I was growing up, Mom would pour gas down the hole. Obviously I don't want to do that in my flower bed and right up against my house. Now, she has an armadillo on her property that happily digs them out and eats them every summer.
Can anyone tell me how to get rid of these fellas. When I was putting in some impatiens in the other day, they flew in and out and only checked me out a couple of times. And I was only about 18 inches away for a few minutes of that time. I think I was lucky while I was pushing it. But my kids and I are passing by within a couple of feet all the time and the colony will probably get bigger and bigger and more possessive, so I need to get them out of there.
Thanks for any help.
How do I get rid of Yellow Jacket nest?
Or if you have neighborhood skunks, maybe one will find the nest. We have had skunks dig up nest several times. Of course, there could be a downside to that plan....:) Maybe the CAN of spray is a better idea.
3g, There are jacket traps with baits available and we had great success one year with a milk jug, little water and meat (they flew in and drowned). Last year we had tons of jackets in our main veggie/flower garden and they were not aggressive. I've had little time for garden research this year, but think I remember (hitting 60 in a few weeks) that there are several varieties of jackets and some are less aggressive. Check it out before you kill them. Anyway, ours were pretty calm and we just made sure to traipse carefully around them. The upshot was that we had the most bug-free garden ever last summer!
This message was edited Jun 3, 2009 8:24 PM
I had a nest in my hosta bed last year, right up next to the house. We sprayed a can of wasp killer down the hole several different evenings, but it didn't kill them all. Finally we just let them be. They don't use a nest again, so they are not there this year.
It is true that yellow jackets are not always aggressive all the time, just when young are emerging, and then look out.You can tell by the "guards" at the entrance.Normaly there is one sometimes two, but whem three, or four are around, give them the right-of-way.It is also true that they prey on flying pest, as does wasp.Personally I try to co-exist with both.Mike (who can't run anymore)
I haven't done anything about them yet. I'm a procrastinator by nature. (I'm still planting stuff I bought in March.) I guess I'll wait until I get stung. But the bad part is, I really shouldn't be gambling with them stinging the kids. The kids aren't over there very often at all, but I would feel SSOOO guilty if I let the yellow jackets stay there and one of the kids got stung. A yellow jacket sting is a whole different pain than a bee sting!
I just can't decide what to do. Pros vs. cons.
We had yellow jackets at Holy Comforter and were able to avoid them all together (even though they were at our compost bin entrance), the night we had them at a friends it was in the middle of a party and they were AGGRESSIVE as all heck, which is why I had to nail them. At Holy C. we could walk by the nest and they were not bothered at all by us as long as we didn't step on or damage the hole.
I've learned something from this thread.I always knew that a fox would dig a nest at night, and eat the grubs, but never gave thaught to a skunk doing the same thing.I understand the arodilo, because he tears up rotten logs for the grubs.Natures way. Mike
Well, Mike, so did I learn something! I did not know foxes would dig out yellow jackets. Nature is a wonder and it's a joy to witness the connections. As gardeners, we get to to see a lot of it.
Old Time way to deal with them is to find thier nest it's a small hole in the ground somewhere in your yard you will usually see them swarming around it.
Find a flat rock just heavy enough that a bee can't move it or one that will fit the hole of the nest.
Wait till dark when they go to bed get your flash light and get your gas can and the rock too.
Go to the nest pour some gas in the hole it don't have to be full now place the rock so it fits tight over the hole.
No gaps in the space between the rock and the ground they will all be dead in the morning.
I found a large yellow jacket nest just behind my house.I was trimming some dead wood, my cat was under me, and made a stratigic withdrawl, and at the same time one hit me on the thumb.The poor cat certinally ran interferance for me, or I would have been hit.I have always heard that bee vinom would cure arthritis, well my thumb works fine now.Something to think about. Mike
P. S. To get cured of all my arthritis I need to go out and roll in the nest.
Hey Mike, you could do an infomercial and sell yellow jackets to unsuspecting TV viewers!! :)
How true.