War on Yellow Jackets!
Created on 8/27/2009
I’m going to digress from the deer discussion this week only because I’ve received several queries on yellow jacket issues because they are increasingly more aggressive with the impending cold weather, and can cause a lot of problems.
Growing up in Ohio, it was common for yellow jackets to make nests in the ground. I found them more than once while mowing. There’s nothing like cruising over a hole of edgy stinging insects to pick up the pace. Of course, my favorite remedy {THIS IS YOUR ‘DON’T DO THIS AT HOME’ WARNING} was to wait until dark to pour gasoline down the hole, and light a match. I can’t really attest to how effective it was, but it ranked high on the satisfaction meter for a 12-year old. Like I said, you shouldn’t do this because it’s probably now illegal, let alone it can start some doozies of grass fires.
Yellow jackets are far different than honeybees, although many people group them in the same pesky genre. Honeybees are focused on their task at hand, which is gathering nectar or pollen, and don’t usually bother people unless you’re too close to their hive. Yellow jackets seem to want to pick a fight, and will crash a party looking for bits of anything – sweets or meats – to eat. They can sting more than once, and are an unwelcomed garnish in a cold lemonade. Sometimes the traps set around eating areas help, but the best thing to do is to wipe out the nest.
Dousing them with wasp spray doesn’t work very well because their nests go down – or up if it’s near a wall – farther than you’d think. There’s a product called Apicide that my stepmother used in a concrete block wall this summer. It knocked them out in short order. Apicide is a dust with 5% carbaryl that you sprinkle at the entrance of the nest. The yellow jackets track it inside effectively eliminating the entire colony within a couple of days. I’ve talked to others who dusted them with Sevin, which is also carbaryl. Since it kills honeybees and other insects, it should work on yellow jackets, too.
For over a month, we’ve had a nest of yellow jackets at the base of the main step going into the house. It appeared the nest went up into the wall of the garage because the spray wasn’t phasing them. Since we don’t require much for entertainment, my husband opted for a more unconventional method of removal – he sat off to the side of the entrance hole and sucked them up with the Shop Vac. Every time he got one, our two-year old Samuel squealed and cheered. Yup, we know how to whoop it up!
Grant sucked up 60 in 20 minutes. The next night he got 30 more. After three nights, his total reached 117. There are still a few stragglers, but it doesn’t look like an airport flight pattern any more. Plus, we need something to do for entertainment this weekend.
