Recently had spinal surgery and have graduated from a walker in the house to walking canes(Two Heavy Duty Walking Sticks) to allow me to get outside and walk for the first time in over a month. Six month total recovery time so I have to be very careful where and how I walk. Wife agreed to allow me to walk in areas in the yard where the ground is known to be level, grass is cut very low, and I use my walking sticks.

This morning was cool here (Thank goodness) - 51F - and I had my warm ups on and decided to create a small walking route in the yard….. As I started walking I noticed a “hole” in a raised tree/bush area where we have buried our family pets over the past 21 years. The hole was new to me, about the size of a cantaloupe, so being in the country the first thing that came to mind was this must be an Armando or small rodent hole. There was a brick on the ground close by so I decided to use my walking stick end to drag the brick and place it over the opening.
My thought was that if it was an active home for something the brick would be moved the next day I walked and I would arrange for someone to come over and block the hole with something more substantial in size and weight.

About the time that brick made it to the opening and I tapped on it with my walking stick end I saw movement - thank goodness I saw that movement because it was lethargic YELLOW JACKETS coming out of that hole. Also thank goodness I had on a loose fitting warm up suit because several lit on my lower leg and two did sting me.

Knowing what was happening now I carefully but left the area (remember I am recovering from spinal surgery and I know I cannot run, jump, twist, or bend beyond where I my related to my twice a day PT exercises……

Thank goodness I am not allergic to yellow jackets (two got me pretty good) so I am sitting here with an ice pack on my lower leg to ensure the swelling and itching is minimized. I also just took a dose of Benadryl.

Knowing only what I have read about yellow jacket ground nests (a possible second entry/exit hole connected to this one) and because of my limited physical capabilities, I think my best option is to call a professional to manage this situation. The great news is whe have even colder temps in next weeks forecast so it may play favorable for the professional who comes to manage this for me…..

Anything else I need to be aware of as I manage this issue? An opening of this size leads me to believe that this nest could be big and deep….Thanks for any feedback/comments/recommendations….

This message has been edited. Last edited by: sigarmsp226,

I have dealt with this problem twice.
My solution: Wait until dusk when they all return to the nest... then dump about a quart of diesel fuel down the hole. Wait 5 minutes for it to soak in a bit farther down... and then light the hole on fire.

I would not do this myself, the consequences for you could be severe. It is not hard to get rid of them if you know what you are doing. You have a friendly neighbor who would take care of it for you?

I have always poured a little gasoline in the hole at night and lit them up…..done at night so most of them are in and less activity outside the hole, less likely to get stung. Of course, this is in an area where there is minimal risk of the fire extending to my house!
With your current physical limitations I would not try this yourself, have a friend do it for you. You have to be careful as you know, I wouldn’t want to hear that you took this advice and tripped in the dark making your get away!
I hope your bees get taken care of and your recovery is uneventful!

I pour gasoline in the hole. It kills them. Never needed to light it. Wait until it’s cold and they will be slow.

With your health, get a pro, no reason to hurt yourself during recovery.

There is a produce called the Bug Bite Thing Suction Tool, it's designed to cover any bug bite and you pull up on the plunger, it removes the insect saliva and venom, and provides great relief from bites.

Looks crazy but it works, neighbor told me about it they've been using it, got one and I'll be damned if it doesn't work. Supposedly helps remove splinters.

If you don't want to wait Wal-Mart and other local stores carry them, at $9.95 each.

Beats sitting there for days with it hurting or itching...

Link to Amazon

Good luck & glad you didn't get lit up.
I've been lucky through 3 houses to not have any ground bees. Plenty of red wasps, but they usually aren't aggressive to the mower, luckily & surprisingly. Usually keep a couple cans of wasp spray on the porch.

quote:

Originally posted by frayedends:
I pour gasoline in the hole. It kills them. Never needed to light it. Wait until it’s cold and they will be slow.

This. It's the fumes that kills them all it takes is a teaspoon then plug the hole.

My dad has them in western NC. He finds the opening and waits till dark. Pours in some fuel, gas, diesel or even starting fluid, then covers the opening with a piece of plastic and a rock. It’s the fumes that kills them. He used to burn them but he started a small fire in the surrounding tree litter and he has backed off from the fiery death they deserve.

Where I you, I’d just ask a neighbor to do the pouring and covering.

Since you can’t deal with them due to your recent surgery, I would ask help from a neighbor or friend.

Four parts diesel and one part gasoline. Pour, wait five minutes, pour, set on fire. Let those bastards burn.

Carefully ID the hole during the day.
If you don't move too fast and stay at least 10 feet back they normally won't bother you. The only time I've found a second entrance has been when a log or something else covered the actual ground entrance and they went into other places before getting to the ground. The only way to deal with that is to move the covering item until you can get to the actual hole into the ground.
Go out a half hour or more after complete darkness and no activity, and have someone take a half cup to a cup of gasoline and pour it directly into the hole. End of story. No fire's required sub-optimal anyway as you want it to soak into the ground entrance. The fumes are what gets them I'm told. But I do understand the desire to burn them to death if you've been a victim to their treachery.
Inspect the next day mid-morning and toss a few rocks or large items from a distance to be sure there's no more activity.

I watched a video of a guy pouring molten aluminum down the hole, let it cool then dug it up. After he cleaning, he had a very interesting network that he sold as art. But I pour mineral spirits down the hole

Call in a professional and be done with it.

We discovered a large nest under our house a couple years ago. I mean a very large, mankiller nest. We called a professional. He took one look and put on his spacesuit and went after them. He was swarmed by them and killed many hundreds with spray and then removed the nest piece by piece to discourage others from rebuilding. Something to be wary of is you cannot judge the size of the nest on casual inspection. Get a pro, fooling with gasoline can be dangerous

Make sure to watch the entire thing. In the beginning he digs up the nest, but starting at 2:20 he talks about how to trap them. Yellow jackets are meat eaters, and you can trap them with some chicken.

It's quite effective, easy and cheap.

Calling a pro gets it done. If you know someone agile:

I used a 1 gallon water bottle with water and lots of Joy dish detergent. Just plugged the entrance with the water bottle as it emptied. Stick it in and ran.

This killed them dead. We had a few stragglers for a day. I did it again the next night for effect.

Thanks for the video. That guy is bold. I would be wearing a spacesuit. I am surprised he didn't eat the yellow jackets he trapped.

Eliminated a couple of in-ground wasp nests by hitting them with a stream of foaming wasp killer sprayed into the opening after dusk. Black Flag sells a spray can that’ll shoot up to 20 feet. Use the whole can if needed; it’s only about 5 bucks.

This is my favorite pest control channel.

Yeah, if you cannot run away when you need to, find someone else to deal with it.