quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Termite spray will wipe them out , every last one of them.

quote:

Originally posted by sigarmsp226:

Here is “his” plan of attack. TODAY - He will spray the nest with 6-10 gallons of a specific termite spray

Looks like the professional exterminator agrees with my assessment.

One of my earliest memories was from about 4-5 years old. I was standing off the side of the porch, watching my gradmonther swat my father with a broom and the neighbor rushing to turn on the hose and then dousing my father with water.

I had been out in the yard playing. He was a good distance away mowing the lawn and ran over an unknown yellow jacket nest. They swarmed and covered him. I cannot recall any of the aftermath or recovery, but I know he was deadly allergic to stings after that.

I'm not gimpy and I might call a professional. Who wants eight or ten yellow jacket bites?

Several years ago my neighbors were having some fir trees in their back yard removed. It was an old logger and his son. I asked them about taking my tree down while they were there. It was 18 t0 20 inches at the base and 60 to 70 feet tall. They said they would do it for the wood. I had to undo 20 feet of chainlink fence. They came over and said Oh, cant do it as there was a basketball size nest of YJ 25 feet up. I asked about options. The dad asked if I had a shotgun.
I live in a neighborhood one house out of city limits. He said prior to lunch he would give me a signal and they would rev two saws to cover the noise. This plan sounded comic bookish so I said sure and I was in. dug around for some 12 ga with #8 shot (smallest I had) And got ready for the signal. I made sure I had an escape path. Twenty minutes later it was YJ blastin time. Got the signal and the saws cranked up - took aim and shot. Suprisingly it obliterated the entire nest. One piect of the paper like nest came drifting down like a feather. All I saw were 3 YJ in the area of the former nest. Loggers went to lunch and I left the area for a bit. They cut the tree with no further issues.

quote:

Originally posted by duke762:
No one ever mentioned soap. Orange soap, 409, insecticidal soap, hot water with a high concentration of dish soap, Fastball cleaner.

I mentioned soapy water on page two . Not my preferred method though . I prefer to terminate them with extreme prejudice ...

Outstanding service. Glad you were well taken care of by these guys.

Question for my "edification" on yellow jacket behavior. In my 78 years of battling the little creatures, I have never seen a yellow jacket nest in a bush or tree. They have been in the ground or under a swing seat, but never higher up.

Are my locals afraid of heights or just uneducated as to the benefits of moving on up in the neighborhood?

I think they are primarily ground dwellers but it's not uncommon to see them in nests above ground. I think in above-ground nests, they still tend to stay low to the ground.

YMMV as my experience is getting my ass stung stepping on ground nests.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
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.

+1

For future reference, this is an easy inexpensive method that works every time. I'm not quite as savage as chellim1 however.

I just pour a quart of gasoline down the hole. I usually do it during the day just to make things more exciting.

We are fortunate around here that the yellow jackets rarely if ever nest in the ground. It must be a regional thing. We have a ton of them, but they nest above ground, always in similar predictable locations. Every couple of weeks in the spring and then monthly until late summer I make the rounds and spray the foaming death on them early in the morning. Still find a new nest sometimes and get stung, but keeps them in reasonable check. I buy a case of the cheapest foaming wasp killer every spring.