I have bushes at the front of my house that are full of different stinging flying insects. They are bad enough that the kids can’t play near them. I want to cut down most of the bushes but have to get rid of the bees first. What’s the best way to do this?

Go at night with a flashlight to find their nest.

Or stay back and watch during the day to find the nest.

Once nest is located wait until night when it is cool and spray nest with poison.

Spray carb cleaner and brake parts cleaner shoot 15 feet or more and kill nicely.

Don't kill bees. They are in dire straights these days and we need them. We've got several bushes in the back that are totally loaded with bees this time of year. I get very close to them often and have never been stung. I don't know how you would kill off the bad guys (wasps and yellow jackets) and preserve the bees. Maybe just stay away for awhile.

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
Don't kill bees. They are in dire straights these days and we need them. We've got several bushes in the back that are totally loaded with bees this time of year. I get very close to them often and have never been stung. I don't know how you would kill off the bad guys (wasps and yellow jackets) and preserve the bees. Maybe just stay away for awhile.

^^ This

Usually I watch and see where yellow jackets fly into and out of a hole. Then at night I go back out with a pint or more of gas and pour it in the hole and place a rock over it. No more yellow jackets.

This stuff does a great job. Use at night.

https://www.truevalue.com/yell...ctplacement=&ctadpos

Jim

Pour hot, very soapy water down the hole at night.

Tell the kids to play away from the bushes until you can figure out what they are. It’s too early for an established nest of any real size in your neck of the woods so I’d guess they are mixed species. Some might be honey bees or bumble bees which are important pollinators. Up close pics would certainly help.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Tell the kids to play away from the bushes until you can figure out what they are. It’s too early for an established nest of any real size in your neck of the woods so I’d guess they are mixed species. Some might be honey bees or bumble bees which are important pollinators. Up close pics would certainly help.

This!

My buddy drives over them about once every-other year or so with his riding mower.

Keeps him in shape and the wasps always on alert.

If you've got bees, try to find a local beekeeper - he or she may be perfectly happy to come out and get them. Other than that, have an exterminator poison the shit out of them and then make the bushes disappear. I was mixing it up with wasps, hornets and bees, and getting rid of those bushes and trees was one of the better days of home ownership I've had.

If they're smooth (not hairy), they're wasps. If they're wasps, commence with the genocide.

I had a yellow jacket nest in a bush last year. I found out the hard way. They got me at least 9 or 10 times. One of the suckers got stuck in my hair and I couldn't claw him out without taking my gloves off. Much pain to head and fingers.

Watch from a safe distance (binoculars, if not the Hubble telescope) until you have a good idea where the hole is. About dusk, hose down with a wasp/hornet spray to work your way in to find the hole. Then spray the foamy killer stuff in the hole. Sometimes this works.

Be aware that there may be more than one hole. I wasn't and this caused additional cardio work when I returned the next day to admire my death camp.

After you have located all the holes, pour gasoline into them. This works.

Once they're all dead, it's kind of fun to dig up the nest and see the beach ball size apartment complex they were all living in.

Wasps are easier, you can see the nests from a distance.

Don't bother bees. We need them.

If they are tunneled in and you locate one of the holes, put on your Honey Badger suit and go right down after them with a GI flash light and your 1911..

I tend to get yellow jacket nest in bushes/shrubs in my flower beds and my kids fort. Tried a solution of peppermint oil in water as recommended by my neighbor. 1 ounce oil per 16 water in a spray bottle. Spray the shrubs and they will leave the area. Once gone you can deal with the empty nest.

Wait till dark to apply if the wasp are agitated or active. The smell of the peppermint will last more than a week if there is no rain. This will deter their coming back.

-TVz

Back in my youth, in 4H, I won an award for entomology. These days I've simplified my problems. If it flys and looks like it might sting, I hate it. All wasps are bad, up front.

There's no reason for them to live. I use the democrat system, just apply money. Except its my money, not yours. Can't get DDT these days, its what my father used to use. Should have listened to him.

I got stung, long ago. I was weedeating a hillside and didn't even notice they were attacking until their fun began. A buddy ran up, grabbed me, and pulled me away. I got put in "time out" and made to sit in the shade for a while with a watcher. When the pain got bad but it was obvious I might survive, the watcher asked me what I was thinking about. I very calmly just said "revenge". The club had an old pole truck from the local Bell company. It had 2 gas tanks, one that worked and the other part full of water. So I got an empty barrel and put some of the gas in it. Then a jug or two of drained 90w from rear ends in the mix. Kind of a thick 2 stroke mix. Then I wandered over to the hillside where they lived and found their front door. And their back door, too. Whoever here said they have another entrance knew his shit. If you watch, you can see them using both. The watcher/buddy helped. He took a gallon or so of the mix too.

As it got dark, we started pouring. Glug, glug, glug. We retreated to let it soak in real good. Then we lit them up. Didn't need to light both holes, the fire spread. It was kind of like the 4th of July. They came out under pressure. Some flying 15 or more feet in the air, on fire.

If anyone doesn't know, fire can be your friend. The little devils kept being ejected, as they burned to death. Made my stings not hurt nearly as bad, seeing them die. I even got a nick name as the killer of bees. They weren't bees, I think someone called them ground hornets. Didn't matter to me, I just wanted revenge and them dead. These days, I prefer a preemptive strike. Same ammo, oil is your friend because it sticks to their evil little bodies and makes them die.

A while back Spot, my dalmatian, were walking we'd gone that way hundred of times. I saw one of the big paper hornets nests. Right by the path thru the park. It made me alter my route. Then a week or so later I saw an exterminator truck, dealing with them. It was enough fun to watch from a distance. They used a newish galvanized garbage can, putting fuel in the thing. maybe a couple of gallons. Then used a tree trimming pole to clip the branch that held next. Right over the can. Then they put the lid on the can and secured it with a bungee strap. From one side handle to the other, thought the top and down to the other side. I have no idea how they disposed of the contents. Maybe just let the bugs smell the fuel. A day or so should be good.

Malathion or bifenthrin in a garden sprayer will get everything on the bush, including the good pollinators. Wait until nighttime and the honeybees should be gone. For a safer method for the good bees, how about a wasp trap? Hang a few baited traps on the bushes and that should thin them out.

The most fun I ever had killing bees was a nest in my aunt's hedge. It was a paper nest about the size of a basketball, full of those mean, black faced hornets. I waited until evening when they were all in, filled my pockets up with 12ga #8 birdshot, and let fly with my Remington 1100. In under ten seconds, there was nothing but a hole and bee guts left. Good times for a teenager.

If they are bees, use a local beekeeper.

If not, it’s open season.

I use Bifen available from tractor supply for all my bug issues. It won’t kill them in flight, carb cleaner or brake cleaner does that. Or you can mix up some dawn soap and water and spray them, it suffocates them.

My dad near burned down our house with ether/starting fluid one night..good times tho, my dads arm on fire, the hornets flying on fire, the house facia on fire...

Stay away from fire.