yellow jackets/ground hornets

I have 55 acres in Northern Ky. I usually find maybe one nest per year of yellow jackets which are a kind of bee that drills holes in the ground to nest. This
year I have found 4 nests so far. "Finding" them is extremely painful. What are some techniques for getting rid of them? I usually wait for night and use a
funnel to pour a quart of used motor oil in the hole. Then I stick a road flare into the hole and wait 15 minutes. Ellis
 
When I was about 8 I thought it would be a good idea to put a stick down their hole, they found me.
 
Used motor oil is a hazardous waste... you'll get that stuff into the ground water, and it cannot be removed.
 
I gave a colony a generous shot of aerisol carpenter ant, termite spray right down the opening to their burrow. Seems to have put them on hold.
 
I usually pour a little gasoline down the hole at night and throw a match at it. If the fumes and raw gas doesn't get them the concussion will.
 
There are several brands that foam when sprayed. They come with a nozzle, but a longer nozzle is desirable. A bicycle cable housing of about 20 inches works, or similar with some stiffness to it. Put a butter tub on it about 6 inches up on the tube and tape it in place. Stick it in the hole before they get active in the morning (one or two might be flying) pump the opening full till the nest will not take any more foam . Jim
 
There are a couple of different methods I've used with success. One was to dump an entire bag of lime on the hole and spread out around until there is an even layer about 3" thick. Actually, this was done on a nest of bumble bees. On Yellow Jaqckets, I took an old piece of linoleum about 4 sq ft and laid it over the hole, then added enough sand or other weight to keep it tight to the ground. One thing I learned is to go with enough coverage - otherwise, they can burrow a new tunnel going out up to a couple of feet in any direction.

Yellow Jackets and hornets are in the wasp family, and wasps are different than bees.
 
Here in Bama we go at night up to the hole with a flashlight and a jug of gas, pour gas in the hole and leave, no need to ignite it
 

I discovered one a few weeks ago by the front door of my shop. I taped the wand of my shop vac to a 10 ft piece of strapping and slid it to just over the hole. It sucked them in for an hour or so. The next day I counted five hovering around where I had filled in the entrance to the hole. Those five hung around for two weeks trying to find their home, but they had no interest in me since they had no nest to guard.
 
What I hate is they do not make a buzzing noise : all of the sudden you're getting stung all over !!! Last ones that got me I had plowed up.I had to jump off and run.That night I poured gas down their hole and lit it.It burnt for half an hour or longer before I covered it with dirt.Mark
 
Shop vacs and long hoses have solved some pretty tricky problems!! One
thing I did years ago and would NOT recommend is running a vac and
spraying carb cleaner through something into the vacuum. Did you ever
hear a shop vac go POOMF, POOMF, POOMF, a few times till you realize
you are making minny explosions!!!
 
One thing to help out a little is to have one or more bright colored rags on the tractor, that are tied in big knots with tails hanging out. When you run over or past a yellow jacket/bumble bee nest throw it toward the hole. The flapping tails will distract them, plus the bright colors make it easier to find at night. I usually just pour a little gasoline down the hole, no need to light it. They require so much oxygen that the fumes do them in.
 
Like others have suggested, I use gasoline in the hole. I locate the hole during daylight, then go back at night when all/most are in the nest. I put about a cup of gasoline in an oil bottle, then stick the neck of the bottle into the hole. My dad had a technique I liked: if the hole was accessible, he'd crank up the lawnmower and push it over the hole. Worked like a charm.
 
Hey farmer, if you want a REALLY neat toy drop by the local Harbor Freight and pick one of these babies up! Only $30.oo for the one with the piezo lighter on it. These things are awsum and shoot about a 3 foot flame at full tilt. Don't get the one with out. The flame in this photo is like a solar flair on the sun. Weeds just vaporize. Yellow jackets and ground bees would have their wings dissolve, poof!
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Being a former bee keeper I hate it when a person like you calls a wasp a bee. Yellow jackets are in fact a type of wasp NOT a BEE and to call them that is well not right and you need to learn a few things about wasps and bees
 
(quoted from post at 15:22:21 10/21/17) Being a former bee keeper I hate it when a person like you calls a wasp a bee. Yellow jackets are in fact a type of wasp NOT a BEE and to call them that is well not right and you need to learn a few things about wasps and bees

Now, now , now, young fella Old, don't be a hater. I think that it is up to each of us personally to decide if we need to learn more about wasps and bees.
 



I agree with the shop vac method. Use a wet-r-dry type, put in 1 inch of water, teaspoon of soap. Put the hose end close to their hole. Run a few hours in evening, and more time if needed. I did three hives last month. One was 15ft up on end of my house. I used my pool cleaning pole to get the hose way up next to their entry point, other end to shop vac, let'er run. IT works ! ...
 
I use a cup of gas also at night time...just splash it in the hole and your done...this also works well for a wasp nest...give em a splash and yer done...just don't miss.....lol
 
(quoted from post at 08:09:08 10/21/17) Used motor oil is a hazardous waste... you'll get that stuff into the ground water, and it cannot be removed.

exactly what I was thinking all this talk of pouring oil or gasoline into the ground

not something I would brag about on the internet.

there are a lot of yellow jackets this year. I am a land surveyor, several years ago, I had a property corner land in a yellow jacket nest, it was cooler weather that year, I waited till the next morning when it was below freezing to pound it in.
 
(quoted from post at 15:22:21 10/21/17) Being a former bee keeper I hate it when a person like you calls a wasp a bee. Yellow jackets are in fact a type of wasp NOT a BEE and to call them that is well not right and you need to learn a few things about wasps and bees





As a surviver of a Africanized bee attack bees, wasps, and all other similar pests are all the same.
 
I like gasoline. Just a small amount will do the job. Had some building a nest in soffit of house a couple of weeks ago. Used 7 dust but it took about 3 days for it to work.
 
Looks like we use the same name for different stinging insect. I have been told all my life yellow jackets build a flat celluer nest in rafters, under car,truck,hoods,door jams of cars and ends of trailer/wagon tongues and trees and numerous places. The big oblong paper nest that is found up in tree with one hole in it has been called hornets nest.
 
I just call them ground bees and their sting is worse than wasps. I was on a roof one time working and backed into a hornets nest on a tree limb and they hurt too. My son-in-law ran over a nest mowing and was stung over 30 times. He hurt for a few days. Gasoline works fine for me.
 
(quoted from post at 13:26:28 10/21/17) Here in Bama we go at night up to the hole with a flashlight and a jug of gas, pour gas in the hole and leave, no need to ignite it

Yeah, it seems like igniting it just burns off the vapors and doesn't really penetrate the hole. Gotta let it set to really seep down in there and kill 'em.
 
I've used a couple methods. I have a 5 gal pail that I have setup as a suction/death chamber to keep the hornets/wasps separated from my shop vac. 2in of water and a small amount of dawn kills'em dead. I have enough extensions that I can get 25ft up and get them as they go to their hive.

Method two is Permethrin. Its somewhat like Seven but more specialized. It is even banned in some states. I get 1/4" clear tube and put it on a dowel to get it close to the nest opening. Then you just shake the bottle and squeeze. The wasps spread it around the nest and bye bye colony. It takes a day or two then they are done.

My Dad will use water and drowned them. Just stick the hose in at a moderate setting and let it run for few hours at night. That usually convinces them to leave or kills them outright.
 

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