Yellow Jackets?

Empath

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I assume yellow jackets are a common problem throughout the U.S. I know we had them when I was in Oklahoma. But Oregon has them like flies, it seems. They have got to be the most aggressive sting-happy wasp there is. The area in which I live is a relatively new development area. Prior to subdividing it, it was a fruit orchard That means there were probably more than the usual number of colonies, which means more than the usual number of queens to survive the winter each year.

Does your area have a problem with them? What do you do to control them?
 

Darell

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I keep telling myself that I'll figure out what the differences are between yellow jackets, hornets and wasps. There are many different types of "bee-like creatures that can sting again and again without dying and that don't do anything obviously beneficial like producing honey and pollinating fruit trees." The problem is that I don't know what's what. The one thing I know for sure is that they can't be trapped the same way.

In my last house we had a terrible problem, but the standard yellow traps with the attractant and some meat worked wonders and would catch a couple hundred in a weekend. The same traps where I now live won't catch one in a year. I have yet to find what will catch what I have here, and they're FAR more aggressive than what I had before. Both types build the brown nests that hang from a single thread in the rafters. But the ones I have now, have a super-thin abdomen. You know... the ones that look REALLY nasty. The old ones were thick all over.

So, I know how to trap some of these things... but not what I have today...
 

raggie33

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pssst are football team is named after them we have a few lol, they dont bother me at all though.
 

TheBeam

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After poking holes in a nest with a bb gun and trying to shoot one down with rocks and a slingshot, I garden hosed a nest and never got stung.
 

AlphaTea

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right behind you. LOOK!
Be glad you dont live in Japan!
They have Vespa mandarinia, Giant Japanese Hornet
2" long!!! Thats one BMF!
manda.jpg

I found this Site with some interesting info on wasps/hornets
 

tiktok 22

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We got 'em here to. Although there not much of a problem as the temp. drops. If you have a large problem, I would consider an exerminator. Multiple stings while trying to rid them isn't worth it. For small jobs, I do them myself. If your going to attempt to get rid of them yourself, definately do it at night while they're not active. I've personally found carb. cleaner(STP) works best. Even better than bee and wasp spray. Take your trusty (insert brand here) flashlight and give them a good dose..... Then get the He** out of there!!!

Remember, don't try this during the day!
 

BlindedByTheLite

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and yeah, 2, 3 inches.. whoa!
one of those suckers alone can kill 40 honeybees in one minute!!
i also hear they have a very very painful sting.. it's even strong enough to eat away at flesh..


PS i always get confused.. over hornets.. wasps.. bees.. yellowjackets.. i believe hornets, yellowjackets, and wasps are all grouped differently from bees.. but i always thought yellowjackets weren't hornets.. and that hornets were wasps.. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/icon3.gif
manda7.jpg


but i believe the version of the giant hornet we have in the US is of european origin..
 

Phaserburn

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We have yellow jackets, and they are mean. They will go out of their way to sting you, even if you're minding your own business. They seem to nest primarily in the ground, so watch where you walk when in the woods!

Not sure I want to call this a positive, but skunks like to dig up the nest and eat the larvae. Yuck, but it's better than me having to get one of those torch thingies and burn them out!
 

tkl

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When young my friend and I would throw rocks and water hose them. Until my dad handed us a can of wasp killer, shot 12', pretty good stuff /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But that's in the early 80's when everything was legal. Nowadays the enviramentalist whackos probably won't let you use anything but sugar water. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif
 

was_jlh

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We've got plenty in North Carolina.

My experience is a little different, though. Anytime I've been stung has been the result of my actions, never had them go out of their way to attack me. I was stung about a month ago when I hit their nest entrance with a weedeater. I dropped the weedeater and ran, only one got me. The time before that three got me when I got the rear wheel of the riding mower stuck on their nest entrance.

Whenever I find a nest, I mark it with a stake in the ground, so that whoever is mowing will see it. I've found in the past that if I destroy a nest, a new one will appear soon in the yard, and someone will have to come across it. I live on a 1.25 acre lot and I've never had more than two nests at one time. Once marked, I warn my family, and none of my children have been stung.

Joe
 

onelight

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I use a 4 or 5 cases of wasp spray a year at work and it is not near as potent as it used to be. They nest in our terminals both in the air and burried.
 

doubleganger

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northwest MS
once years ago I accidentally disturbed a nest and was running for my life, so to speak. Everytime I started to slow down I could hear them buzzing right behind me so I'd speed up again. Finially I just couldn't run any more and stopped, resigned to my fate. Turned out over a half dozen had caught their stingers in my jacket and I just couldn't hear them till I slowed down. Only got stung twice though.
 

2dogs

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Santa Cruz CA
I believe the difference between a wasp and a bee is that wasps eat meat and bees are vegeterians.

California has an abundance of both. Yellow jackets (meat bees, camisas amarillas) are attracted to what I'm attracted to. Darn inconvienient. I have a business clearing brush and trees so meat bees and I have a close personal relationship. If I disturb a nest they let me know. I get stung about a dozen times a year, they usually go for my head and get stuck in my hair. Bzzzz--ouch! $#$@&!! The pain only lasts a few minutes though. If I can't avoid a nest I carry a bee vail, slip it on and spray the nest with bee bopper. Thisof course dosen't kill all the meat bees who are out of the nest.
 

Xrunner

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[ QUOTE ]
Phaserburn said:
Not sure I want to call this a positive, but skunks like to dig up the nest and eat the larvae. Yuck, but it's better than me having to get one of those torch thingies and burn them out!

[/ QUOTE ]

I like playing... I mean working with the torch thingie. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif I've dealt with several of the underground nests and it seems like gas and a match worked for me. I tried a few of the sprays and chemicals and they just didn't seem to do the trick for underground nests. Maybe I just like playing with fire. I do like the sprays for the hanging nests though.

-Mike
 

James S

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My great aunt used to just pour gas down the nests when she found them on her farm in Iowa. This was a long time ago now, it was not necessary to actually set them on fire. The gas killed them just fine.

Course, you have to get closer than I would have liked to pour it on them...
 

Xrunner

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I personally like the fire because it finishes off any that come out to get you. I would guess that it doesn't even burn down into the nest, just on the surface for a little bit.

-Mike
 

Darell

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LOCO is more like it.
Diesel or kerosene is just as effective as gasoline, and is less dangerous. And as James points out, igniting the fuel does nothing more to kill the pests. None of these things is great for pouring into the ground, of course. Especially if groundwater is used for anything nearby. Two simple and safe ways of eliminating ground nests are: 1. Fill the hole with water (fill the hole, and just leave the water barely trickling enough to keep the hole filled overnight). 2. Fill the hole with sand and put something over the original opening. I've used both of these methods (and kerosene, but don't tell anybody) and have had excellent results.

I have NO problem destroying nests once they're formed. What I want to do is prevent them from building nests in the first place. And to accomplish that, the little buggers need to be caught early in the spring when they're scouting for a place to set up shop. One caught in spring is worth many hundreds in the middle of the summer. This part I know to be true. The problem after they've formed nests at my house, is that they've also formed nests all over the neighborhood. And when the BBQ comes out, the annoying little buzzers just don't respect property lines like they should.
 

Double_A

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In a discussion years ago on alt.rec. backpacking I heard a few people refer to them as meat bees. The discussion progressed to this joke

Q: If regular bees make honey, what kind of bees make milk?
A: Boo Bees

Sorry about that /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

GregR
 

BlindedByTheLite

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there's a hornet nest in the corner of my friend's deck downstate.. they allow us to walk freely around it, within inches, and carry on usual yard work and siding maintenence..
i've in fact, peeked my eye into the hole in the deck as there were hornets leaving and entering.. they don't seem to give a sh*t, they just don't like heavy vibrations i think.. but then again, they don't seem to bother you when you're walking across the deck either!
i blame attacks on hornet-gangs.. their society's as corrupted as ours!

For Double A:
spacer.gif
 

BlindedByTheLite

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okay.. for some reason an image i'm trying to display wont work..
here goes again..

it wont work! ahhh screw it!

it was a picture of a bunch of bees dressed up in halloween costumes.. and it said.. "show me your boo bees"
spacer.gif
 
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