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  • Mazdax605

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:41 a.m. Mazdax605 Reader

    Hey guys,

    well for the past two to three days we have had a ridiculous amount of yellow jackets in our house,and buzzing around our rear sliding door. My wife also said she noticed a noise in the wall that sounded like mice. So I set some traps,and got nothing. I thought about it some more,and figured out the noise is the yellow jackets. I did some investigating,and there is a small hole between the side of the house,and our chimney. Also there appears to be a small opening between the mantel,and the fireplace bricks on the inside of the house which is where they appear to be getting in the house. What should I do? expanding foam on the holes,and forget about them? Foam on the inside,and then some bee killer spray? Call an exterminator $$$$$???

    Help we are being taken over by yellow-jackets!!!!

  • Toyman01

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:50 a.m. Toyman01 HalfDork

    Plug the inside hole to keep them out of the house. Beyond that, ??? Maybe wasp and hornet spray. I can't think of any way to get rid of them without getting eaten alive by them. Good luck.

    How about a tank of CO2, plug the inside hole, stick the hose in the outside hole and gas them for an hour or two.

  • Woody

    Sept. 5, 2009 10:05 a.m. Woody SuperDork

    I bought one of those bag traps last week and I'm surprised at how effective it has been.

    We had an exterminator come in for bees a few years ago and the cost was $200.

  • shuttlepilot

    Sept. 5, 2009 10:13 a.m. shuttlepilot Reader

    Those things made a nest one year inside the siding of my house. I got my miniature black hole device (i.e. vacuum cleaner with a bag) and held it over their exit for a while till I got a whole bunch of them. There was no colony after that.

  • pigeon

    Sept. 5, 2009 10:23 a.m. pigeon Reader

    Plug their entrances to the inside of your house and then use the old shop vac over their exterior entrance. Follow up with a strong dose of spray yellow jacket killer. Wear protective clothing. Good luck!

  • carguy123

    Sept. 5, 2009 10:39 a.m. carguy123 Dork

    Gasoline always works well on flying insects. I'm just sayin

  • joey48442

    Sept. 5, 2009 10:41 a.m. joey48442 SuperDork

    Definately don't plug the outside hole until they are gone, you don't want them coming into the house trying to find a way out.

    Joey

  • aussiesmg

    Sept. 5, 2009 11:22 a.m. aussiesmg Dork

    carguy123 wrote:

    Gasoline and a match always works well on flying insects. I'm just sayin

    fixed that for ya

  • 914Driver

    Sept. 5, 2009 11:27 a.m. 914Driver SuperDork

    Any bee keepers near you? Maybe a can of smoke can put them in LaLaLand and then shop vac them up.

    Never had bees, but I've got an active Chipmunk Relocation Program ongoing.

  • mad_machine

    Sept. 5, 2009 11:42 a.m. mad_machine UberDork

    I have to wonder if the shopvac would be more effective with the inside hole left unblocked.. you would get some good crossflow going on..

    The only problem I see with using a shopvac.. eventually you need to turn if off and if you do not have a way to block the hose.. you are going to be holding a big can of angry wasps.

    And bug spray is explosive.... just saying it MIGHT be a bad idea to spray bugspray down the tube while it is running. Might be fun, but a bad idea to be near it when it explodes

  • MitchellC

    Sept. 5, 2009 3:17 p.m. MitchellC HalfDork

    You could try this to kill the wasps in the shop vac: Line the bottom with paper towels or old shirts, and dump a big bottle of nail polish remover in it. When you're done, plug up the hose with a sock and let it sit for the rest of the day. Consider it a kill jar on a really big scale.

  • EastCoastMojo

    Sept. 5, 2009 7:37 p.m. EastCoastMojo Dork

    I don't believe any bee keeper is going to have anything to do with a yellow jacket nest

  • PHeller

    Sept. 5, 2009 7:56 p.m. PHeller HalfDork

    powder insect killer works pretty well. It's so effective that as soon as the bugs inhale it they will get so disoriented they won't really be able to attack you.

    I used it alot over the summer with some pretty effective results.

  • Woody

    Sept. 5, 2009 8:23 p.m. Woody SuperDork

    I've made traps it the past that have worked well.

    Get a 2 liter bottle of non-diet orange soda. Drink or dump out all but the last three inches of it. Drill three or four 1/4 inch holes, opposite of one another, near the top of the flat part of the side, just below the curve of the dome. Then screw the cap on tight.

    They can smell the sugar and will find their way in. But they can't find their way back out again and will drown a sweet sugary death.

    DO NOT filter the dead bees out and drink the rest of the soda.

  • SkinnyG

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:00 p.m. SkinnyG Reader

    There's only one solution - try and make it look like an accident.

    I'm kidding....

  • NYG95GA

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:05 p.m. NYG95GA SuperDork

    Bees do like a little hole. One of our rental properties had a doorbell wiring problem, so I removed the button by the door, leaving a ~5/8" hole. a while later, the neighbor called complaing about honey bees coming from the house. When I went to see about it, I found that a Queen had moved into the wall, and her minion was busy building a honeycomb.

    I'm aware of the recent shortage of the bees, so I went to the Ag dept. and got the name of a beekeeper who could relacate them. I didn't want to kill them, but the next day when I went back, the neighbor had taken it upon himself to fill the hole with bug spray. Not only did he eradicate a valuable pollinator, but he ruined the honeycomb as well.

    Yellow Jackets, OTOH, you should kill the hell out of them.

  • pinchvalve

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:26 p.m. pinchvalve UltraDork

    I have been dealing with the same issue. I got them out of a landscaping wall by killing them buy the hundreds and then sealing every crack and hole. They then took up residence in my back yard where they would sting me every time I lawn-mowed over their hole. Three different holes, each time I would kill, drown, then bury them...but they keep coming back. And love stinging my ankles. I am considering tactical nukes.

  • Mazdax605

    Sept. 5, 2009 9:29 p.m. Mazdax605 Reader

    One of the Berkleyers stung me earlier while laying on the couch watching the boob tube.

    I filled the hole on the inside,and sprayed three cans of long distance hornet spray at them that I got from work(utilities keep this stiff stocked). I am not sure that it killed them,but there was very little spotted in the house after this,but that one prick got me good.

  • ddavidv

    Sept. 6, 2009 6:12 a.m. ddavidv UltraDork

    PHeller wrote:

    powder insect killer works pretty well. It's so effective that as soon as the bugs inhale it they will get so disoriented they won't really be able to attack you.

    I used it alot over the summer with some pretty effective results.

    This is the only thing that has ever worked for me and it's what my neighbor, a former exterminator, recommended.

  • minimac

    Sept. 7, 2009 8:35 a.m. minimac Dork

    I use a 1 gallon spray and mix a batch of Malathion(sp?). It's made by Ortho and you can get it at Wally world, or any Ag store, for about $8. Ignore what it says on the label...trust me, it will annihilate yellow jackets. It calls for 1 tablespoon per gallon of water....wrong. Mix it STRONG! I dump 2 or 3 ounces into the gallon sprayer then fill up the tank. The stronger the better. Make sure that the interior holes are plugged well, and then standing UPWIND, spray the stuffings out of the exterior hole-while trying to get the spray into the hole. Be prepared, they will come charging out , but keep spraying away. I haven't found anything that is more cost effective or works as well. repeat as necessary the next day or two and you will kill them all. In spring I'll spray around the foundation and all of the eaves. I'll do it again mid-August and I've never had a problem with bees or bugs.

  • wbjones

    Sept. 7, 2009 10:54 a.m. wbjones Reader

    found a giant yellow jackets nest today while cutting the crass.... an area that hadn't been cut in several weeks... the hole in the ground is ~ 6"-8" across... I spotted them before they found me...hehehe..... I'll go back tonight when they are all "home" and pour gas down the hole and follow it with a match...

  • Rumnhammer

    Sept. 7, 2009 10:58 a.m. Rumnhammer Reader

    I found out last weekend that plain rubbing alchoal works well. Kills yellowjackets dead, and leaves no poisonus resudue. My yellowjackets were in a bird feeder, so I put the rubbing alchoal in a spray bottle and shot them, I did also then throw a match on for a firey finish but the alchol by itself is pretty effective.

    Chris Rummel

  • pete240z

    Sept. 7, 2009 1:46 p.m. pete240z Dork

    carguy123 wrote:

    Gasoline always works well on flying insects. I'm just sayin

    I was at my Dad's doing yard work today and he mentioned a yellow jacket nest and how gasoline works well.

    So he (age 74) pours gas into an empty McDonalds styrofoam coffee cup and I start laughing telling him that is a bad idea. Three minutes later he is running out of his garage with the cup eaten through and gasoline pouring everywhere.....so then my bro had to wash the floor down.

  • NYG95GA

    Sept. 7, 2009 2:14 p.m. NYG95GA SuperDork

    Yeah, gasoline in styrofoam is a certain fail. I have used mineral spirits (paint thinner) in foam cup for taking out wasp nests. Splash them with the spirits, and they drop like stones. Actually works as well or better than those cool spray cans that shoot 25-30 feet. Might kill your grass, though; I'm not sure. I know gas certainly will.

  • Sept. 7, 2009 2:59 p.m. mistanfo Dork

    Dead grass is just collateral damage. Same with burnt grass. It'll grow back.

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