Yellow Jacket nest

[rb.]

Ought, could you use a super-soaker water gun, filled with a eugenol oil or pyritherin (sp?) product from the window, saturating that whole area under the grass? Might give you enough time and cover to get out there and find the holes, after a half hour, or so?

[occupant]

Oh fer crissakes O6, we just had to deal with this very thing.Ya don't have to go out there at midnight, just at dusk.We are on a well too and the nest was too close for much poison. We had an underground nest that was between a large Alberta Spruce and our brick house. The Spruce is right up against the house. The yellow jackets made a nest in the root system of the Spruce ! My DH snuck out there a couple evenings in a row and spread open the Spruce with a couple sheets of sheet metal. Then for the next few evenings he sprayed the shiet outta the Spruce at the root line.He also sprayed any YJ 's he saw during the day. There were hundreds of dead YJs lying about after that. He didn't get one sting over the course of a week. Spruce tree looks like it is OK and nary a YJ since. Now get yer bunz out there and start spraying ASAP.
As an aside, the YJ's were going after my hummingbird feeder and hummingbirds so badly that I decided to bait the buggers away from the feeder. I put grape jelly in my Oriole feeder about 50' away. The Orioles have been gone awhile but those YJs hang around that feeder instead of anywhere near my hummers. Cool, it worked !

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by occupant

Oh fer crissakes O6, we just had to deal with this very thing.Ya don't have to go out there at midnight, just at dusk.We are on a well too and the nest was too close for much poison. We had an underground nest that was between a large Alberta Spruce and our brick house. The Spruce is right up against the house. The yellow jackets made a nest in the root system of the Spruce ! My DH snuck out there a couple evenings in a row and spread open the Spruce with a couple sheets of sheet metal. Then for the next few evenings he sprayed the shiet outta the Spruce at the root line.He also sprayed any YJ 's he saw during the day. There were hundreds of dead YJs lying about after that. He didn't get one sting over the course of a week. Spruce tree looks like it is OK and nary a YJ since. Now get yer bunz out there and start spraying ASAP.

Another one who is not listening.

If I could walk up to the nest area easily, no problem. I cannot. I stagger through all that crap and fall down, they wake up and I cannot run away easily. Screw that sh*t. I will stick with the hot water idea.
----------

As an aside, the YJ's were going after my hummingbird feeder and hummingbirds so badly that I decided to bait the buggers away from the feeder. I put grape jelly in my Oriole feeder about 50' away. The Orioles have been gone awhile but those YJs hang around that feeder instead of anywhere near my hummers. Cool, it worked !

Good thinking. Glad it worked.

---------- Post added at 02:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:12 PM ----------

Originally Posted by rb.

Ought, could you use a super-soaker water gun, filled with a eugenol oil or pyritherin (sp?) product from the window, saturating that whole area under the grass? Might give you enough time and cover to get out there and find the holes, after a half hour, or so?

Yeah, I would rather not saturate the area with poison. That did occur to me.

[Susan4]

You know I love yah to bits Ought and I'm not being backbiting, just DIRECT. You're being a wuss. I'd happily come out there and do the job for you but I don't think the airfare bill would out compete the local exterminator. From your pics it really doesn't look like some impenetrable dune scape of quick sand and trenches. But then too in my line work, I tromp through crap like the pics all the time. At this point you are being so scaredy about it you likely would get panicky, trip up, fall down, not get the liquid in the right spot, so an exterminator is probably the best bet or just live with it till winter.

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by Susan4

You know I love yah to bits Ought and I'm not being backbiting, just DIRECT.

I was not talking about you when I referred to 'backbiting'. The person I was talking about knows who they are.
----------

You're being a wuss. I'd happily come out there and do the job for you but I don't think the airfare bill would out compete the local exterminator. From your pics it really doesn't look like some impenetrable dune scape of quick sand and trenches. But then too in my line work, I tromp through crap like the pics all the time. At this point you are being so scaredy about it you likely would get panicky, trip up, fall down, not get the liquid in the right spot, so an exterminator is probably the best bet or just live with it till winter.

I and my landlord both worked in that area on the trench, so I know exactly what it is like trying to get through there. The pictures do not really reveal what a PITA is it, but whatever. I have been stung by yellow jackets before, and I am not eager to get swarmed by a large colony. If that makes me a 'scaredy cat' or 'wuss' in your book, fine by me. I can live with that. I really like you, too, but if you cannot see how less-than-brilliant your advice on the boiling water was, then so be it.

[occupant]

I forgot to say in really big black letters that we sprayed the bee spray(quite a few cans) for a few days over the course of the day, then did the sheet metal panels at dusk thing. Took about a week. The spray shoots from 20' ft away as rryan said earlier. Ya start out shooting what ya can and the residual spray must kill them over time. Hell pull up the car and shoot from the rolled partway down window then roll it quickly back up, if you have to. Try the baiting thing and as the bees get drunk on the sugar from the bowl of jelly they become more docile.Heck I can put my hand up to the bowl to refill it and not a sting. They are satiated, its wierd. Bait em and spray the crap outta the paper plate you put the jelly on.
Ya know we once ignored YJs going into our crawlspace and come winter my DH found a hive as big as a tire, wrapped around our heating duct in that crawlspace. Ignore nomore.

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by occupant

I forgot to say in really big black letters that we sprayed the bee spray(quite a few cans) for a few days over the course of the day, then did the sheet metal panels at dusk thing. Took about a week. The spray shoots from 20' ft away as rryan said earlier. Ya start out shooting what ya can and the residual spray must kill them over time.

At the risk of repeating myself....

From post #53 above:

Yeah, I would rather not saturate the area with poison. That did occur to me.

Hope those letters were big and black enough for you.
----------

Hell pull up the car and shoot from the rolled partway down window then roll it quickly back up, if you have to.

LOL! Go look at the pics again.

I could shoot all the poison I want from the window of my house, but I do not want to spray poison all over the place. If I was okay with that, I would have already just gotten a bottle of pyrethrins, loaded up my garden sprayer and hosed that entire area from the window in back of the house already.
----------

Try the baiting thing and as the bees get drunk on the sugar from the bowl of jelly they become more docile.Heck I can put my hand up to the bowl to refill it and not a sting. They are satiated, its wierd. Bait em and spray the crap outta the paper plate you put the jelly on.

They are not bees. They do not 'get more docile' when it comes to their instinct to protect their nest. There are very large numbers of them in there. They did not survive millions of years on this planet by losing their ability to protect their nest when well-gorged on sugary stuff like ripe fruit.
----------

Ya know we once ignored YJs going into our crawlspace and come winter my DH found a hive as big as a tire, wrapped around our heating duct in that crawlspace. Ignore nomore.

Yep. The nests get huge around here, and by the time you notice them, they are already well established. The sooner you get rid of them, the better.

[Ought Six]

Okay, just to settle a few issues here....

- I am not going to wade in there and get up close and personal with the nest -- period. That would be *STUPID*. Just accept it. If you tell me that I am a craven coward and you expect me to give sh*t about that, you are going to be sorely disappointed.

- Any action I do take will be from the back bedroom window overlooking the nest area.

- Saturation poison attacks are out. Not going to happen.

- No fire. I do not want to burn down the place and lose everything I own, thanks.

- Gunfire is out for reasons already explained. Same goes for explosives (I still have one or two 'bird bombs' around; I thought about that, too).

I will investigate the hot water situation this weekend. If there is enough pressure and volume, I will try to blast the nest from the window. I think it is mostly in soft dirt, so if I can get enough power out of the nozzle, that ought to cut through into the nest. My hot water is about 180°, so it will probably kill them on contact. Flooding out the nest with water that hot should do the job. If the nest is exposed, I will follow up when I can with a targeted blast of crap from the can of wasp spray that I already have.

[Sysiphus]

I think your options are: 1) hire a professional, 2) gasoline/kerosene, fire, and lots of it.

[Catbird]

Ought Six,

Welcome to the Kobiyashi Maru. (:::cue music::: )

This scenario was designed, after careful psychological study, to test not only your ability to apply reason and logic to a challenging situation, but also to test the content of your character.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Starfleet Academy


P.S. In the best tradition of Star Fleet, we will have a doctor standing by to announce your death, should it occur. (::: cue voice overs::: )

"He's dead."

"He's dead?"

"He's dead."

"He's dead!"

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by Sysiphus

I think your options are: 1) hire a professional, 2) gasoline/kerosene, fire, and lots of it.

3) Hose with hot water.

4) Wait for the weather to turn.

[sandyd]

Catbird!

I stagger through all that crap and fall down, they wake up and I cannot run away easily.

I'm right and that your agile youth has left the stage!

I can see by the pics it's not super ez but I bet Susan works in worse terrain and has had stinging bugs pissed off at her before. Then again she doesn't 'go it alone' and I can tell you have few options of having help of a friend nearby. I'm a chicken shit alone but as a team I can accomplish much more, in scary situations like this.

So you learned a lot about them evil YJ's and the big question remains....how much danger is there at early evening, dusk of an attack if you spray stuff at them?

[Ought Six]

After hearing some of the suggestions in this thread, I am amazed that we do not have more Darwin Award nominees here.

Then again, some past members did simply stop posting and disappear....

[sandyd]

06, did ya notice how many of the poster HAVE already found ways of dealing with their own stinging flying evil bugs?

We learned you can have a few thousand bees in an old couch, toss it off the porch type area is was on...letting it fall and crash to the ground at night and nary a wicked flyer came after us. They did buzz louder which was scary.

[kaneohegirl]

me watching this thread


ummm no matter what you decide to do with the bugs be careful

[Ought Six]

Originally Posted by kaneohegirl

me watching this thread

It is pretty amusing.
----------

ummm no matter what you decide to do with the bugs be careful

In spite of the sage advice offered here by others, I will do that.

[drummagick]

Originally Posted by kaneohegirl

me watching this thread


ummm no matter what you decide to do with the bugs be careful

You forgot O6 and

[Catbird]

Originally Posted by drummagick

Ohh, I like this one. It's a chortle!!

[sandyd]

PS - But, If you decide to use the shotgun, will you get a friend to video tape it for us, then post it on YouTube?

I second this from Greta!

[Ought Six]

If we could just get a bunch of the people on this thread to come here and carry out their own advice, we could film a great Jackass episode.

[sandyd]

Maybe 06 but I would bet the YJ nest would be gone. We got some tough people here.

It's okay to have a wimpy area.....you wanted a simple ez risk free solution and found there is none.

[Auburn Boy]

Originally Posted by kaneohegirl

me watching this thread


ummm no matter what you decide to do with the bugs be careful

This post deserves a round of:



The rest just:

[Samen]

Someone mentioned shotgun, before i had a chance to say blow them away

[oldasrocks]

I say napalm. Call in an air strike.

[sandyd]

Can that be done with a flying model plane?

Air Strikes are a great idea!

Must YouTube it!!!!!!!!!!!!