I discovered the yellow jacket nest yesterday while picking figs, the usual way, getting stung by the little terrorists.
I went back after the first sting, stood at a distance, unmoving to observe and find the nest…this time it got me right between my eyes…my third eye has a permanent stinger in it now…kidding about the 3rd eye but not about that stinger!
Ps: found out, they put pheramones on you after the 1st bite, so dont go back and stand anywhere where they they can well smell you
Ps: was able to alleviate all of the YJ stinging pain by using crushed plantain leaf(its a weed). This thing works fast, crush ,apply and put tape pver it to hold in place for a min of 2 mins…longer would help to get stinger out. I have heard activated charcoal works the same way, but i have only used plantain for fast relief. IT works!.
Looking for ideas to eradicate without using poisons as this is very close to the base 2 of my enormous fig trees. They are heavily loaded with fruit (10 lbs every day) but i cant pick it.
Help! The following ideas collected so far. Anyone used any of the below techniques and what kind of success did you have?
Ideas collected so far:
after dark, put a hose in the nest and run water
after dark, put dry ice, and put screen over it, cover with a bowl/bucket
anytime. Electric fly swatter over the nest. The swatter would need a some kind of fabric velcroed to the edge sp they only use the swatter screen to move in and out of nest…sounds dangerous if the swatter runs out of juice before killing the YJ’s
dish washing fluid in the hole, hose in water
hot water + dishwashing fluid
works only in VA. Call them to do a free extraction of hornets/yellow jackets. They are used for research. https://venomcollect.com/
Maybe not all that much better than poison, but when I was a boy, we used to use gasoline. It kills them very fast because it can easily diffuse through their shell and get inside their bodies, and I think it also at least partially dissolves the oil or wax coating of their shell, which also kills them.
It helps that the vapor is heavier than air, so it tends to sink down into the hole, and the liquid has a low viscosity, so it flows very easily, again helping it penetrate deeper into the nest.
I suspect diesel fuel would be similarly effective, maybe more so.
(If you’re feeling really vindictive, you could try to set it on fire after, only, don’t if you’re using gasoline–that’s a very easy way to spend three months in a burn center enjoying the most excruciating pain known to man.)
Not sure pouring fuel on the ground is considered best practice nowadays… Sure was more effective than water though.
I have this worked for me when we got them in concrete crack.Tempo Dust, Tempo 1% Dust - Free Shipping
Because it is dust it doesn’t have to go deep in the soil. I would do the following: Take a bucket with a hole in its side somewhere close to the top of the bucket(to watch that nobody comes out). At night dust the powder in the nest opening and cover with the bucket(push into soil) so rain and dew wouldn’t dissolve the powder. Wait for couple days and remove the bucket, use your shovel to remove contaminated soil. In a mean time while you are waiting for the stuff, put on double pants, rubber boots, rain jacket, leather cloves taped around your wrists and mosquito or bee net on your face and a hat. And go pick your figs!
I’d sprinkle some carbaryl on the nest at night but if you want something organic I’d pour 2 gallons of water with some soap at close to boiling temperature.
Yes, i saw this is really effective but it does mess up the soil. And since this is so close to root system of both fig trees didnt want to risk soil contamination . It will be a nightmare to dig out the bad soil as figs robust network of very sturdy fibrous roots
I will be doing this tonight. I think i did something similar about 15 or so years ago. But dony remember the exact details now, if i just used the hose or something else.
(Lighting gasoline will work if you’re careful…done it many times and never had to visit hospital or burn center…I think I’ve had a few singed hairs on the back of my hands perhaps.) (The key is being far enough from the ‘explosion’ depending on the amount you’ve used. Can be done more than one method…you could toss a lighted coal or stick on the gas from a distance–or you could make some dribbles of fuel on the ground several feet from the hole and carefully light the farthest point from the main place you
are trying to burn.)
Of course, kerosene or diesel is much less explosive. But I’ve always used what I had handy in such scenarios.
I am working on getting some kind of head gear set up with net to cover face. My fear with protective gear is those little stinkers stay on you…so when i go back home to remove the gear, they will not only be able to get inside the house but go on a stinging party.
I had them build a mest in the side of my house. I put a shop vac on my roof with some duct tape to hold the hose next to the exit. Turned it on and collected them while they were leaving and returning to the nest. I ran it most of the day for 3 days, and they were all collected. Rubber banded a plastic bag over the hose to make sure they couldn’t get out for a few days, then emptied to a trash bag.
Use repellent 25% deet on the net and your clothes. They would not sit on it. At least not when you far from the nest. Or you can freshly spray them when you are close to home.
I ironically found a yellow jacket nest a few days ago under a fig tree too. I was able to go out at midnight and pour a milk jug (gallon) of water down the nest with one t spoon of Spinosad in it. To my surprise there was not a single bee moving at sunrise the next day. I did add a few drops of dish soap to the mix to help it stick and coat the yellow jackets.
The warning labels on Spinosad say do not spray near bees because it kills them. I just figured if it kills honey and bumble bees it should kill yellow jackets.
Dead as a door nail now. No stings. I just inverted the milk jug and walked away while it was glug gluging down the nest hole.
You can put a glass bowl over the entrance(s). Just make sure it’s snug against the ground all of the way around so they can’t sneak out. After 4-7 days they’re usually all dead. No nasty chems needed.
Yep thats what it felt like. The sting on the forehead was quick, it flew away. But the sting on ab, YJ was stuck on the skin and had to be pulled out…left a mark too. What puzzles me, the YJ disappeared on its own without me doing a thing.
