Yellow Jackets are assholes.

[footfootfoot]

After the most recent Yellow Jacket pogrom, I discovered a bunch of YJs flying next to my foundation and crawling into the pebbles and disappearing. They were coming and going at an alarming rate. Groups of three every few seconds.

They had made a nest inside either the foundation wall (dry laid stone) or in the foam insulation that is covering the wall.

Thanks to Glatt [mad props] I modified the bee vacuum idea and got one of my old shop vacs, put a fresh bag in it and I've been running it for a few hours. The first five minutes, I caught over a hundred YJs. After an hour my wife complained about the noise (heh heh wait till she sees the electric bill) so I shut down operations.

Today, a week later, she is out all day and I have it going full steam. The plan is to vacuum for a day or until I don't see anymore, then wait a few days to see if the queen hatches any more guys or if she starves since no one is feeding her.

House nesting bees are very hard to eradicate as the sprays don't reach them. They require fogging or dust or some shit that I don't have handy and don't feel like buying.

I'll post a picture of the contents when it is all said and done.

[BigV]

have to repeat your mad props yo to glatt for turning me on to that (woodworking)porn site. ... woodgears.ca or somesuch. I am **so** gonna follow his footsteps for some projects. I'm not as neat as he is, but I'm twice the scavenger, so... it will probably even out.

[glatt]

The guy is sharp.

But he's cut back on updating his web page as he's aged.

I'm not sure if you have been to his home page. It has better links to a lot of his stuff.
http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/index.html

[xoxoxoBruce]

Just pour a little gas down the hole and light it.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Just pour a little gas down the hole and light it.

That would solve a number of problems.

[Cyber Wolf]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Just pour a little gas down the hole and light it.

My dad did this when I was a kid to eradicate a nest of ground wasps in the front yard. The ensuing fireworks were fantastic. From inside the house. Where the angry wasp fireballs couldn't get me.

The lesson learned from that spectacle: make sure you plug up ALL of the outlying exit holes, lest you stand beside one and be subjected to roaring, buzzing, stinging flames.

[BigV]

LO

*oshit* RUN FORREST RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

L

[xoxoxoBruce]

A friend of mine was attacked by Yellow Jackets coming out of the ground while mowing. He poured a little gas down the hole, but could still hear them buzzing down there. So he poured a little more down, still buzzing. Rinse repeat... several times. Finally decided if he couldn't drown 'em, he'd burn 'em.

I didn't see him do it but I saw the hole... 2 feet in diameter at the surface, at least 3 feet deep, and he couldn't hear for a week.

[ZenGum]

Did it fix the YJs, though?

[xoxoxoBruce]

Well, that nest.