Help! Yellow Jackets!!!

[Blameitonbrio]

We have a nest of yellow jackets in our paddock which Grayson and Nisha discovered today. Once they discovered them, Nisha started bucking; Grayson bailed and got stung seven times; Nisha ran to safety of the barn to wait for her feed. Bailey came running to the house to get me and I go out to the paddock to find that Grayson has shucked her pants, because the yellow jackets got inside them! Like an idiot, I picked up her pants not realizing that they were still occupied by yellow jackets. We ran screaming to the house with at least one angry jacket behind us. It was quite the freakshow.

I gave Grayson benedryl, because she has never been stung before, and I didn't knwo how she would react. Once things calmed down, I went to untack Nisha who was waiting patiently in her stall and I fed the critters. I fetched the pants which had finally been abandoned and located the hive in the ground.

I went to the local gas station and got 2 gallons of kerosene. I want to go out and douse the yellow jackets and light a match while I am still PO'ed at the yellow jackets, but I made the mistake of googling "how to kill yellowjackets". It seems that agencies charged with dispensing such information discourage using gas or kerosene; but it also seems lots of people do it anyway. How do you all deal with yellow jackets? Can I douse them and send them to yellow jacket hell?

[Cindy]

Douse them. You don't need to set it on fire though.

[Beth Worden]

They sell this stuff that is for wasps and bees in Home Depot and it shoots like 25 feet eliminating your exposure and it really works. Kills the larva, etc and grown bees. The other alternative is to use a propane torch - like you use to unthaw frozen copper pipes in winter? Oh wait a minute I see you are from NC so the thawing torch is probably an enigma to you LOL. I don't ever use gasoline or kerosene because my creeks (horses drinking water) runs thru my paddock and pasture so gas is out.

BTW - the Benedryl works for horses too. My vet had me use 10 of the 25mg pills when one of my ponies got plastered with ground bees.

Hope everyone is OK, now. Good luck.

edited to change dosage of 25mg rather than 250!

[CarolU]

Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer. It shoots about 20 feet away. You don't have to be near and it kills them dead.

Great stuff...go through 3-4 cans every year.

[Kerry W]

Our neighbor got into a nest of them one day...he poured gas down into the hole and set it on fire. The next day, there was a spot of dead grass about 15' in diameter...the nest was THAT large! If you saw that many, there are many, many more.

:hug Sorry Grayson...hope you feel better, and give Nisha some sympathy scritches for me.

[Blameitonbrio]

Hee hee! Beth, I haven't used a propane torch to thaw pipes, but we have used a hair dryer to thaw the well pump one winter! So do you just use the propane torch (we do have one of those) to burn them out?

This stuff from Home Depot and the Raid...does it aim pretty easily? I am a good aim, but I would hate to not hit them well enough and have them ticked off -- they are a little on the grouchy side. Of course, I would do it at night.

Cindy, if I choose to douse them with kerosene, how likely are they to get out of the hole before the kerosene offs them? Do I need to suit up first?
:shock:

Darn it! I really wanted to light those little $%^&* up!

[LynnG]

I have doused an in ground yellow jacket nest before with gasoline.... do it after dark when they aren't busy. Douse good and run. The cooler weather at night can make them testier this time of year. I wouldn't set it on fire...don't want to chance an out of control fire. Its been so dry.

I had bought 4 cans of that kills hornets on contact... it didn't work...slows them down and may eventually do them in with multiple hits. I had a nasty hornet nest being built in my old oak tree right by the house. I doused the nest enough though, they left.

[baileyholc]

Douse them beast and run like the dickens. If you can get the gas in and around the hole they will die. Of course if you torch it, make sure you have plenty of water near bye to put it out and you call the fire department to make sure its ok to start a small fire. Good luck.

[Monty]

Use the Raid at evening - works for us - saturate the hole or nest !
They seem to be really bad all over this year :roll:
I have gone through nearly 4 cans -

[Boyd R]

any fuel will contaminate the soil.

Get some Seven dust go out after dark when they are in active and pour it over the hole. They will all be dead by the end of the day.

[motorgypsy]

We've always used Raid or one of the other wasp killers and it's worked fine on yellow jacket nests as well as a huge paper wasp nest. Kerosene and gas etc. will kill the grass and it won't grow for quite a while. And the cans do shoot for about 20 feet. They empty fast though so you might want more than one can if it's big. We sprayed the paper wasp nest (over a foot in diameter) two separate days right into the opening and the second day took care of the few stragglers.

[Mellifluous]

My brother did the gas and douse thing once. He set the entire front yard on fire and nearly burnt the house down.

Remember, only you can prevent forest fires. ;-)

[LynnG]

My yellow jacket nest in the ground was directly under my wooden rail fence up the driveway. No way after I poured gas directly in the hole was I setting it on fire...I had the pickup truck nearby and got back in the truck fast after the hit...(after dark). It did work....you don't want them coming after you once they are mad. Your first hit needs to be very effective...and cover up with clothes.

[Blameitonbrio]

Well...we decided to try the Sevin Dust first. Tony dumped it last night. We will see how it worked today. If it didn't work, the gloves are off; and those suckers will be drinking kerosene tonight!

[Boyd R]

it will work. If applied to the hole they have to track through it to come in and out. those going in track on into the nest. You got em safe and easy

[Blameitonbrio]

It worked. A couple of groggy ones were disposed of with boots this morning. Interestingly enough, something tore out the nest overnight...racoons maybe?

[appyday]

It worked. A couple of groggy ones were disposed of with boots this morning. Interestingly enough, something tore out the nest overnight...racoons maybe?

Cool...I dont know what tore out the nest but glad they are gone..