help! yellow jackets

We have yellow jackets that have nested under our vinyl siding where it meets our rubble foundation, inches from our water spigot and 3' from our back door. We have used 4 cans of spray (herbal and chemical) but it just can't reach them. we've been trying deterrents for many weeks before they got so bad, to no avail. Their gap-entrance is protected by a 4" post so there's a small opening, then they slip under the siding and out of sight. I'm thinking of saturating a rag or old sock with the permethrin spray and shoving it into the space between the siding and the post.

We have other nuisance nests too... I've used a length of conduit as a top to a trellis system for years but this year they nested inside of them. They swarm the tomatoes and us. For these I was thinking of capping them off and just trapping them.

I don't like to do these things but we just keep getting stung and we're scared to touch the water spigot or pick tomatoes! My son got stung 3 times on his ears and neck just walking through the garden after a sweaty bike ride. I know permethrins aren't safe for cats (which have also been stung on their poor faces). Also I know some of you won't agree with my choice to eradicate but, please, that is precisely what I need help with at this point.

You might have to get under there and spray from the inside of your crawlspace (if you have one!). They are probably just using the hole to access the nest somewhere farther than right at the entry point.

I had roughly the same situation with these dirtbags and I just shot expanding foam into the cracks. No more groundhorns. At least not right there!

They started it. I got stung so many times this year, just walking around. I haven't been stung in years!

M Waisman wrote: My son got stung 3 times on his ears and neck just walking through the garden after a sweaty bike ride.

They are clearly looking for water, i guess you do not have any permanent water features, right?

In my experience they get docile when they have enough water.

Once i had a plastic container that i threw my used platic pots into, and they made a nest in one of those pots.
The container would partially fill with water so they were on an island.
They did not even bother when i moved their nest when i took pots out of the container.

So just try to give them enough access to water, and they won't bother your family or your tomatoes anymore.

Please update us here, if that worked out.

PS: You do want yellow jackets in your garden! They are not after you, they are after the mosqitoes!

Supplying "bee" water is a great idea. (But I don't fault you for eradicating them. I want them in the garden, not on the house.)

I also like the idea of offering water first, if it isn't already available. I noticed early this spring a wasp flying while carrying a larvae near our back door. It then landed beside my head on the siding and crawled into one of the drain holes in the bottom of the piece of siding. Since then, I've seen the same thing, almost every day, often a few times a day. I try my best not to show them any notice, and my family has done the same so far without issue. I have a small birdbath setup right beside that door, and many different small container-type water sources throughout the property, that I'm sure helps keep them somewhat more docile.

I have also dealt with yellow jackets and bald-faced hornets. They are usually ok on their own, while foraging etc.. ..but they are often fierce protectors of their nests, and sometimes their nests are in a bad spot for us to co-exist.

My method of dealing with it is to cover myself completely, with tightly sealing layers and a wide brimmed mosquito-net hat, (maybe a bee-keepers suit would be ideal.?) so that I have little/no chance of being stung. Then I get my tools, and a smoky area to retreat to. I take apart what is needed to get to the hive and destroy it as quickly as possible. I've used metal cans with a small amount of gas in them, (danger!) and cut the nest off into the can and sealed it. Just as it's getting dark is best, as they are mostly in the nest then. Sometimes the ones that I didn't get will rebuild in the same spot. I sometimes spray some hornet spray where the nest was to try and deter the rebuilding.

Getting rid of ground nesting yellow jackets has been much more difficult in our sandy soil. I've only succeeded with the help of some brave wild creature who dug up my mostly failed flooding contraption to eat the nest.

Here, it seems this year is the year of the beetle, and I am thankful to the wasps here. Based on this observation, I am expecting next year for there to be a boom in the wasp population again.

We had too many yellow jackets this year (they love caterpillars and it was a bad year for that).  That is until the bald faced hornets moved in to the neighbourhood.  I don't know where their nest is, but it's fun to watch them catch the yellow jackets and desiccate them like a spider does it pray.

I would take our hornets any day as they don't care about humans unless you attack them or their nest.  But then again, get on their bad side and they will swarm you way worse than yellow jackets.  

The squirrels or raccoons are also going after the yellow jacket nests right now so they are having a rough time of it.  Alas, I can't muster up the energy to feel sad for them.  

When they are in the ground,  I just put a tomato cage over them with a sign and we all coexist. No, I don't really want them nesting in my garden. Yes, we have lots of water- in the garden, nearby livestock pens, etc. They are not attracted to the spigot or nearby watering cans, cat's water dish, etc at all but meat/bones, pears/apples- yes, so it appears it's minerals and sugars attracting them. This year is virtually mosquito-free.  (Thanks for the reminder of how nice that is!! I keep forgetting to appreciate what's not there).

I can't access them from the crawl space inside as it's all sealed up. I thought about spray foam but that may not play nice with the vinyl siding and I don't want to create a problem or project.  The problem is the sprays are meant for contact, at least the ones we've used with permethrin. I'm not sure I want a stronger chemical but I wonder if there's some other product that they just won't pass through to get into their hidey hole. I think I'll try the soaked rag idea next.

M Waisman wrote:. Yes, we have lots of water- in the garden, nearby livestock pens, etc. They are not attracted to the spigot or nearby watering cans, cat's water dish, etc at all

What exactly is your lots of water? The things you listed is water that is changed/used on a daily basis, and are also hard to access for them.
How is a wasp suposed to drink from a watering can? Those usually have smoth surfaces that are aligned at a 90° to the water surface.
Also fresh/regularly changed water sometimes contains clorine...

Do you have something like a small pond? During the summer i sometimes observe 10-20 Wasps at the same time drinking from a sunken 50 gallon plastic pond...be sure to throw in some branches to provide good access to the water (and for animals to get out of the water...a dead rat in a pond is a rather nasty thing).

Do you get my point?

Edit:
Added y picture of the aforementioned pond:

Humorously, I got stung yesterday for the first time in several years. I foolishly picked up a bucket with a large curled lip, without looking at it first, and the whole universe lit up with the pain of that protein entering my finger. :) I didn't see what got me, but the adjacent joints still ache 12 hours later. They're not nesting there so it must have been just visiting.

I try to top this up every day that it isn't raining so they have a water source in the middle of the garden:

To thin out problem wasps, I set up a shop vac with a 10' pipe as an extension to the nozzle. I prop it up in front of their hole, turn it on, and walk away for a while. Bump bump bump down the pipe they go. When I turn it off, I seal the end of the pipe. They usually expire in a day or so. If necessary, I will unseal the pipe and repeat the treatment the next day.

Oh my gosh. That's a bit of genius. I loathe buying aerosal sprays, though I am far less tempted to encourage aggressive, nonnative stinging beasties in my walls and garden. This is exactly why I have a bucket of random pipes and tubes. I suppose vacuuming up some  essential oil soaked cotton ball might decrease the expiration time...maybe not. Thank you for sharing a practical solution Douglas Alpenstock! I appreciate it.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:To thin out problem wasps, I set up a shop vac with a 10' pipe as an extension to the nozzle. I prop it up in front of their hole, turn it on, and walk away for a while. Bump bump bump down the pipe they go. When I turn it off, I seal the end of the pipe. They usually expire in a day or so. If necessary, I will unseal the pipe and repeat the treatment the next day.

I use a shop vac wit water in the bottom so they drown as they are blown into the water.   Doing it at night I was able to vacuum the whole paper nest away until the brood chamber fell and I smashed it.

Hans, sometimes taking out a nest is a practical necessity. I value wasps as pollinators and predators of harmful insects. And yet their life cycle in my area can make them psycho aggressive at a certain stage, especially late in the season. They are territorial, and so am I. If they interfere with me, actions will be taken.

BTW. shop vacs don't have tons of suction power (compared to, say, central vacs). A larger pipe is more effective. The larger, the shorter, the better in terms of results. Seal all joints with tape. Luck!

After several rounds of vacuuming, we have made headway. I'm determined to get the queen out of my home's walls before spring. Once, we did see the queen flying outside of the wall, (very exciting!)  and we got the population low enough that we could safely spray in their nesting hole. Then they proliferated again. The queen must have gone back in and the spray not been enough of a deterrent. It's cool this week and they are less active so I'm not sure what's working and what is not. The vac is great though, it's cheap and very effective and allows us to use less money and less chemical. We're still struggling with that queen. I did find a Tuff Stuff expanding spray foam that is treated...we may resort to that if yesterday's vac session didn't do it. It's nice to be able to use the hose again!

Our foundation is fieldstone so it's a couple of feet thick...they must have quite a cavern.

the queen is the only one that will survive though winter. getting the queen is key in relocating or destroying wasps and bees.
there were so many wasps in my 150 year old house when I moved in it was downright dangerous. they decimated my honey bee hives and the wasps I had were red wasps with black wings.super aggressive  they attacked in swarms much like africanized bees. I finally after 10 years pretty much got it under control. for this year anyway.

As I recall, a nest produces a number of young queens, who hibernate and build new nests in spring. So, wiping out a nest at the right time may prevent a lot more nests next season.

yup, all true! that's why i'm determined to get this queen out of my walls this fall. any more tips to do so are welcomed! the shop vac is running again now.

I would try spraying vinegar around the opening and try to get the vinegar up inside where the yellow jackets are.

May be as they fly out the yellow jacket might come in contact with the vinegar.

Our local farm supply store sells yellow jacket traps. They consist of a heavy translucent 1/2 gallon plastic bag with a small 1" diameter hole in the top. You put some of the supplied attractant in the bag and screw on the yellow plastic top which has a plastic mesh cone that extends a little ways into the bag. The yellow jackets are attracted to the color and the odor and go into the bag and can't find their way out. Hang the bag near the nest. As the yellow jackets get trapped and stressed, they release pheromones that attract more yellow jackets. When the bag is full, throw it away and get another trap.
With the trap top in place there is no noticeable odor but the yellow jackets sure can smell it. You will drain that nest of all of it's foragers. The traps don't appear to attract bees or the less aggressive garden helper wasps.

Steve Mendez wrote:Our local farm supply store sells yellow jacket traps. They consist of a heavy translucent 1/2 gallon plastic bag with a small 1" diameter hole in the top. You put some of the supplied attractant in the bag and screw on the yellow plastic top which has a plastic mesh cone that extends a little ways into the bag.  

Interesting report! I haven't used the store bought versions. In a bad year, I make my own from clear 2 litre pop bottles with the top cut off and inverted.

The challenge is the attractant -- at certain phases the wasps are looking for sweet/fermented and at other times they're looking for meat.