Removing an azalea bush with yellowjackets

My front yard has (had) 2 azalea bushes beside of a Juniper tree, and while they looked good when I first moved here, they've grown into a mess. So, I thought it would be good to remove the azalea bushes and replace them with something smaller.

What I did NOT know, though, was that one of them has a yellow jackets nest, either in the bush, or in a hole beneath it! I found this out the hard way.

So, I have a 2-part question:

  1. How can I get rid of yellow jackets without actually seeing the next? I know that I can wait until winter for them to die out on their own, but if I wait then I won't be able to put in other plants to replace the bush. And of course, I don't exactly want to be working on getting rid of this bush when it's 30 degrees outside! LOL

  1. Is there an easier / better way to remove an azalea bush, other than hitting each limb with a saw and then digging out the root? I've already removed one, but that took about 4 hours!

TIA,

Jason

Reply to
Jason Carlton
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A truck, using a chain/tow-strap wrapped around the base of the bush. Rip is out of the ground. Beats 4 hours work.

Reply to
Oren

Look for a while and see if you can locate the nest. Apply Sevin dust.

If you really can't figure out where they are, you can set out a number of bait stations in the vicinity that are dusted or mixed with Sevin. I'd try different bait types, including solid and liquid food stuffs, but if you can get them to walk over dry Sevin, they'll be more likely to bring it back to their nest and spread it.

Removing the plant just takes patience. If you don't have heavy equipment, you can attack the roots with a digging bar or a maul. Leave some stump so you can pull on it with a rope.

Reply to
mike

If they really are yellow jackets, they almost certainly are living in the ground under the bush. Try watching carefully, in the warmest part of the day, and you can probably see where they are entering and exiting.

Unless you're really sure what you're doing, and are definitely not allergic to yellow jacket stings, I'd leave nest removal to a professional. A yellow jacket nest, especially this time of year, could have *thousands* of yellow jackets inside.

Reply to
Seth Goodman

if you can find the nest entrance hole use a long pole to mark its location in the daylight.

then gpo back at night with NO!!! flashlkight or external light source, carry a bucket with a decent amount of gasoline, dump quickly down hole and leave area.

do not ignite gasoline its completely unnecessary

this kills the nest fast although expect straglers that werent back to malinger around the area for aty least a week.....

Reply to
bob haller

Didn't we just beat this 'cure' to death on here a few weeks ago? Using gas on bee nests is dangerous (especially if you are on a well) and usually illegal. Mark the hole with a stick, and go out after dusk with one of those puff dispensers of Sevin, or similar, and dose it. Do it

2-3 nights in a row, and they will die or move on.

Only trouble I have is, whenever I kill a nest, within 2-3 days a skunk (or something) digs it up for the honey, and leaves a huge hole, and bits of comb laying around.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

I have moved a Japaneses Lilac and MANY shrubs this way with great results..Not one died...As far as the Yellow Jackets go use the Sevin dust....

Reply to
benick

I went to Lowes tonight and found Sevin dust, but it didn't mention wasps or yellow jackets as a pest that it would affect. Are there different versions? The one I saw said "kills up to 100 types of insects", and it was around $7 for a small container.

FWIW, aem, I don't think that yellow jackets make honey. They're a type of wasp (I just learned that myself), so they don't even really help with flower pollination. I wonder if the dead bees will attract moles, though? They've been a real problem here.

Reply to
Jason Carlton

Common-use names and actual species often vary. Around here, honey-producing ground-nesting bees are often called yellow jackets, wasps, sweat bees, whatever. All I know, and care about, is if they attack me when I mow the lawn, I want them dead or elsewhere. Plenty of isolated woods and meadows within a 1 mile circle, so not like I am putting the local population at risk or anything. And the pink powder in the puff can that the Farm Bureau Coop store sold me works, even if it doesn't have the Sevin brand name on it.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

I asked my neighbor to remove some bushes that way. I paid him a few buck, but I think he'd have paid me just for the fun of doing it.

Reply to
Ed Pawlowski

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