Yellow Jackets in the Eaves!

[Chris]

Yesterday I discovered yellow jackets entering my house in a corner under the eaves. For some reason there is a corner gap/hole plenty big enough for them to get in. I was just about to climb a ladder when I looked up and saw them swarming around. The entrance is probably 12-15 feet above ground level, so no way to get to the hole without a ladder, and I'm not sure I'd want to be on a ladder next to a bees nest.

Any suggestions for getting rid of these bees? I'm most concerned about damage to the house and honey left behind to attract other problems. Unfortunately that attic isn't really accessible from the inside.

I'm considering using a Wasp & Hornet killer like this

but I can't really spray into the house from the ground. I've also heard these products could stain the siding and wood. I'd also prefer the bugs died outside of the house than embedded within.

I'd appreciate any help or experience at getting rid of interior nests high above ground!

[Robert Allison]

Wasp and hornet spray like the one in your link. Shoots about

20 feet accurately. And yellow jackets don't make honey. Only honeybees do that.

[Toller]

You want too much. What do you care if they die inside or out?

[Richard J Kinch]

If you're up north in a freezing climate, they'll just die off around frost season, at which time you seal up the hole(s). They live off flowers and starve in the fall when the flowers disappear. That's why they're getting so ornery around Labor Day picnic time and going after fruit-scented soft drinks. The queen hibernates to survive over the winter and starts a new colony in the spring.

So simply waiting is very effective.

The petroleum stream in a can is very effective, but it won't get inside your structure to kill the nest. They can be nesting quite a ways away from the entrance, so even tubing in insecticide is not always effective.

A Raid fumigator would do it nicely if you can cut a hole into the space, which is a bit challenging if they decide to come after you for breaching their enclosure. Those things will kill everything in a good sized room.

[Richard J Kinch]

I mean the Raid fumigators will kill all the insects in a large space, not that the insects will get you!

[cc]

go to the web and look for "do it yourself pest control"..they have a powder that kills almost any insect, and willl kill wasps..had 9 nests in my eves, first application killed 7, then used expanding foam to close of crevices..two are still active and will be reapplying thos this weekend..stuff works..can get a rubber pump with a long wand that you can sticik inside the eave..once the powder is tracked to the nest, it is all over..

[buffalobill]

this

I can't really spray

buffalo ny: you might be tempted to use the non-poisonous 4% mint oil spray like you do for the ants but it's too slow and it is an strong irritant to me after spraying half a can on a baseball sized nest. wait until one hour after dark when they are home and nuke them with the aerosol canned long stream of foam. later that week when the giant two-inch body wasp arrives in your home, offer her a 300 watt halogen torchiere floor lamp and turn off other lights. have your window fan ready to exhaust the burning insect smell. repeat when the 1" body wasp arrives a day or 2 later in the bathroom, shut door with lamp on and other lights off.

[Lar]

If they are not getting into the house they are of no concern, though as Winter arrives some may find their way inside through the ceiling penetration of light fixtures or can lighting. Wasps don't make honey so that won't be an issue. They will die out when winter arrives. Yellow jackets will be hundreds of wasps by the end of Summer in an enclosed nest so it will be just blind luck if you can kill them out with the usual sprays/dusts in what you are describing.

Lar

[jmagerl]

I mounted a high speed fan to a 2X4 and than clamped it to a ladder such that the fan was 5 inches from the opening. After 24 hrs of running and being chopped up by the blades, nothing was left and it was safe to nuke the opening with spray. Some people might position a shop vav hose near the opening.

Sometimes the nest is far from the entry hole and spray wont get there. The prefered method is to puff a powdered poison into the hole so that they track the poison to the nest.

[Al Bundy]

Richard J Kinch wrote in news:Xns998580E7A289someconundrum@216.196.97.131:

Where? In the nest in the attic? If that's the case will she croak if all the exits are blocked in the spring? Covering all the entry points after the main clan croaks in winter would seem in order.

[Richard J Kinch]

I'm no entomologist, but having once found a hibernating queen hiding in the winter cold of an empty file cabinet drawer in a detached garage in upstate New York, I suspect that they leave the dying or dead nest and look for an isolated and protected spot. I know that the nest is rich food for things like scavenging skunks. The dead nest would seem to be a risky place to bed down for a long winter's nap, as it would be easily found and scavenged to bits.

On another occasion I accidentally hauled out a live yellow jacket nest from its protection in some rotting lumber, and left it in a bit of a panic. Returning for a look after dark, I discovered -- ugh -- a skunk had found the nest and was feasting upon the tender larvae, with an occasional jump as he was getting constantly stung. Ouch! Yum! Ouch! Yum! Something ironic in attracting a new pest while trying to dispatch another.

[Lar]

It will be "Queens" survive the winter. The late offspring will be next years queens. They will hibernate in any number of protected spaces. I remember a call where the home owner was having some remodeling on a garage in the winter and when a wall was opened up hundreds of hibernating wasps were in the wall. I would say it would be impossible to make your attic sealed enough to keep out insects, even ones as large as a wasp.

Lar

[TH]

Don't use the "20 ft spray cans", they kill the insects around the entrance - the dead ones then plug the access so all the ones in the nest need another exit - usually into the house' Agway sells a powder insecticide and a duster with a 12 inch spout. Pump some dust in after dark and the next day as the insects exit and enter they will spread the insecticide throughout the nest.

[carter]

this

I can't really spray

After reading all these useless replies, I think a Shop Vac will do the suckers in.

[robobugg]

this

I can't really spray

Even though you know where the entrance hole is you do not know where the actual nest is.Yellow jackets are very aggressive and send alarm signals out when they are aggravated.It is possible that you could be stung by the foragers that are outside of the nest. While the wasp spray will kill any that come in contact with the spray it will also prevent them from entering or leaving the area. They will chew their way through sheetrock or soft wood to make another entry/exit point. I have had clients that used wasp spray only to have the YJ chew through a wall into the house making a bad problem even worse. (Yes, I am a PC Professional)

You have a few choices to make.

1. If they are up out of the way you could just let them be. They will do their thing (make babies) and then move on.

1. You should use a dust product such as Delta Dust,Boric Acid or Drione Dust Though be aware that Drione contains Pyrethrums and could cause them to avoid the dust or even stir them up. Apply the dust with a bellow duster and use small amounts you want to dust the area not cake it on. They will collect the dust on them as they come and go and carry it deep into the area. You may need to apply 2-3 times during a 2 week period.

2. Apply at night when all the YJ are in the nest and less aggressive.Do not shine a light directly into the hole when you climb up there.

1. There is a pole extender available that you can use to apply a Dust product check online or at a do it yourself store.

2. You can try using a non repellent insecticide such as Demand CS into the hole and saturate the area. This will kill any YJs that come in contact with it but it may not get spread into the deep area.

Good luck

Alternative 6. Call a professional it shouldn't cost more then $150. Of course not seeing the area it could cost more depending on the situation. Don't be afraid of getting bids.

[aemeijers]

Man, you just made my day. (not.) I have a bunch of ground bees in the front yard near street, and they stung the crap out of me when I accidently ran the mower over the hole 2 afternoons ago. I sprayed the first night with the Raid squirt can stuff, and dusted last night with the powder stuff the Farm Bureau sold me. I still see activity at the holes today. The grass is getting tall in that spot. (My front yard has a 'soul patch' goatee, as it were- this was the last 10x10 corner of yard, on one side of driveway.) Multiple holes within 10 feet, but some may be mole entrances.

Any lifesaving ideas?

aem sends....

[greatviewcsc]

[Lucy L]

replying to Al Bundy, Lucy L wrote: It happened to us. Had to call Orkin. They said if queen wasn't dead, there would be an uninhabitable house filled with bees in spring. They would be everywhere, regardless of exit points.

[hrhofmann]

Perhaps Chris (the OP) can tell us what happened in the intervening 10 years.