Using Yellow Jacket Traps
Yellow Jacket Traps are useful when you can not locate a nest. Use a lure like fruit juice or meat with Advantage Yellow Jacket Trap.
Tips for Preventing Yellow Jackets
Any sites where previous nests were should be sprayed with a mixture of soap and water once per month. These flying pests also hate the smell of peppermint, so it could be time to plant a few mint plants in your garden. Finally, make sure to keep your yard clean.
Yellow jackets are a social wasp variety. Determine how large the nest is and where the entry and exit points are. There will likely be a few sentry yellow jackets, often referred to as worker wasps, flying around the nest opening. Treat yellow jacket nests just after dusk or just before sunrise.
After mating, males die and the fertilized females go in search of hibernation locations. Worker wasps perish in winter, leaving the hibernating queen to begin anew in spring. While nests may last through winter if built in sheltered areas, they will not be used again.
They are most active during the day and return to their nest at night, which means the chances of being stung are reduced when it's dark. Spraying yellow jackets: Spraying a yellow jackets' nest with over-the-counter insecticide can be very dangerous.
Yellowjackets have poor night vision and generally stay in the nest at night. Larger, late-season nests may have a few sentries posted at the opening to the nest, so approach the nest with caution. 2. Use a light source that can be turned off quickly in case the yellowjackets swarm out of the nest.
Spectracide Pro Wasp and Hornet Killer
The Spectracide Pro line works for up to four weeks when sprayed at the nest. It is effective against wasps, mud daubers, hornets, and yellow jackets and kills any insects and the nest within seconds of contact. You'll need to coat the nest for the best results.
When you swat or kill a yellow jacket, the dead insect gives off a pheromone which attracts more yellow jackets from its colony. This is why the National Park Service recommends avoidance when it comes to yellow jackets and making sure your home is not a nesting location.
Dr. Richard Cooper, Technical Director at Cooper Pest Solutions, added “The nest will be destroyed but the dispersing yellow jackets spread throughout the home, travelling through the walls and finding their way out into the living areas of your home.
The colony then expands rapidly, and depending on the species, may consist of as many as 5,000 workers and 15,000 cells in the nest for some yellow- jacket species.
Dump dry Ice. 'Dry ice can be hard to get a hold of in some places, but it is a fast, non-toxic option for those seeking to use natural methods of removing yellowjackets,' Rachel says. Dry ice kills yellowjackets and many other pests on contact and again works best for nests underground.
When you flood a yellow jacket's nest, several things happen that result in the destruction of the nest. As the nest fills with water, the insects will attempt to dig and burrow their way out from underground. Too little water added to the hole or a slow flow rate can end up not killing the insects at all.
As mentioned above, Yellow Jackets are very susceptible to the weather and they will do anything they can to find a home that is safe and warm. Yellow Jackets will only die from weather exposure when there's been 5-7 days of weather under 45 degrees in a row.
Skunks, raccoons, badgers, bears, and other mammals have been known to attack and destroy yellowjacket nests in order to eat the wasp grubs, eggs, and even adults. Skunks typically attack at night when the yellowjackets are least active, digging into the burrow, pawing through the nest, and eating the wasp larvae.
What Eats Yellowjackets? Most yellowjackets' predators are mammals that are much bigger than wasps, like skunks, black bears, and raccoons. In Georgia and Indiana, raccoons have been identified as the top yellowjackets predators.
Yellowjackets start building nests in early spring and lay eggs all summer long. Around August and September, those eggs hatch forming a nest full of thousands of yellow jackets. Their natural food supply decreases as fall arrives, and they become more a nuisance to us because they're looking for food.
Yellow jackets will chase you. The instinct to protect the nests is strong for this insect. For this reason, they have been known to give chase for several yards. They will even go around obstacles or hover near water and wait.
Yellowjackets and other wasp species do not use the same nest again the following year.
“If a nest of yellow jackets is found, it is best to avoid the area because the wasps are more aggressive near their nest,” Upham said. “The nest should not be destroyed unless it presents a danger to people.” The yellow jacket wasp is about ¾ inch long with black and yellow coloring and long, dark wings.
The nest may have more than one entrance, but yellow jackets do not create a second escape hatch. The queens establish a nest wherever they find a suitable existing hole; perhaps a root rotted away or a rodent abandoned a nest.
Bleach will kill almost any living organism, including wasps, but it is not an effective way to deter them. PMP doesn't advocate the use of bleach as a form of pest control, as it can irritate the skin and eyes of anyone who comes into contact with it.