Treat the nest with pyrethrum aerosols such as Stryker 54 Contact Aerosol or PT 565. Pyrethrum forms a gas that will fill the cavity, killing the yellow jackets on contact. Wait until the aerosol is dry, and then dust in the opening with insecticide dust such as Tempo Dust. The dust will prevent future hatch outs.
Fill a bucket with scalding hot water and soap and pour the entire bucket over the entry and exit holes. This will likely kill the entire colony instantly but is not recommended for above-ground yellowjacket nests.
You also want to protect yourself from insecticide spray. Work at dawn or dusk. Yellow jackets are less active at night and most of them will be in their underground nest. Yellow jackets are less active when the ambient temperature is about 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
That depends upon what time of year you kill the yellow jacket queen. If you kill her in the winter, the colony she would have created won't emerge. Similarly, if you kill a yellow jacket wasp queen in the spring before her workers have sufficiently matured, that can also eliminate the potential colony.
Use Peppermint Oil
The smell of peppermint is a yellow jacket repellant. Combine a few drops of pure peppermint oil, a few tablespoons of dish soap and warm water in a spray bottle. Locate any active wasp nests and carefully spray the concoction around the entrance.
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.
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.
Yes, you can kill wasps with dish soap. The soapy water can also kill bees and hornets. Dish soap works because it helps the water get through the exoskeleton of the wasp, which can then drown the stinging pest.
Dry ice kills yellowjackets and many other pests on contact and again works best for nests underground. Dump finely broken up dry ice into the entrance of a yellowjacket nests and quickly cover the hole with dirt or a bowl with a tight seal.
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.
A colony of yellow jackets only forages about a mile from home to gather their food, so if you are seeing them frequently, odds are you're close to their colony, or nest. Nests have populations of 2,000 to 4,000 worker yellow jackets (all female), some drone (male) yellow jackets and up to 50 queens at once!
Assess the situation: While seeing yellow jackets on your property can be scary, if the nest is in an area of the property that sees little to no human activity, it may not be necessary to remove it. Yellow jackets help to control the population of pest insects like mosquitoes and may actually be doing you a favor.
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.
According to the Montgomery County Beekeepers Association, most yellow jacket colonies grow the largest during late summer and early fall, just when their food sources begin to diminish. Just like humans, when they are not eating and are hungry, they get frustrated and aggressive.
Yellowjackets are most active between 10 am and 4 pm, weather dependent.
Late summer and early fall is when they're most active. But you knew that. "They're more aggressive this time of year," said Carol Fusco, senior naturalist at Bergen County Zoo in Paramus. "And your leftovers could be their food."
When the weather turns colder, food sources disappear and they begin to starve. Starvation makes them angry and aggressive as they work hard to seek food. Yellow jacket colonies grow largest in late summer and early fall just when their food sources begin to diminish, providing plenty of frustrated, hungry wasps.
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.
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.
Avoid handling dead yellowjackets because a dead one can sting until rigor mortis sets in.
Treat the nests at night.
Most worker yellow jackets return to the nest at sunset, so treating the nest after that should kill the most yellow jackets possible. Plan to treat the nest about 45 minutes after sunset. If you have to treat during the day, remember that you may have to treat the nest multiple times.
Squished yellowjackets emit an alarm pheromone that sends a signal to other yellowjackets in the area to attack–so DO NOT squish them! Gently wave your hand to swish them away or leave the area.