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View Full Version : 'Tis the season for Yellow Jackets (and that ain't rain slickers)



Bob Rufener
08-28-2013, 5:16 PM
We have had a problem for about 3 weeks with yellow jackets inside our house. We have killed over 150 of them in our family room since this problem began. I looked and looked and couldn't find how they were getting in and also looked outside for activity. Couldn't find anything. We called "The Bee Guy" who is a local man who takes care of problems with bees and wasps. After going around our house, he also couldn't see any activity. Aha!!! He looked up and there they were circling around the flu for our fireplace. He went on the roof and, using a ladder, found a nest where they were entering behind the flu through a gap in the mortar used between the tile chimney sections. Fortunately, the crack was right near the top of the chimney so he was able to get at it easily. He sprayed with some kind of a powder and hopefully, the problem is solved. Through this escapade, I only got stung once and that happened this morning. The "Bee Guy" has been inundated with calls about problem bees and wasps.

Ken Fitzgerald
08-28-2013, 5:19 PM
Bob,

Locally here in Idaho, they have been a severe problem this summer. People going camping on vacation coming back home several days early as they couldn't stay outside for the yellow jackets. It seems to be a cyclic thing here. We will have an extremely bad year....and then a few years where they are a lesser bother.

Mike Chance in Iowa
08-28-2013, 5:26 PM
We had an oddball situation like that too at our old house. When they built it, they did several shortcuts. Yellow jackets were showing up in the house and most of them would be in the kitchen. After much investigating and several <argh> moments being surprised by yellow jackets on various kitchen items, I tracked them down to the vent on the microwave over the stove. The yellow jackets were coming in thru a poorly capped roof exhaust and out into the kitchen via the microwave vent for the stove below it. I cheated and took a shortcut. I had some spare window screen that I covered the whole top of the vent with and then taped the vents on the microwave shut. I figured sooner or later that would kill them all off and then I could deal with cleaning the nest later.

Bonnie Campbell
08-29-2013, 10:52 AM
The powder that was sprayed was probably Sevin dust. If you put the Sevin down where wasps walk they'll haul it into the nest and kill off the nest.

David G Baker
08-29-2013, 2:56 PM
The Pros here in Michigan use a product called Drione dust. It comes in powder form and is applied with a duster. It kills yellow jackets instantly and it will stay around in the area to kill off any that the initial dusting missed. I have seen it work and it is awesome. It blocks the respiratory system of the yellow jacket (they breathe through their surface) and they die instantly. It is available on Amazon.