bugman......

[jagur]

i found a yellow jacket nest in my back yard! if i pour a gallon of house paint down it at night will that kill them?

or is there a better house hold item?

[uniextreme]

I dont know much about bugs or bees but i think it wou;d be cool to try a fir extinguisher!!!

[jagur]

well, i poured it down there and now there is lots of angry buzzing....

[john_childs]

What color paint did you use? I'm trying to get a proper mental picture of what the yellow jackets look like. :)

I'm a big fan of the aerosol cans of wasp spray for getting rid of yellow jackets. As long as it's a small nest the wasp spray works. If it's a big nest, especially if it's a nest that has burrowed into the outside wall or Attic of a house, then professional pest control is the way to go. The big nests can get quite big and a little can of wasp spray is no match. If you end up going up against a big nest of yellow jackets you could be in for a world of hurt.

Hornets are the little buggers that you really have to watch out for. I leave hornets alone.

About a month ago I got stung twice by what I believe were yellow jackets while on a Coker ride with Tom Jackson (iunicycle). We were riding along a gravel rails to trail trail. I stopped on a bridge and grabbed the railing as I waited for Tom. I grabbed the railing right next to what must have been a yellow jacket nest. I got stung twice on the arm. I left the area quickly and didn't touch any more bridge railings for the rest of the ride.

[bugman]

Was the paint lead based?

It may actually kill them, if they get completely coated I could see it killing them.

[jagur]

the nest is in a dry and un-used spot in my back yard. the paint has no label, it was here when we rented the house. after Carrie noticed the nest i was looking for a quick load of toxic stuff and i remembered the cans of paint. i had a good couple of gallons of gas for the mower but i thought somthing goopy would be better. i dont know if its lead based but it was white house paint and plugged the hole like mud.

i put on my machanics suit,hat,bandana over my nose and mouth and my kids snorkling goggles then assaulted the hole in the ground..after the pour I dropped the can and ran.

its 4 hours later and i can still hear angry buzzzing but there are not any hovering over the nest like 30 minutes after. its late so they are pretty lethargick (sp?) right now. we'll see in the morning.

ive got more paint! he he heh.....

[Tim]

Nice. Paint should do it in my opinion. Even if they get a little paint on them it should afect their ablity to fly and with out that they're screwed. You said you plugged the hole so they have no way out anyway, also screwed.

Did you take any pictures?

[Sofa]

and for all the flying ones, badminton rackets make formidable weapons

[zod]

Jagur, I'm about to give you one of my great personal secrets for getting rid of even the biggest underground yellow jacket nest. I fear to even put it out here b/c Bugman will marjet it and become a millionaire ;)

Here's how you get rid of the nest once you discover it......it's a little discovery of mine from one time I had a very stubborn nest under my yard that I unsuccessfully tried to get rid of for a whole summer. Here's how I finally won.

Wait until it is getting dark and the bees calm down. Be armed with a can of bug spray and put one of them wd-40 straws on the end.

Also have a can of Great Stuff spray foam. First spray a butt-load of bug spray down the nest......this will keep them from flying out right away and beating you down. Then PROMPTLY cram the Great Stuff hose down the nest hole and pump that beeotch full of foam. It expands and will fill every tunnel in their hive, killing the little chumps!
Only problem is that the foam will expand so much that it'll raise the ground around where you spray it in.........you can usually stomp it back down, it'll look like you have a pitchers mound in your yard :D

If you'r not famaliar with Great Stuff just go to any hardware store: http://www.dow.com/greatstuff/

http://www.dow.com/greatstuff/images/beaver.gif

[Tim]

That's a very good idea. You should enter the "Random Acts of Great Stuff" with that. Its on the home page.

[zod]

Originally posted by Tim
That's a very good idea. You should enter the "Random Acts of Great Stuff" with that. Its on the home page.

Oh Snap!!! I'm there! :D

[jagur]

well there is still lots of life under the can of empty paint, they are buzzing around everywhere.

i have a can of great stuff but without a bee suit im a little shy to get that close to the nest.

[phil]

We had a wasps nest in our house the other year; probably not very effective long-term but great fun in the short term was just a vacuum cleaner with a long hose attachment. Find beastie - zzzzmmmmmmmTHWAP - find next beastie - zzzmmmmTHWAP...

Phil

[zod]

Jagur.....do it around dusk, the bees will be calm enough for you to approach the nest :D

[jagur]

ok i found 2 more old gallons of paint and a gallon of old motor oil. im now mixing them together for a double wammy.

tonite i will dawn the budget bee suit again and soak them again.

[bugman]

Originally posted by jagur
ok i found 2 more old gallons of paint and a gallon of old motor oil. im now mixing them together for a double wammy.

tonite i will dawn the budget bee suit again and soak them again.

Sissy. Do it like us Rednecks. With a Budweiser in one hand, spray in the other.... Belly hanging out for all to see!

Actually, I have treated thousands of nests w/o protective equipment. The evening is what I suggest to those that are a little leary. If you use a flashlight, set it up so if anything goes after it, your not holding it. Just remember sealing the hole isn't going to stop them. They dug the hole in the first place. Go with the treatment I PM'd you with and it will be all over in a night.

As for underground nests and Great Stuff... That had me cracking up. Not as funny as my Dad and gasoline under the back stoop, but funny. My Dad and one of his Brother-In-Laws decided they would pour a gallon of gas down the hole and light it up. As I came out the back door, they lit up the hole. The entire concrete pad which was at least a foot thick came about a foot off the ground. I was on top of it briefly. The best part is when it came down it was about 8-10 inches from the house. It took a lot of work to get it back in place. It would have been funny to see great stuff lift that pad up permanantly!

Also, I have excavated yellow jacket nests that were over 6 feet long, I wonder how great suff would do in that situation.:D

[jagur]

ok its done. 2 more gallons of paint and 1 of motor oil, all under a big mound of dirt i dumped on top.

i noticed alot of BIGGER yellow jackets swarming around today. yesterday all there were was little guys? are they mutating?

[bugman]

Originally posted by jagur
ok its done. 2 more gallons of paint and 1 of motor oil, all under a big mound of dirt i dumped on top.

i noticed alot of BIGGER yellow jackets swarming around today. yesterday all there were was little guys? are they mutating?

Yes, That was why I asked about the lead! It is a mutagen. It has been known to occur in several populations of yellowjackets near battery recycling plants. They also tend to nest in wall voids after mutating. THis can be problamatic since they will use drywall to make their nests. They often find their way into the interior of peoples homes in the middle of the night and sting ususpecting homeowners in their sleep. Only in he most severe cases does this result in death.:eek:








Actually these are queens that you are seeing. They hatch out in the fall and find somewhere to overwinter and start their own colonies.

[jagur]

the queens huh?

well unless they like overwintering in a chemical dump, i hope they leave...check for a new chapter tomorrow.

[bugman]

It's been over 12 hours since Jagurs last post. Did the YJ's get him?

[jagur]

nope, there are still some buzzing around the top of my mount of dirt. i dont know if those are ones that were flying around while i was paint bombing or if some have already dug thier waay out.

[jagur]

i think its time for the real thing...those little bastards are swarming like never before! i think its going to be harder now. since i threw all that dirt on there its hard to see the entance hole and there may be more than one access hole ARG!

[zod]

GREAT STUFF ........................ NOW!!!!!! :D

[One on one]

Just keep dumping that stuff into your back yard, eventually you'll either end up with the EPA stating that the area 500 ft around the bee hole is no longer inhabitable, or a visit from some home improvement show telling you that you can't mix latex paint together with an oil base.

They often find their way into the interior of peoples homes in the middle of the night and sting ususpecting homeowners in their sleep. Only in he most severe cases does this result in death.

and also beware of the fact that they (bees) can smell the chemicals on your hands. Your family is safe, but you are doomed.

[jagur]

i wish i had a couple of bags of quick mix concrete.

[digigal1]

Oh, yeah, and lead-based paint is toxic to humans.

[James_Potter]

Originally posted by digigal1
Oh, yeah, and lead-based paint is toxic to humans.
And bees, apparently.

[bugman]

Originally posted by digigal1
Oh, yeah, and lead-based paint is toxic to humans.

Lead is definitely toxic to humans. If anyone ever breaks into my house they will find out just how toxic!:p