Yellow Jackets, hornets and other cuddly creatures (Boise: backyard, park)

[Para]

Originally Posted by Ghostrider16

....

Those are our sissy, S. CA wasps though. I don't know how it would work on the evil creatures I've been reading about in this thread.

Yeah, these are the tough, potato fed Idaho critters.

[Ghostrider16]

Originally Posted by Para

Yeah, these are the tough, potato fed Idaho critters.

They sure sound like it.


I was looking around for other suggestions on dealing with them and was directed to an organic gardening site.

One good-sounding suggestion was to put a one pound block of dry ice (frozen Co2) over the hole to the nest at night, cover it with a 5 gallon bucket, and kick some dirt around it to seal it. The Co2 permeates the nest and wipes 'em out.

I don't think the guy on that site who floated the suggestion about dumping gasoline down the hole and torching it is very popular with the organic gardeners right now.

[BusyBunny]

So, is there something you can do before they come out to help mitigate their invasion?

[elousv]

You can try to hunt down and kill the queen. Now is the time to avoid 10000 spawn.

[BusyBunny]

Any suggestions or links how to find her? The place we bought was vacant for years so it was taken over but by the time we moved in it had gotten cold enough to make them hibernate. I've read they like to bury in the ground but no reference what type of ground or areas they prefer.

[elousv]

I was going to try the ground beef/Frontline recipe. I also use something sweet like grape jelly and borax.

[Ghostrider16]

Originally Posted by BusyBunny

Any suggestions or links how to find her? The place we bought was vacant for years so it was taken over but by the time we moved in it had gotten cold enough to make them hibernate. I've read they like to bury in the ground but no reference what type of ground or areas they prefer.

My guess is that it would be pretty hard to find her.

From what I've read, if you see a single wasp this time of year it's probably a queen since the queen is the only one to survive the winter. It may still be too soon for any eggs to have hatched for a new colony.

Unfortunately, she hides out over the winter in a hollow log, the old nest, or just about any other place she can ride out the season. As far as "burying" in the ground goes, they seem to like to use abandoned rodent holes and set up shop there.

Really, unless you get lucky enough to see that lone queen AND manage to kill her, you will probably have to wait until you notice a nest and deal with it directly through the methods mentioned earlier.

Happy hunting!

[Clark Fork Fantast]

I haven't gone yellowjacket queen hunting yet in NID, but I've engaged in such pursuits at my family's old lake cabin, and yellowjacket queens are very focused on laying eggs, not searching for food (I don't even think they eat at that stage) so if you see them buzzing around a new, small nest, or a hole in a log etc, that's a great time to get'em with an electric bug zapper racket, provided you can reach them. The first zap may only stun them, but then you can zap them again, or stomp on them. Those zappers are also good for hornets. (I mean bad for hornets, good for killing them! )

[Joy4archie]

Are there a lot of wasps around the Boise area? I had thought about moving out there, but I have never been stung and I am deathly afraid of wasps and bees! �😔😔😞😥 😂😢🐛😠

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Joy4archie

Are there a lot of wasps around the Boise area? I had thought about moving out there, but I have never been stung and I am deathly afraid of wasps and bees! �😔😔😞😥 😂😢🐛😠

Wasps and hornets live everywhere in the U.S. Most likely, you have just as many where you're now living as there are here in Idaho.

Don't confuse bees with hornets. Bees don't sting arbitrarily. If you leave them alone they will leave you alone, as they are only pollen eaters. Bees only sting once; their stinger pulls out their insides after it's used, so it's always death for the bee. The only bee that's a real concern is the African Honeybee, which is invading the south and is slowly moving westward, but Idaho is too cold for them, and they haven't made it this far. Our only bees are natives and the European Honeybee, which are both peaceful. I've often sat underneath a flowering tree that is humming with bees, as I love to watch and hear them. Unless a hive is attacked, or a single bee is swatted, bees just go about their business.

Hornet's stingers can be re-used as often as the hornet wants. They are mostly predators, but have a real sweet tooth as well. Like bees, hornets will leave a person alone most of the time, but if their hive is threatened, they'll go after someone for a long time.

Hornets sometimes nest in house rafters and outbuildings, but there are sprays that kill them instantly, and a simple hornet trap made from a milk jug with it's top cut off and filled 1/3 with heavily sugared water will drown them by the dozen if they are a problem. A flyswatter will take one out if it gets in the house.

Hornets seem to get worse in dry years. Bees follow pollination, so they congregate wherever a predominate plant is flowering. In dry years, the bees quit working and hive up, or migrate to better conditions.

A sting is painful for a short period, but unless a person is allergic to them, or unless you have an entire hive after you, a sting is nothing to worry about. The chances of blundering into a hive of bees is pretty remote, since they hive high in the wild. Hornets will hive in old rotten logs on the ground sometimes, so they're a bit more of a worry, but most folks will see and hear hive activity long before they're close enough to get stung.

The pain of a sting instantly goes away if a person spits in their hand and sprinkles some Adolph's Meat Tenderizer into it, then rubs the mix on. Both your spit and the tenderizer have enzymes that neutralize the poison very fast. The harder you rub it in, the quicker the pain goes. This also works for most spider, scorpion, and other stings.