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Have an issue with yellow jacket bees in my backyard. They seem to like the crevices in my black aluminum pool fence and my teak outdoor furniture set.
Anyone advise on how I can solve this problem without resorting to an exterminator? Thanks
Are you sure they're yellow jackets and not carpenter bees? If they're carpenter bees, they'll destroying anything wood of yours...in our case, they destroyed our garage. We ended up getting an exterminator.
Are you sure they're yellow jackets and not carpenter bees? If they're carpenter bees, they'll destroying anything wood of yours...in our case, they destroyed our garage. We ended up getting an exterminator.
Yes, I think they're probably carpenter bees too. I had them at my house last year. They were having a field day on my wooden swingset and deck. We were moving and pitching the swingset anyway so we just chopped it up and put it at the curb. I'm sure the new owners called an exterminator by now. At least they did if they wanted to keep the deck. Those bees were really munching away on it!
Carpenter bees are big, like an inch long, and mostly black. Can't mistake them for yellow jackets which are much smaller...and yellow. They hover and bore into wood to nest and lay eggs. Had some this spring in my deck at my new house. Best thing to do, spray WD40 into the holes at dusk/night. I used wasp killer at first, but the WD40 did the trick, get one that has the straw built in. Make sure you get that straw all the way into the holes and spray until it foams out. The queens came right out after the WD40 and were almost dead, I then put them out of their misery. I was going to buy Drione dust and a duster to dust in the holes but found this place and since it was alot cheaper and more kid friendly, bought some bee butter and a trap. I haven't seen any bees in trap yet, but I hadn't seen any after I hit them with WD40 which killed the queens. Figured it can't hurt to use trap and butter as insurance for the larvae if they survive.
You can buy a spray and attack their nest when they return at night, but it can be an uphill battle. We had a nest behind our old shutters in GC - they were getting into the house constantly too. We were changing the shutters anyway, and that solved the problem.
Those things freak me out. There are about 5 of them that hover...completely motionless...just off the eaves of my house looking for a way to bore themselves in.
A man with a pleasant southern drawl will show y'all how to build traps (super simple to do with scrap lumber) that catch carpenter bees like nobody's business.
Twilight is the best time to treat existing holes, but if you absolutely want to eliminate any chance of getting stung you will have to hire a service. Also some high ladder climbing might be required, so you have to be good with that. Other videos can show you how to treat holes, proper wait time before plugging them (I use liquid nails).
Once existing holes ae treated and plugged, they will take the easy way and fly into the existing holes of the traps.
Good old Youtube, there's simply nothing like it....
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