Wasp Nest in the Ground?

[RedlandRanger]

This is the time of year they get more active and nasty. I hike a lot and usually encounter these ground nests this time of year. I try and stay vigilant and if I see one I give it a wide berth. They are usually really nasty and will chase you down to sting you.

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[Dgc333]

I hate a yellow jacket.
Kill them with fire.
Back in VA when we found them we'd wait til it got dark and they settled in and pour a few gallons of gas down the hole...wait a few seconds to let the gas settle a bit then throw a match on it.
Not safe at all, obviously, and certainly not the least eco friendly. But very damned satisfying watching those bastards burn.
Just saying.

That made me chuckle and reminded me of a bee incidence I had.

Probably 25 years ago when my kids were still teenagers they were screaming about bees flying around the back door. I came out to see what the commotion was. Seems the bees had made a nest in the chimney on the side of the house and we're coming and going, the back door light was attracting them.

I got some long range bee spray and some foaming spray. I waited to they had settled down and went up onto the roof to arch the spray into the chimney. Anyway I emptied the long range can into the flue and completely covered the nest with the foaming spray.

Next thing I hear is my wife screaming from inside the house. I rushed in and it seems the bees tried to escape by going down and we're in the wood stove (glad the dampers were closed). I took another can of spray and squirted it in through one of the dampers until the buzzing stop.

Don't know what possessed me but I then filled the wood stove with crinkled news paper and set it on fire. Next thing I hear are the kids screaming outside. Thick black smoke was coming out of the chimney and was rolling down the side of the chimney to a foot or so off the ground before it dissipated. All of a sudden there was a deep whap sound from inside the chimney and the nest came flying out and landed smoldering in the middle of the front yard. The bees were gone but the whole incident could have gone sideways so many times. ?

 

[Radioman]

That made me chuckle and reminded me of a bee incidence I had.

Probably 25 years ago when my kids were still teenagers they were screaming about bees flying around the back door. I came out to see what the commotion was. Seems the bees had made a nest in the chimney on the side of the house and we're coming and going, the back door light was attracting them.

I got some long range bee spray and some foaming spray. I waited to they had settled down and went up onto the roof to arch the spray into the chimney. Anyway I emptied the long range can into the flue and completely covered the nest with the foaming spray.

Next thing I hear is my wife screaming from inside the house. I rushed in and it seems the bees tried to escape by going down and we're in the wood stove (glad the dampers were closed). I took another can of spray and squirted it in through one of the dampers until the buzzing stop.

Don't know what possessed me but I then filled the wood stove with crinkled news paper and set it on fire. Next thing I hear are the kids screaming outside. Thick black smoke was coming out of the chimney and was rolling down the side of the chimney to a foot or so off the ground before it dissipated. All of a sudden there was a deep whap sound from inside the chimney and the nest came flying out and landed smoldering in the middle of the front yard. The bees were gone but the whole incident could have gone sideways so many times. ?

Great story Dave. Could have ended much worse.

 

[NeilP]

15 years or so ago, a large oak branch broke off on my neighbors tree and fell onto my property. When it fell it landed on some sort of "trash" tree and bent it over & pinned it to the ground. Since it was just a junk tree, I figured I'd just cut it down. Because it was bent over 180° it was under some strain.

I walked down into the gully and started bumping the chainsaw chain against the trunk allowing the pressure to be relieved a little at a time. I took another swipe at it and I thought I hit a rock and that hot sparks were hitting my arm. I shook it off and started nipping at the base of the bent tree again. DANG it!!! Must have hit the rock again!

Nope! YELLOWJACKETS! and they were ticked off. I killed the saw, dropped it & took off running. 17 stings later, I finally got away from them.

I mixed up a couple gallons of pesticide poured down the hole eliminated the problem

 

[Langwilliams]

I have a yellowjacket nest I'm working on right now. It's behind the inside corner trim on my siding on the front porch. I used the powder a few nights in a row, then put a piece of tubing in it an sprayed most of a can of hornet killer in. Before I would see 10-12 bees at a time around the opening they were using, now I see 1 or 2 at a time. I killed 5 in one day on that inside wall. I'm going to do the tube trick another time or two. When I was delivering mail I got stung a few times a year. Nothing like flipping open a mailbox an finding a nest inside it an having them attack you.

There was a highly rated powder I saw on line an it was available at Ace Hardware. I stopped in an they couldn't sell it. As usual when a product works an it's affordable big brother yanks it off the shelf.

Edit: here's what I was going to try: https://www.acehardware.com/departm...BaOe4hAT_QIBHdYWMGRoCDxoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[Trustable]

I haven’t personally experienced up close it but have seen them and heard about them. Insect use dust is probably the best. This guy has a bunch of other videos besides the one in posting on how to deal with them.


he uses a shop vac in that one but he has a few using dish soap and I believe he even used exhaust at one point. I’m prettysure he used an ozone generator as well. They all worked. Depends on patience and bravery I suppose.

 

[Dgc333]

Great story Dave. Could have ended much worse.

I know, the flaming bee hive could have burnt the house down.

 

[MountainGoat]

I just got stung a couple weeks ago, just a bee though. There is a nest under a garden bed and while they usually leave me alone one got stuck in my shoe, stayed there until I went inside and stung me. Damn I turn into Quasimodo when I get stung. Couldn't fit into my shoe for two days!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I haven’t personally experienced up close it but have seen them and heard about them. Insect use dust is probably the best. This guy has a bunch of other videos besides the one in posting on how to deal with them.


he uses a shop vac in that one but he has a few using dish soap and I believe he even used exhaust at one point. I’m prettysure he used an ozone generator as well. They all worked. Depends on patience and bravery I suppose.

It’s oddly satisfying watching those yellow jackets get sucked up by that vacuum. ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I just got stung a couple weeks ago, just a bee though. There is a nest under a garden bed and while they usually leave me alone one got stuck in my shoe, stayed there until I went inside and stung me. Damn I turn into Quasimodo when I get stung. Couldn't fit into my shoe for two days!

Yikes - being allergic to their venom can be a scary thing.

 

[Tom_C]

Unrelated, but my dad was an old, poor boy with more brawn than brains I guess (not really). He would just get a propane torch and take it to wasps nest (the above ground types, not ground wasps). I think it was an old circus trick.

 

[Trustable]

It’s oddly satisfying watching those yellow jackets get sucked up by that vacuum. ?

I thought the same thing!

 

[Charley]

Not wasps or yellow jackets, but some kind of ground nest hornets settled into my brother in laws yard. He tried different pesticides, failed, called a several pest companies and all said they did not and would not take the job. Finally youtube to the rescue. Turns out this particular pest has an oily protective coating. Dawn dish soap poured into the hole, then a bunch of water to create the suds. As the pests flew out through the suds, they would get coated, lose the oil and fly a bit more then crash and die.

 

[Nellieg]

Seems the bees are bad this year. I've removed 2 large nests in the facia....a can of spray at night then do it again then pull facia apart. Also had a very large hornets nest... Luckily I don't react to stings much.

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Unrelated, but my dad was an old, poor boy with more brawn than brains I guess (not really). He would just get a propane torch and take it to wasps nest (the above ground types, not ground wasps). I think it was an old circus trick.

Tom,

I remember watching my dad with a softball taped to a bamboo pole, with the ball covered in model car glue and lit on fire, trying to knock a wasp’s nest off the soffit of our house. Thinking back now, it was a bit of a clown show. Maybe we’re related. ?

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