On 6 Sep 2004 19:42:12 -0700, (Dirk Puslich)
wrote:


Any thoughts or suggestions??


I had a yellowjacket nest that I couldn't reach with instruments or
chemicals. What I did eventually was to use an old badminton racquet
to kill them as they flew into or out of their nest. Kill enough
workers and the nest won't be able to survive. It took only three
days of effort, with each session taking about 20 minutes because by
20 minutes there wouldn't be any insects to kill. A dead nest seems
to be a deterrent against future nest building.

Using a badminton racquet was very effective because of the large
striking surface. It had the right reach whereby hitting the insect
was pretty much instinctive and unlikely to miss. I was able to hit
two or three with one stroke and often strike another one on the
recovery stroke. The insect was cut cleanly and never had the chance
to send any alarm or chemical signals to the nestmates. There wasn't
an instance where a yellowjacket tried to sting me or was aware of the
killer racquet being used. Because they were cut so cleanly they were
easy to clean up.

Like you said, anywhere else but in the house I would have gladly left
them alone as some of God's creatures.