"keith_nuttle" wrote in message
.com...
We had yellow jackets in the yard when the kids were small. Their nest
was underground about 8' from the house. I found it while mowing. As I
mowed I thought about the nest the kids and decided that I had to do
something. Gas. I dumped about a quart into the hole. Continued to mow
continued to thing about the nest and the little kids.

At our former house we had a lot of yellow jackets. Our oldest son was/is
deathly allergic to their stings (we had a very close call) so my husband
was very vigilant. He would spot where the nest was in the ground, go back
at dusk when most of the pests had gone to bed for the night, poured
gasoline in the hole and set fire to it. All we had were one or two strays
the next morning who had been out gallivanting the night before.
(Fortunately, no house fires!).

OK I found a simple way to get those ground bees oe Yellow Jackets. Go
out late in the evening and put some Seven Dust in and around the hole.
They will be gone by morning. I have tried the gas and all the other
stuff that didn't work, then I asccidently tried the Seven dust and it
has worked for me everytime.


From Mel & Donnie in Bluebird Valley





http://community.webtv.net/MelKelly/TheKids

limey wrote:

"keith_nuttle" wrote in message
.com...

We had yellow jackets in the yard when the kids were small. Their
nest was underground about 8' from the house. I found it while
mowing. As I mowed I thought about the nest the kids and decided that
I had to do something. Gas. I dumped about a quart into the hole.
Continued to mow continued to thing about the nest and the little kids.


At our former house we had a lot of yellow jackets. Our oldest son
was/is deathly allergic to their stings (we had a very close call) so my
husband was very vigilant. He would spot where the nest was in the
ground, go back at dusk when most of the pests had gone to bed for the
night, poured gasoline in the hole and set fire to it. All we had were
one or two strays the next morning who had been out gallivanting the
night before. (Fortunately, no house fires!).


Everything you ever wanted to know about yellow jackets.

http://www.pestproducts.com/yellowjacket.htm

George

On Tue, 27 Jun 2006 01:20:50 GMT, keith_nuttle wrote:

Probably was not the best idea on retrospect

LOL. It's also illegal and contaminates ground water... not to mention the
turf in that spot will die, and the soil will need to be dug out and
replaced if you want new seed to grow there.

Jeez man, what were you thinking!? :-P

I do hate Yellowjackets though. They're very aggressive. I've been stung
at least 500 times, in the last 20 years, by them.


--
Regards,
Segovia

On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 17:17:58 -0400, William Wagner wrote:

Do they bother you when you working in the garden? I'm afraid to pull a
turnip for fear of there being a bee on it that does not take kindly to my
pulling it's food source out

No, unless of course you squeeze it. RARE!

I've got to disagree with you here. If we were talking about honey bees or
bumble bees, I'd agree completely. They are very passive and rarely sting.
But yellow jacket wasps are an entirely different story, they're aggressive
as hell and will sting at the slightest provocation.

On the other hand, I think it's a little silly to fear them. The stings
are more surprising than they are painful. Of course, if a person is
allergic then he would be wise to keep a *very* healthy distance from them.


--
Regards,
Segovia

In article ,
Segovia wrote:

On Mon, 26 Jun 2006 17:17:58 -0400, William Wagner wrote:

Do they bother you when you working in the garden? I'm afraid to pull a
turnip for fear of there being a bee on it that does not take kindly to my
pulling it's food source out

No, unless of course you squeeze it. RARE!

I've got to disagree with you here. If we were talking about honey bees or
bumble bees, I'd agree completely. They are very passive and rarely sting.
But yellow jacket wasps are an entirely different story, they're aggressive
as hell and will sting at the slightest provocation.

On the other hand, I think it's a little silly to fear them. The stings
are more surprising than they are painful. Of course, if a person is
allergic then he would be wise to keep a *very* healthy distance from them.

Please always disagree otherwise I'll be confined to my narrow world
view and ignorance.

I think Yellow Jackets lose their focus when water is rare and the
winter is coming. Otherwise charming to see them clean my plants.

Song Can't have one without the other.

Bill

--
S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational
and informative purposes. This material is distributed without profit.

Matthew Reed wrote:

Update: I conversed with Sterling International, Inc. about why their traps
were not catching any of these. I did a bit of research and took a close
look and I believe that these are paper wasps, not yellow jackets. I did not
understand what the different insects are called. These "paper wasps" are
very common here, I've lived with them for years and am somewhat familiar
with their behavior. I just didn't know they were called paper wasps. As for
the yellow jackets, I'm also familiar with them as well, but did not know
they were "yellow jackets". We have very few of these around here, which is
a good thing. Ahh..I have learned something today

So - any experience with paper wasps? Should I take steps to trap them to
reduce the populations? I know where to look for nests, and have not seen
any around my house or garden. I know that they tolerate you approaching
their nests to about 1-2 feet before they will take defensive action - they
built nests in the entrance to an apartment I once lived in. You could stop,
look up, and see an active nest 12 inches from your nose. They pretty much
ignored us.

Again, my concern is that they may take offense to my working in the garden
with them and disturbing their foraging. Plus my children play nearby. To
date there have been no stings, but I'm careful to avoid working in their
immediate vicinity. I notice they are not in the garden during early morning
or late evening hours, but prefer the warmth of day.

Oh, here are some pics - not very good, taking pictures of them was a bit
tricky, but this one is quite good:

http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/June%...paperwasp2.jpg

This one is fuzzy, but it does show the legs hanging down, something that
yellow jackets do not have.

http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/June%...s/DSCF3593.jpg



"Matthew Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam wrote in message
...

Our adventures in Oregon gardening continues. Within the last week an
infestation of jellow jackets has developed in my garden, particularly in
the area where there are rows of turnips and mustard close together. I've
watched for a while, and there does not appear to be a nest nearby, they
just seem to like the area. There are so many I'm afraid to work in that
area while they are there. What to do?





2 days ago I almost broached this subject of local mis-nomenclature. My
entire life we (my family and everyone I know native to this area) have
used the term yellowjacket for a yellow&black wasp that builds an open,
paper nest, usually between golfball and baseball size, with downward
facing cells, hanging from a 'stem' often under the eaves of
houses/buildings. We have a somewhat larger red wasp with a similar
habit. To my knowledge we have no social underground dwelling wasps. We
have some social bumble bees that CAN be agressive and will make nests
near the ground - under sheds, etc. And Cicada Killers that look very
scary but I have never known one to sting a human. We may have hornets
but I have also never seen a nest in suburbia. We also have plenty of
mud daubers. They are of less use to gardeners as they eat spiders.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan


--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

2 days ago I almost broached this subject of local mis-nomenclature. My
entire life we (my family and everyone I know native to this area) have
used the term yellowjacket for a yellow&black wasp that builds an open,
paper nest, usually between golfball and baseball size, with downward
facing cells, hanging from a 'stem' often under the eaves of
houses/buildings. We have a somewhat larger red wasp with a similar habit.
To my knowledge we have no social underground dwelling wasps. We have some
social bumble bees that CAN be agressive and will make nests near the
ground - under sheds, etc. And Cicada Killers that look very scary but I
have never known one to sting a human. We may have hornets but I have also
never seen a nest in suburbia. We also have plenty of mud daubers. They
are of less use to gardeners as they eat spiders.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan


--

Wasp, yellow jacket, hornet. I've always used them interchangeably, and in
ignorance. I'm still not sure what a hornet is.

The people at Sterling Int. identified my first pic as a paper wasp,
possibly European. So, that definitely explains why they are ignoring the
traps I set out - the lure they use is very specific to yellow jackets, and
does not work on paper wasps.

Matthew Reed wrote:
Update: I conversed with Sterling International, Inc. about why their traps
were not catching any of these. I did a bit of research and took a close
look and I believe that these are paper wasps, not yellow jackets.

Hi there!

I've been reading all the articles in this thread with the same idea in
my head. I am somewhat familiar with both yellowjackets and paper
wasps, and have confused the two at times. Yellowjackets nest in holes
in the ground, and are known to antagonize humans (especially when
we're carrying picnic lunches).

Paper wasps construct nests above the ground and often in pretty
exposed places, such as stuck under the eaves of a house. I get a new
paper-wasp nest on my house every few years or so. Paper wasps pretty
much ignore humans.

Now, gardeners, listen up -- both paper wasps and yellowjackets like to
eat insect pests. If you can live with them, they will provide you
with pest control service!

Like the original poster, I have seen large numbers of paper wasps
working my flower beds over the past two months. My nearby vegetables
are healthy. I think I'm doing the right thing by letting the wasps do
their job. I might have more problems with a nest of aggressive
yellowjackets, but the paper wasps can definitely stay.

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In article , "Matthew
Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam says...
I'm curious that they are ignoring the trap I put out. It came with some
"attractant", but I'm thinking they are not interested in that, they want
food, so maybe I need to put some meat or fruit in the trap?




This time of year they have a meat diet to feed their young. You might
try placing a piece of uncooked bologna or tuna fish in the trap and see
if it attracts them, though with them foraging around the garden for
caterpillars and spiders they shouldn't be a bother to you. Later in the
Summer when they change their diet to sugars, the juice and attractants
will work for bait.
--
Lar

In article , "Matthew
Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam says...
So - any experience with paper wasps? Should I take steps to trap them to
reduce the populations? I know where to look for nests, and have not seen
any around my house or garden. I know that they tolerate you approaching
their nests to about 1-2 feet before they will take defensive action - they


It looks to be a transplant called an Europeon Paper Wasp. They nest
usually in hollow or enclosed areas where our native species may be just
under the eaves of a house, so you may not find the nest. They should
be of no concern to you in the garden or kids playing unless you
accidentally sit or step on one bare footed.
--
Lar

"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article , "Matthew
Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam says...
So - any experience with paper wasps? Should I take steps to trap them
to
reduce the populations? I know where to look for nests, and have not
seen
any around my house or garden. I know that they tolerate you
approaching
their nests to about 1-2 feet before they will take defensive action -
they


It looks to be a transplant called an Europeon Paper Wasp. They nest
usually in hollow or enclosed areas where our native species may be just
under the eaves of a house, so you may not find the nest. They should
be of no concern to you in the garden or kids playing unless you
accidentally sit or step on one bare footed.
--
Lar

That is what the guys at Sterling said they thought it might be. Those are
very common here, I've seen them build nests in the eaves and ignore humans.
Still, I'll destroy the nests if they build one on my house. Now that I'm
over my yellow jacket panic :-P I'll see how they tolerate me pulling up
turnips while they forage.

In my experience (same area as you), the traps won't make a bit of
difference. The whole philosophy behind insects is "Don't worry, we'll
make more".

If they like hanging out in your garden, it's probably because they're
getting some sort of protein they like- as in other insects, or small
seeds, like mature Shasta Daisy pods, or that roast beef sandwich you
left sitting out.

Unless you're allergic to their stings, your best strategy is live and
let live. Don't panic when they investigate you, keep food covered, and
try to enjoy the garden during times when they're less active. All
easier said than done, but it is a doable solution. If that isn't in
the cards, then your best bet is to use poison baits after mid-summer,
so that you can wipe the entire colony out.

The OSU extension web site restates most of what I've said on the
subject in this bulletin:
http://www.ent.orst.edu/urban/PDF%20...t_Bulletin.pdf

I think Lar is right, paper wasps aren't terribly concerned with human
beings (child or female) unless you're spraying water on their nests
and being a nuissance.Here is a webpage about trapping wasps and how to
prevent a wasp infestation or at least keeping your yard clear of them:
http://www.getridofthings.com/getridofwasps.htm

It might help.

Sam

Lar wrote:
In article , "Matthew
Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam says...
So - any experience with paper wasps? Should I take steps to trap them to
reduce the populations? I know where to look for nests, and have not seen
any around my house or garden. I know that they tolerate you approaching
their nests to about 1-2 feet before they will take defensive action - they


It looks to be a transplant called an Europeon Paper Wasp. They nest
usually in hollow or enclosed areas where our native species may be just
under the eaves of a house, so you may not find the nest. They should
be of no concern to you in the garden or kids playing unless you
accidentally sit or step on one bare footed.
--
Lar

That is pretty much the conclusion I've come to. I don't want their nests
under my eaves, but they don't seem to be very aggressive at all. The yellow
jackets are evil, but the paper wasps don't seem to be bothered by us
humans.


wrote in message
oups.com...
I think Lar is right, paper wasps aren't terribly concerned with human
beings (child or female) unless you're spraying water on their nests
and being a nuissance.Here is a webpage about trapping wasps and how to
prevent a wasp infestation or at least keeping your yard clear of them:
http://www.getridofthings.com/getridofwasps.htm

It might help.

Sam

Lar wrote:
In article , "Matthew
Reed" nospam at zootal dot com nospam says...
So - any experience with paper wasps? Should I take steps to trap
them to
reduce the populations? I know where to look for nests, and have not
seen
any around my house or garden. I know that they tolerate you
approaching
their nests to about 1-2 feet before they will take defensive
action - they


It looks to be a transplant called an Europeon Paper Wasp. They nest
usually in hollow or enclosed areas where our native species may be just
under the eaves of a house, so you may not find the nest. They should
be of no concern to you in the garden or kids playing unless you
accidentally sit or step on one bare footed.
--
Lar