We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:06:29 GMT, "Rob" wrote:

We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



6-8 oz of Dawn dish liquid in a gallon of water is an immediate
contact kill.


Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

thats good for killing the ones hanging out on the surface, but i wouldn't
think pouring it into a hole or 20 would reach far enough through all the
underground passages to wipe out the colony.

"Tom Jaszewski" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:06:29 GMT, "Rob" wrote:

We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main
entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



6-8 oz of Dawn dish liquid in a gallon of water is an immediate
contact kill.


Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a
pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

dynamite
napalm
bulldozer

hire an exterminator

all of the above will work just some have more extra results
associiated with them.

Visit my website: http://www.frugalmachinist.com
Opinions expressed are those of my wifes,
I had no input whatsoever.
Remove "nospam" from email addy.

Rob wrote:

We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



A generous pinch of insecticide dust or wetable powder, tossed at the mouth
of an entrance hole early in the morning before they wake up, or in the
early evening as they are almost settling down for the night. They will
get the dust on their feet and track it into the hive and poison the nest.

Methoxychlor 50WP works well; I've used it a couple of times on huge
inaccessable yellow jacket nests. Sevin 10% dust should be good too, but
not as fast acting (keep sevin away from honey bees!) If you don't want
to use chemical poisons, you can try rotenone dust but I don't know how
well it will work.

-Bob

In article , says...
We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



Rob, the description you are describing sounds more like Cicada Killer Wasps.
They are a solitary wasp that can nest in the same areas as many others. I
have never known anyone personally who has been stung by them. Only the
female has the stinger and she is usually only seen around the nest stocking
it with food. If they are Cicada Killers, they will be gone in a few weeks
until next year. If you feel you need to do anything for them any sort of
insecticide labeled for ground wasps/bees works fine, just have to hit each
individual opening. Digger bees would be another thought, but once again they
are solitary in nature nesting along side others. They can be a long term
problem, but you can encourage them to move on by keeping the area wet. If
you happen to get a pic of the wasps/bees please post them somewheres fore
viewing or feel free to email them to me.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:06:29 GMT, "Rob" wrote:

We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



Get a large can of the hornet/wasp spray. This allow you to stand
10-15 feet away. About a half hour after sundown spray the mound.

Well, I tried to take some pics of the bees themselves, but they refused to
sit still. They are constantly in motion, and appear to be about 1/2" in
length, and from what I could see when I tried to get close to them, they
appeared to be greyish in color and perhaps even kind of fuzzy. Very
strange looking for a bee, but I could be wrong since they move really
quickly. I'm in the process of putting some high resolution, non bandwidth
friendly pics of their home at http://www.nema.com/rob/bees

Posters, thanks for the info on chemical killers, I have no issues with
that. Is this the sort of stuff I could pick up at Home Depot or would I
need to find some sort of specialty store?


"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There
is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main
entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8'
area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over
that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they
usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



Rob, the description you are describing sounds more like Cicada Killer
Wasps.
They are a solitary wasp that can nest in the same areas as many others. I
have never known anyone personally who has been stung by them. Only the
female has the stinger and she is usually only seen around the nest
stocking
it with food. If they are Cicada Killers, they will be gone in a few weeks
until next year. If you feel you need to do anything for them any sort of
insecticide labeled for ground wasps/bees works fine, just have to hit
each
individual opening. Digger bees would be another thought, but once again
they
are solitary in nature nesting along side others. They can be a long term
problem, but you can encourage them to move on by keeping the area wet. If
you happen to get a pic of the wasps/bees please post them somewheres fore
viewing or feel free to email them to me.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

Using a "root injector" does work. And a drench is also largely
effective. Colony entries are not "torturous paths" or labyrinths.
Based on experience rather than "think".





On Sun, 18 Apr 2004 00:09:44 GMT, "Rob" wrote:

thats good for killing the ones hanging out on the surface, but i wouldn't
think pouring it into a hole or 20 would reach far enough through all the
underground passages to wipe out the colony.

"Tom Jaszewski" wrote in message
.. .
On Sat, 17 Apr 2004 23:06:29 GMT, "Rob" wrote:

We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main
entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



6-8 oz of Dawn dish liquid in a gallon of water is an immediate
contact kill.


Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a
pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold


Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold

In article , says...
Well, I tried to take some pics of the bees themselves, but they refused to
sit still. They are constantly in motion, and appear to be about 1/2" in
length, and from what I could see when I tried to get close to them, they
appeared to be greyish in color and perhaps even kind of fuzzy. Very
strange looking for a bee, but I could be wrong since they move really
quickly. I'm in the process of putting some high resolution, non bandwidth
friendly pics of their home at http://www.nema.com/rob/bees

Posters, thanks for the info on chemical killers, I have no issues with
that. Is this the sort of stuff I could pick up at Home Depot or would I
need to find some sort of specialty store?


"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There
is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main
entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8'
area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over
that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they
usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.



Rob, the description you are describing sounds more like Cicada Killer
Wasps.
They are a solitary wasp that can nest in the same areas as many others. I
have never known anyone personally who has been stung by them. Only the
female has the stinger and she is usually only seen around the nest
stocking
it with food. If they are Cicada Killers, they will be gone in a few weeks
until next year. If you feel you need to do anything for them any sort of
insecticide labeled for ground wasps/bees works fine, just have to hit
each
individual opening. Digger bees would be another thought, but once again
they
are solitary in nature nesting along side others. They can be a long term
problem, but you can encourage them to move on by keeping the area wet. If
you happen to get a pic of the wasps/bees please post them somewheres fore
viewing or feel free to email them to me.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
The nesting site looks like what I see with digger bees rather than a wasp
colony. Here are a couple of pics of the bee found on the web.
http://pollinator.com/sc_beeplants/diggerbee2.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/2fnxh
An insecticide dust would probably be the best control if you go that route,
but you would need to apply it to every hole and new ones that will appear
the next couple of weeks. Supposedly you can make them move on by keeping the
area wet, but depending on how big an area it is, may not be practical. They
usually nest in semi barren locations and planting ground covers, if desired,
may discourage them from showing up next year.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

Thanks Lar, it looks like the first picture you posted. The yellow and
black coloring in the second picture wasn't evident to me. Maybe I'll try
setting up a couple of lawn sprinklers in the area and see if that helps.
In the event it doesn't, can the insecticide be purchased at a chain store,
or perhaps garden stores generally carry it?

"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
Well, I tried to take some pics of the bees themselves, but they
refused to
sit still. They are constantly in motion, and appear to be about 1/2"
in
length, and from what I could see when I tried to get close to them,
they
appeared to be greyish in color and perhaps even kind of fuzzy. Very
strange looking for a bee, but I could be wrong since they move really
quickly. I'm in the process of putting some high resolution, non
bandwidth
friendly pics of their home at http://www.nema.com/rob/bees

Posters, thanks for the info on chemical killers, I have no issues
with
that. Is this the sort of stuff I could pick up at Home Depot or
would I
need to find some sort of specialty store?


"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn.
There
is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their
main
entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x
8'
area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all
over
that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area
they
usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there
must be
thousands of wasps.



Rob, the description you are describing sounds more like Cicada
Killer
Wasps.
They are a solitary wasp that can nest in the same areas as many
others. I
have never known anyone personally who has been stung by them. Only
the
female has the stinger and she is usually only seen around the nest
stocking
it with food. If they are Cicada Killers, they will be gone in a few
weeks
until next year. If you feel you need to do anything for them any
sort of
insecticide labeled for ground wasps/bees works fine, just have to
hit
each
individual opening. Digger bees would be another thought, but once
again
they
are solitary in nature nesting along side others. They can be a long
term
problem, but you can encourage them to move on by keeping the area
wet. If
you happen to get a pic of the wasps/bees please post them
somewheres fore
viewing or feel free to email them to me.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
The nesting site looks like what I see with digger bees rather than a wasp
colony. Here are a couple of pics of the bee found on the web.
http://pollinator.com/sc_beeplants/diggerbee2.jpg
http://tinyurl.com/2fnxh
An insecticide dust would probably be the best control if you go that
route,
but you would need to apply it to every hole and new ones that will appear
the next couple of weeks. Supposedly you can make them move on by keeping
the
area wet, but depending on how big an area it is, may not be practical.
They
usually nest in semi barren locations and planting ground covers, if
desired,
may discourage them from showing up next year.
--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

In article ,
says...
Thanks Lar, it looks like the first picture you posted. The yellow and
black coloring in the second picture wasn't evident to me. Maybe I'll try
setting up a couple of lawn sprinklers in the area and see if that helps.
In the event it doesn't, can the insecticide be purchased at a chain store,
or perhaps garden stores generally carry it?

Any garden center will the insecticide dust. Sevin will work well, but even
if you happen to have or know someone with a flea powder that contains
pyrethrin will work well too. You don't want to "clog" up the hole with the
dust. Use gloves and scatter a small pinch at the opening. You can also but
a dust applicator or use a small "baister" used in cooking, to puff the dust
into the openings. With digger bees, one hole is one nest, they aren't
connected. They do sting, so be wary.

--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

one hole is one nest?!?! oh my god........ the area is larger than I first
thought, they've spread onto the other side of the driveway into the front
yard (i noticed this as i was standing on top of the holes while staking the
sprinklers into the ground ). ok well it looks like i have some options,
thanks for the education.

"Lar" wrote in message
t...
In article ,
says...
Thanks Lar, it looks like the first picture you posted. The yellow
and
black coloring in the second picture wasn't evident to me. Maybe I'll
try
setting up a couple of lawn sprinklers in the area and see if that
helps.
In the event it doesn't, can the insecticide be purchased at a chain
store,
or perhaps garden stores generally carry it?

Any garden center will the insecticide dust. Sevin will work well, but
even
if you happen to have or know someone with a flea powder that contains
pyrethrin will work well too. You don't want to "clog" up the hole with
the
dust. Use gloves and scatter a small pinch at the opening. You can also
but
a dust applicator or use a small "baister" used in cooking, to puff the
dust
into the openings. With digger bees, one hole is one nest, they aren't
connected. They do sting, so be wary.

--
It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Lar. (to e-mail, get rid of the BUGS!!

"Rob" wrote in message ...
We have an absolutely huge colony of wasps on a strip of lawn. There is
about a one foot tall mound of dirt that appears to be their main entrance,
but they have literally hundreds of other entrances over a 30' x 8' area.
At any given time during the day, there are dozens of bees all over that
stretch of yard. When we have guests over, this is the area they usually
park in. How can I possibly kill a colony this large, there must be
thousands of wasps.

From your description a few messages down you have small solitary bees
that found an undisturbed place to set up housekeeping. Each female is
a queen, each has their own nest. These are very gentle bees, what is
the rush to kill them?
Good pollinators too. Odds are you could mow right over the spot and
never get stung.
By the way bee and wasp is not interchangeable .

"Rob" wrote in message ...
one hole is one nest?!?! oh my god........ the area is larger than I first
thought, they've spread onto the other side of the driveway into the front
yard (i noticed this as i was standing on top of the holes while staking the
sprinklers into the ground ). ok well it looks like i have some options,
thanks for the education.

How many times were you stung?
I bet a whopping big zero.