Worldwide Beekeeping

Beekeeping => General Beekeeping => Topic started by: The15thMember on July 08, 2022, 03:03:43 pm

Title: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 08, 2022, 03:03:43 pm
When I was inspecting one of my hives today, I noticed yellow jackets coming and going from a hole in the ground about a yard behind my hives.  They weren't bothersome, since the weather is nice and warm and there is plenty of prey for them to find, but I imagine they will become trouble once fall hits.  Since the nest is in my apiary, right next to my hives, I'm not really comfortable using a hard chemical insecticide on the entrance, as my bees are right there.  How can I destroy the nest in a way that is safe for the bees? 
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Zweefer on July 08, 2022, 03:45:17 pm
1 tbsp dish soap for every liter of water - mix and apply. I find Dawn works well.
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 08, 2022, 03:47:10 pm
1 tbsp dish soap for every liter of water - mix and apply. I find Dawn works well.
Just dump it down the hole?  That would probably work.  Our soil is mostly clay, so I shouldn't have too much trouble with the water percolating out too quickly. 
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Zweefer on July 08, 2022, 03:48:16 pm
Yep. Or you could put it in a sprayer if you are feeling ambitious.  I usually just mix up an empty two liter and call it good.


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Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 08, 2022, 03:54:52 pm
Yep. Or you could put it in a sprayer if you are feeling ambitious.  I usually just mix up an empty two liter and call it good.
I'm thinking a flood is more devastating than a downpour.  *Rubs hands together like a supervillain.*  They won't even know what hit them! 
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: iddee on July 08, 2022, 05:07:24 pm
One cup of gasoline works wonders, but may not be exactly legal. If done, DO NOT LIGHT. The fumes will kill all, including the queen. If lit, it will just burn off before penetrating and the YJ's will be fine.
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 08, 2022, 06:16:50 pm
One cup of gasoline works wonders, but may not be exactly legal. If done, DO NOT LIGHT. The fumes will kill all, including the queen. If lit, it will just burn off before penetrating and the YJ's will be fine.
Soap and water is a LOT cheaper than gas right now, so I think I will try that first.  Gas can be plan B.
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Jen on July 09, 2022, 12:04:48 am
Just a thought ... I haven't had to do this before, but does it makes sense to pour the soapy water in the hole at night when all the yellow jackets are back home?
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Bakersdozen on July 09, 2022, 07:26:43 am
Wear a bee suit while doing this!
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Jen on July 09, 2022, 11:56:11 am
"Wear a bee suit while doing this!"

Do it at night. Pour the soapy water in. Throw a garbage can lid over it. Run!  :D

kidding  ;)
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: LazyBkpr on July 09, 2022, 09:32:35 pm
 *Rubs hands together like a supervillain.*  They won't even know what hit them! 


   LOL


Do it at night. Pour the soapy water in. Throw a garbage can lid over it. Run!

   LOL again!!!!!

   I found out many many (were not counting) years ago, that ether as in starting fluid... kills wasps instantly....  meaning they drop out of the air when hit and are DONE...   We were trying to start an old truck sitting in a field...  the wasps came at me, I sprayed in self defense...   WOW!   But yeah soap and water is way cheaper. I do have to say that there is a certain satisfaction in taking an attacking wasp out of the air.  :P
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Zweefer on July 13, 2022, 08:25:36 pm
inquiring minds want to know - how did it go?
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 13, 2022, 08:49:10 pm
inquiring minds want to know - how did it go?
I actually haven't done anything about it yet.  As I mentioned on another thread, I've been sick since Friday evening, and while I am starting to feel better, I'm not in shape to tackle a yellow jacket nest yet, so they've still got at least a few more days to live.  Hopefully they make the most of it, because the end is nigh!
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: LazyBkpr on July 23, 2022, 11:33:41 pm
heh we really need a video of this!    ;D
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 24, 2022, 04:15:44 pm
heh we really need a video of this!    ;D
:D Sorry, I don't have a camera that will take good low-light video.  Also it wasn't as exciting as it sounds.  So I did the deed last night, and I'm not sure if it worked.  There were still some foragers coming in and out last evening, so I know I didn't get all of them.  It was pretty simple, just poured the soapy water down the hole.  The incoming foragers seemed confused by the soap at the entrance, but this morning they are going in and out just the same.  Now obviously the hope for this strategy is to flood the brood nest, so it's possible that it's just a matter of time until the forager base decreases.  I'm going to keep an eye on them for several days, maybe hit them again tonight with another gallon of soapy water, and we'll see what happens.     
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: rober on July 24, 2022, 08:13:38 pm
use dish detergent w/water, gasoline, or diesel fuel. after dark put a LARGE funnel in the hole & run. if they weren't stirred up or have settled down pour liquid of choice into the hole. you can enlarge a smaller funnel using sheet metal, thin plastic, sheet linoleum... gas or diesel works best & you won't need more than a gallon. they haven't bothered you yet but those nests are a ticking bomb. being swarmed by a yellow jacket nest ain't no joke.
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 25, 2022, 08:11:21 pm
Well, this situation has come to a surprise conclusion.  After supper, as soon as it was dusk, I went up to the yellow jacket nest armed with two more gallons of soapy water, and to my utter shock, the nest was dug up and all the yellow jackets gone or dead!  :o  I just stood there, dumbfounded, with the gallons in my hands, speechless, my mouth agape, I couldn't understand or believe it.  They were there yesterday!  Based on the damage, I'm guessing it was a raccoon, which according to Justin Schmidt (of the Schmidt pain index fame, I happen to be reading his book right now) are the most common predators of yellow jackets in North America.  The nest wasn't very large, somewhere between a softball and a volleyball in size.  I'll inspect it in more detail tomorrow when it's light.  So, I guess that's it.  My advice to anyone else with this problem is to pour 1 gal. of soapy water down the hole and wait for the predators to do the rest!  ;)  :D
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Zweefer on July 26, 2022, 12:27:49 am
Was super nice of you to wash supper!


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Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Jen on July 26, 2022, 12:04:06 pm
15th, so what do the raccoons want with a yellow jacket nest? Do they eat the yellow jackets?
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 26, 2022, 12:14:52 pm
Was super nice of you to wash supper!
:D  We are actually planning on using the jugs of soapy water to wash dishes today, because my mom was like, "There is no way we are wasting all that!" 

15th, so what do the raccoons want with a yellow jacket nest? Do they eat the yellow jackets?
I think they are mostly after the brood.  Here's what Justin Schmidt says in his book The Sting of the Wild
Quote
Raccoons are considered the most important predators of underground yellowjackets in eastern North America, where they avidly excavate nests, scatter the combs, and eat the brood from the combs much like a person eating corn on the cob.

Oh shoot, I've been forgetting that yellowjacket is one word and not two.  :-X
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Jen on July 26, 2022, 03:21:17 pm
Good Lord Amighty! The raccoons gotta get stung hard doing that!
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on July 26, 2022, 03:42:08 pm
Good Lord Amighty! The raccoons gotta get stung hard doing that!
I know!  Mr. Schmidt goes on to discuss how we often don't really understand the mechanisms by which animals that prey on wasps, bees, and ants deal with getting stung so much.  Perhaps they are more resistant to the venom or have more protection from their fur or skin thickness, or they just take it better than people do because they are hungry.  Probably a combination of factors.   
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Lastfling on August 01, 2022, 09:44:58 am
Instead of raccoon, I would consider a skunk to be a more likely destroyer of the nest.  In answer to Jen’s question -  they are after the larvae in the nest - yum.  I usually find several nest a year that are dug out.  Better than me finding them with my weed eater or lawnmower 🥴
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: Zweefer on August 01, 2022, 01:09:25 pm
 :yah:
Title: Re: Yellow Jacket Nest in Apiary
Post by: The15thMember on August 01, 2022, 01:52:15 pm
Instead of raccoon, I would consider a skunk to be a more likely destroyer of the nest.  In answer to Jen’s question -  they are after the larvae in the nest - yum.  I usually find several nest a year that are dug out.  Better than me finding them with my weed eater or lawnmower 🥴
A skunk is certainly also a possibility, but I haven't noticed any signs that my bees have been bothered, and skunks will go after adult bees and wasps too.  I just feel like with my hives RIGHT THERE, a skunk would have returned for the bees, whereas a raccoon is more of an opportunist.  Also we've seen raccoons in the goat pasture, which is right behind my apiary, before, whereas we've never seen a skunk on our property.