Yellow Jackets in the Basement « How to Get Rid of Things: Forum

How to Get Rid of Things: Forum » Pest Control

Yellow Jackets in the Basement

(23 posts)

Started 10 months ago by samoya22
Latest reply from Hangman

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yellow jackets

samoya22 (Jonathan)

A reader asked this question:

I read in one of your web publications "how to get rid of yellow jackets" as
i am currently experiencing a yellow jacket infestation in my basement. I
can not find the nest as the activity is much reduced, being that the
weather has turned colder. (live in a home built in 1948 in South
Minneapolis). I find them either dead or almost dying in one corner when i
get home from work. or they smack me in the back of the head when i getting
ready for work in the morning. (its better than coffee for a good wake-up -
near heart attack caliber!) I assume that the nest is close to that
corner of the basement, but i can't find any of them in the walls (where i
can access the walls in that corner). The basement is partially finished.
Am i going to have to rip out the new shower wall? or as stated in your how
to get rid of yellow jackets page, it says that if you leave the nest alone
that it will essentially die over the winter. Is this true for nest within
outside walls? or are we going to be dealing with the damn things all
winter?
Any assistance you may or may not be able to provide will likely be better
than the exterminator, who's helpfulness is beyond compare said - "its
raining - i can't find them" and then left. (please let it be known that
it was raining when we called them)...

sincerely
MZ

Any thoughts, getagrip/gotagrip?

-J

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

OK here's what natures plan is "supposed " to be for YJ's. The workers all die as it gets cold,( unlike honey bees..they will build a protective wall around the queen with thier bodies and the outer layers will die off.) the Queen is "supposed" to go out and overwinter in the ground. I think the ones that bump into you are going for light and not you..although you may think you're attractive they have no need for your company. Now do they follow natures plan? Well yes and no and maybe.Hope that clears it up. Your pest guy could have used a listening device and banged the interior wall until the nest is located by the buzzing sound of irritated yj's and treated from the inside. Listening devices run from $2500 for and "insectascope" to nothing for a water glass held against the wall.

Posted 10 months ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

And this is why I love getagrip.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

That's exactly the conclusion I came up with from talking to yet another exterminator. Who assured me that they would be gone with the first freeze... a yeah, sure - that was last night - and found a yj this am buzzing around the bathroom. thanks mr. expert.
damn thing.
So in case "supposed to" doesn't happen, do you have suggestions? will poisoned bait traps help? Or I really need to get someone (likely myself) to see if there's buzzing in the walls yet and then...?? drill holes in the wall and puff dust/insecticide in there? or what? I would like to bring the 6 month old kid downstairs to play with his toys at some point. But until the yj thing is solved, he's bored and cranky without the fun stuff. It's going to be a long winter until this is resolved.
MZ

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

I'm not sure if you're the same one that had a problem in the basement,but if you're unable to find an entrance/exit from observing outside then here's one of our let's call it "unconventional" ways to expedite the end of a yellow jacket nest in the wall in early winter. Chances are the utility room is the culprit but it could be any room. You know your house better than anyone, which room is problem? OK..tonight just before you go to bed, turn on the brightest light in that room, seal the room by closing the door and put a towel at the base, then set off a room fogger and go to bed (in some other room if the problem is your bedroom). The "plan" is to attract the remaining bees to the light and fog filled room. Hopefully they will die off tonight. Oh be sure to turn off all the other lights in the house. So you will have invested about $3 as opposed to $200-$400 for Joe the bug man. Let us know what happens tomorrow. There's more ideas floating around.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

I am MZ the one and the same... jonathan posted it for me in the forum as for whatever reason the link to the forum from the page "how to get rid of yj" directed me to an error page.

The basement is partially unfinished - more than partially - its mostly unfinished. that as we tore down interior walls, from the formerly finished part to refinish the whole kit and caboodle. So the basement, other than the bathroom, is wide open (approximately 900 sf). There's no ability to seal it off, unless we plastic/tape that location we find most of them. but the fogging will be going off while i seal the plastic right - not the most efficient way. we have cats - will a fogger residue poison them? (we will not keep them, or their food, bowls etc. in the basement while fogging occurs - duh.)
Also if the dang YJs are in the walls - how will the fogger actually kill the yjs within the walls?
And aren't some foggers flammable? the furnace and water heater are right there - as it gets pretty chilly at night - i am pretty attached to a heat source.
any ideas are welcome - and will be utilized - as long as they won't blow us up, or kill our cats down the road.

thanks.
MZ

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

They are pretty much attached to the same heat source and that's why they're taking longer than it should to die off. Soooooo.......plan B.. No pesticides, no drilling,
no listening device, Go spend a couple days with friends, go on vacation, shut the
furnace down and freeze them out. If it's as cold as you say then just one night might be enough, but you have to allow time for the heat you've generated to dissapate from the walls and let the cold in, oh maybe leave a small safe space heater for the cat where she usually sleeps.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

yeah... and in the mean time the pipes burst and we have a mess. Not to mention a large expense. I realize you're trying to help...and i do appreciate it. but you are realizing the dilemma we have. its a conundrum. Will likely try to block off the area with plastic and tape and keep the cats away from that area and try to bomb it and cross the fingers that the insecticide finds its way, the same way the damn yjs are finding their way out. stay tuned... this may take a while.
and yes, its been below freezing (and its been snowing since sometime overnight and is continuing to do so) and i killed two this am, and last night. So... the cold is not doing what its "supposed" to be doing.

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

Plan B section a if you left the water trickling the pipes wont freeze.
Plan C An insect zapper hung in the basement,change the blacklight bulb with a shop light florecsent (same size)
Plan D YJ traps hung in the basement close to where you suspect they are coming from, put sugar and water mixture in the trap.
Keep us up to date. As Plan E,F.G are being formulated as we speak over a case of beer.

Posted 10 months ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

Well, eventually you'll run out of yellow jackets to kill. The problem with wasps is that they're nearly impossible to control without chemicals.

Also, it hasn't been cold enough here for me to consider it a proper freeze. So, the guy you talked to about freezing and dead wasps was correct. They will freeze, but not in October. It's supposed to be 60 degrees and sunny here, not 33 and snowy. Can't kill wasps with just a few hours of 32 degree weather. I put bugs in the fridge to take pictures all the time and they recover quite well from being chilled. It's surprising really. Boxelder bugs brush 30 degree weather off their shoulders in a matter of seconds once you return them to room temperature.

In fact, I have half a mind to come over there and catch a few yellow jackets for this photography project I'm working on.

My opinion on control? Bomb it. Seal the room. Take all of the stuff you and your kids/pets snuggle with out of the room. Seal it and bomb it. The insecticide will find its way to the wasps: that much is certain. Maybe set off two bombs just to make sure? Getagrip is doing his best to make sure you don't use chemicals, but at this point, if the bugs are bothering you enough, it might be time to put the little guys down with some poison.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

i would love to run out of them...and seemingly is the case. instead of finding/killing 15 - 20 a day and being smacked in the back of the head. its done to maybe 1-2 crawling around in corner, very slowly. In fact, the braver of the two cats plays with the damn things. Either she's been stung and doesn't care, or she hasn't yet.
i don't have an issue using chemicals to kill the durn yellow jackets. just don't want to kill the cats in the mean time. My husband is rather attached to them.
But will have the hubby bomb the joint tomorrow as he is off of work, and me and the kid will be outta the house. and we'll put the cats up on the main level.
I do appreciate the multitudes of suggestions of how to deal with these things. I can sincerely say all of the input has been much more helpful than the "professional" advice i have received over the last week.
and i will keep my fingers crossed that the cold and poison does them all in. will be back later this week to inform of progress.

MZ

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

Soooo....J..those things in your fridge wern't appitizers?!! I saw the green lunch meat and thought THAT was the experiment! MZ if we could only find the nest..I like Sevin dust in an old plastic Elmer's school glue container, so you sort of "puff" it into the nest area.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

Well the fogger didn't work. found a dang yj and kilt it this am. when i slammed the thing against the wall with the leather work glove (handier than a fly swatter - get it?)
i heard louder buzzing - so they're definitely behind the new bathroom wall. Unless i was imagining things. Damn sneaky buggers.
So Plan Q is to drill hole(s) in the wall, puff sevin dust into the wall and hope that wall does contain the dang things and that the all DIE. Unfortunately no elmers glue bottle, but the yellow mustard container someone gave me years ago in hopes that i would fill it with mustard, (thought why would i move the mustard from one yellow squeeze bottle to this one?!) anyway - i am now glad i have it.
again will keep you updated as to the death of the yjs.

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

Hey..that's great..the yellow plastic mustard thingy and there's a red one for ketchup too I bet with a little plastic picnic table? When you pop that hole ( I hope it's only drywall) be prepared to tape it instantly with masking tape and don't have a light on behind you. Some of them will attack through the holes if you're close to the nest .Wear long sleeves and a hat. Good hunting.

Posted 10 months ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

I like the Sevin dust in a mustard bottle approach, but Getagrip is right, be careful and wear thick clothing: they won't just stand there watching their buddies die face down in the dust. Big Lebowski reference, get it?

Posted 10 months ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

That little part of Steve Erwin in all of us would be mighty tempted to light a Black Cat and squeeze it through that hole, just to see how angry we could get 'em!

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

That's fireworks for all the animal rights advocates out there,,no cats were hurt during this movie. And for all you Yellow Jacket advocates, yes we know they are beneficial and we love them dearly as you do. End of disclaimer...Miller time.

Posted 10 months ago #
mageyjhater (Member)

They're benefiting no one when in my basement. And as for these particular stinkers - haven't seen one for three days... so we;ll see. For the record - the method used: drilled hole in wall- tape with duct tape as drill bit was removed (while sporting thick leather work gloves, long sleeve/hooded sweatshirt long pants and hat) 3 holes were done this way, one at a time. (and yes its new drywall - installed less than 1 year ago).
Then popped the mustard bottle nozzle through the duct tape, puffed several squeezes of the sevin dust into the wall, and prior to removing squeeze bottle nozzle, had more tape at the ready to cover the hole. currently have 3 silver x's adding to the basement wall decor. Also wiped up sevin dust that poofed out of the mustard.
and no - no we don't love yellow jackets - period. although i hope they enjoyed their last picnic.
and no - i won't be using the mustard.ketchup bottle set for my next pic-a-nic. currently the mustard one is reserved - just in case its needed again. So unless i have more run ins with those dang things - i'm out.
and thanks again for the suggestions.
MZ

Posted 10 months ago #
getagrip (Member)

Wait Wait you can't leave yet..We haven't told you where to send your tax free contribution!! AH yes..ANOTHER satisfied customer.

Posted 10 months ago #
samoya22 (Jonathan)

I couldn't stop laughing when I read this: "currently have 3 silver x's adding to the basement wall decor." Hahaha! Well, congratulations Mr. Grip, I believe you owe yourself a beer.

Cheers!

Posted 10 months ago #
Hangman (Member)

Well I am glad i found you all...we have had yellow jackets taking up residence in our one and only bathroom. I have tried sealing the area around the interior of the window that they were coming in thru and then the outside..I used foaming Yellow jacket spray at night and in the morning. They were already groggy but this seemed to knock em down even further. However after a few rainy days followed by some hot sunny ones they were back and stronger , more alive than ever.

last night I followed the Sevin -mustard bottle approach and puffed it around the opening outside as well as liberally dusting the exterior window sill ( they were coming in and out of bath window trim) I also puffed some into the hole in the floor where the plumbing for the baseboard heat comes thru the floor. I wiped the area down after to avoid poisoning the cat, but also closed the door to keep him out.

I know it is still too early to do the "victory dance" but this morning is the first time in weeks I have not seen YJ's buzzing in and out of the trim and NONE in the bath :-)

p.s. How "bad" is the Sevin as far as toxicity and harming the planet?

Thanks for your help.
Mark

Posted 3 days ago #
getridofit (Voice of Authority)

Here is a link to the wikipedia article about Sevin.
It is bad for pollinating honey bees (even the ones not nesting in your house), so don't use it willy-nilly.
It's also toxic to you, and is carcinogenic--so be careful.

Posted 2 days ago #
Hangman (Member)

Thanks for the link...next time I'll wear a mask and gloves. According to a local "bee" guy ,unfortunately the honey bees have taken a hit here in my town. I'll use it sparingly ,I don't want to make it worse.

Posted 2 days ago #

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