# Wasps and yellow jackets



## dkillianjr (Aug 28, 2006)

Hey guys do you have any tips to work around theses pests? I've never really had this much trouble with them until this year. It seems like every outside job I'm running into them. 


I have a soffit, fascia, gutter job to do next week. I stopped at the job the other day to double check something and while I was there I noticed a lot of yellow jacket activity in and out of the fascia board. I acctually located one of their entrances and killed a good bit of them, but I know there are more. 

Do you think I would be crazy to start working in the wee hours of the morning and trying to kill them as I pull off the gutters and fascia?


I've had bee guys come out to jobs before and it seemed like all they did was spray and tell me they will go away. 



Thanks, Dave


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

Stock up on spray, start early, and be alert. We have faced them many times. Only called the pros once and it was pretty much the way you described.


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## mikeswoods (Oct 11, 2008)

Get rid of them --I would hire (have the home owner hire) an exterminator before starting work.

I was stung 28 times once--and stopped breathing---I am now forced to carry an Epi pen at all times in the hope that I never need it---

Don't kid around with those--they can kill you---Mike---


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## shanekw1 (Mar 20, 2008)

That is the best way, start early enough that it is not warm enough for them to be moving much and spray them as you uncover the nests.


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)

Spray them. I use the cans that have a 25' spray stream. They are very accurate too. :thumbup:


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## jb4211 (Jul 13, 2010)

I noticed a higher than usually concentration of yellow-jackets this year as well. I agree with the others and have them exterminated before starting work. Why take the UNNECESSARY risk?


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## dale rex (Jun 10, 2012)

I usually carry a full can of wasp and hornet spray on the truck at all times, so I have it when needed. But sometimes when there are alot of them I buy more to have plenty on hand if needed. Wasps usually arent too terrible to deal with although they can get aggressive when it gets hot out. I did a job last year with a bee nest in a wood soffit and there were literally thousands af them going in and out during the day. They were very aggressive too, so I told the homeowner to hire someone or I wouldnt start work there. She did and all was good when I did the work. I was stung a half dozen times on one job by wasps, but luckily I am not allergic. They just hurt like a SOB for few days. I also heard that if you spray the nest early in the day(not long after sunrise) before they wake up, you can kill most of them.


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## Snobnd (Jul 1, 2008)

since they look like a pinyata treat him like a pinyata....lol
like the boys said stock up on spray thats your best friend


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## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

It's really nothing ,I don't see what all the fuss is just climb the ladder and when they buzz you JUMP!!!!, much safer to jump than fall.. It oughta bee the homeowners responsibility,, they ignored the bees and now they are rampant , unless you are the bee specialist , or next he will have you doing engine work on the car. the motto,, to :whistlingbee or not to bee, they should at least have tried properly. Your arm could swell up good and mess your work schedule


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Note where the entrances are, then spray right after dusk - they'll all be in for the night. Most will be gone the next morning, and you can spray any stragglers then.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Pete'sfeets said:


> It's really nothing ,I don't see what all the fuss is just climb the ladder and when they buzz you JUMP!!!!, much safer to jump than fall.. It oughta bee the homeowners responsibility,, they ignored the bees and now they are rampant , unless you are the bee specialist , or next he will have you doing engine work on the car. the motto,, to :whistlingbee or not to bee, they should at least have tried properly. Your arm could swell up good and mess your work schedule



I'll remember that next time I'm up my 40 footer

I climb down slowly and carefully...


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## bretth0214 (Sep 20, 2009)

I put a can of wasp spray in both hands and blast them.


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## PrecisionFloors (Jan 24, 2006)

The red paper wasps have been horrible here this year. I usually take them out with a can of brake kleen or ether and a lighter lol. Brake cleaner will knock them dead out of the air believe it or not.


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## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

brake cleaner works great and leaves no residue


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## tgeb (Feb 9, 2006)

Please be certain whether you are dealing with "Bees" (which pollinate crops and produce honey), or paper wasps or "yellow jacket" wasps (which look very much like bees), or the pinata posted which would be hornets.

I would not do anything to harm "Honey Bees", but the rest of 'em get blasted. I carry a can of good quality spray and go at them aggressively.


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## Kent Whitten (Mar 24, 2006)

Snobnd said:


> since they look like a pinyata treat him like a pinyata....lol
> like the boys said stock up on spray thats your best friend


We used to get a 20 gauge and shoot the nests :laughing:

You need a full choke though


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## DemRem (Apr 21, 2012)

Start early and spray like other posts say

You could also try leaving a couple of these around


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

I'm deathly allergic to them I pointed out a nest years ago and one came right at me and stung me

I blew it off and 20 minutes later the guys came out and found me laying next too my truck

Got to love epinephrine and Benadryl didn't work the rest of the day either


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## EmmCeeDee (May 23, 2010)

You might want to look around for other entrances, yellow jacket nests often have multiple points of entry which will make spray less effective. Dust works well for getting into the nest in this case. If you think its a serious nest better to call a professional. I've heard of yellow jackets living in a stud bay and actually chewing through drywall and into the house when agitated.

Paper wasps: hit em as you see the nests. There are usually not more than 10 at any nest and the spray knocks them down pretty quick. I pulled a roof full of gutter guards off last year and there was about a 33% chance there would be a nest under any given section. I pulled and the other guy held the can to hit them. That sucked.


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## summithomeinc (Jan 3, 2011)

Laquer thinner kills em as soon as it touches them.


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## smalpierre (Jan 19, 2011)

Wasp spray for nests I run across, but for the odd divebomber I grab my baseball hat off my head and swat that bastige down. It puts them on the ground for an easy stomp. Often it breaks their wings.

I've had jobs where I told the customer I wasn't doing anything until the dangerous infestation was remedied.


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## WildWill (Jun 6, 2008)

I save the old tubes from dead shop vacs so I have 20-25 feet worth of them. I attach them to the shopvac and prop them up with the end near the nest and them turn the vac on. The sound of the air whooshing into the end of the vac makes them mad and they swoop in to investigate...and down the tube they go. If they are in a hole in the wall I tap the wall with the tubes, they come out mad as hell and then attack the end of the tube...yep, sucked into the death pit. Another fun trick that takes a set of stones, I have the electric leaf blower/picker upper/shredder. I use the leaf picker upper shredder attachment and stick it right on the whole hive, it sucks it up, shreds it, and spits it out the side. Gotta make sure you get the whole thing in one shot though.


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## MALCO.New.York (Feb 27, 2008)

Raid "Wasp and Hornet".


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## fireguy (Oct 29, 2006)

To the guy who was not alergic to the wasp/hornets. What you mean is your body has not had enough poison injected into to develop an allergic reaction, yet. When you have an allergic reaction to the poison you will have difficulty breathing, your heart rate will escalate, you may have dizziness. That is anaphalactic shock, and it can be life-threatening

To the guy who used gasoline on the ground dwelling insects. Working in the woods we were told to pour gas around a bee tree,then toss some gas into the paper nest. Wait a bit and then drop the tree. Something about a chainsaw cutting into their tree upsets them.


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## larryb (May 23, 2008)

I used to spray the evening before and usually never had much of a problem the next day. When installing alum soffit panels, you can wack em with the panel and send them flying to the ground. Only got stung once in over 3 decades when I broke for lunch on a framing job and the damn bee landed between mysandwich and my upper lip. Ouch!


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