Get rid of yellow jacket nest above ground?

[pigdoc]

The key to yellowjackets' survival is their queen. Just like bees. Spraying insecticide around and killing a few workers really does nothing - you have to eliminate the queen. These insects also become more defensive with the lowering angle of the sun in the late summer and fall.

How big is your "deck box"? Will it fit inside a garbage bag?

My suggestion is to wait until after dark and then carefully (minimizing vibration), isolate the nest inside a heavy duty garbage bag. After dark, the workers should all be back inside the hive. It would not surprise me if these critters could chew through a plastic bag, in time. If you can, slap a piece of duct tape over the hive entrance.

With the box and nest isolated, you can move it to a 'safe' place to deal with it. If you can place it in the sun, a couple of days there should exterminate everything inside.

For ground nests, I dump a half-gallon of used motor oil down the hole and then cover it with a thick layer of soil.

-Paul

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

After dark.

I use:

Diatomaceous Earth. Put a couple cups of it in and around the nest. It does not kill instantly, so be advised. They will track it into the nest, all will die. Might need a couple treatments. It's like glass shards to insects. Cuts through their exoskeleton. If it's rainy or windy, skip DE.

Or...

Borax. Use same as DE. Or mix with apple juice. Look it up on google.

Or...

Dawn dish soap. Squirt 1/2 bottle down the hole. Rain and wind proof.

Or...

Pemethrin and orange oil mix with water. Pour or spray.

 

[Speed25]

My suggestion is to wait until after dark and then carefully (minimizing vibration), isolate the nest inside a heavy duty garbage bag. After dark, the workers should all be back inside the hive. It would not surprise me if these critters could chew through a plastic bag, in time. If you can, slap a piece of duct tape over the hive entrance.

With the box and nest isolated, you can move it to a 'safe' place to deal with it. If you can place it in the sun, a couple of days there should exterminate everything inside.

I like this idea, followed by the one below. If you don't have forks for your tractor, this seems like a good excuse to buy some.

I think you just need to burn it all to the ground. only safe thing to do

While not pertinent to your situation, regular foaming bee spray works in 90% of my ground nests, while the Dawn idea above, followed up with some water has taken care of the other 10%.

 

[GrumpyFarmer]

@NorthwoodsLife is shooting you straight…If you can access the hole, try boric acid (look for borax at hardware stores).

 

[Gaspasser]

Call a local beekeeper (contact a local club). The suit will protect them. Soapy water is quite effective at suffocating them if it can be sprayed adequately. Otherwise, hornet spray is effective at a distance at night.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

I use good, stinky Brake cleaner. Liberally in the hole about hour after dark.
I used to use a 'spray FOAMING' killer.it was great, any escaping got the chemical on them and poof dead.....

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

The beauty of Diatomaceous Earth (DE), food grade, is that it is so inexpensive. 4lbs for about $10.
And a human can actually eat it. Put it in your soup for parasite issues.

I'm not a doctor, but that's what I read and do.

Take this advice with a grain of salt. In other words, research and verify on your own.

 

[sagor]

I've used wasp spray, as well as brake cleaner. However, brake cleaner is "changing" away from the chlorinated stuff. Only the cleaner with the chlorinated (tetrachloroethylene, Perchloroethylene) products seems to work as an instant "killer".

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

I have used enuf brake cleaner sprays on auto brake fixes to know that it will kill anything that needs oxygen. Darn near passed out a couple times.

The gasoline and a thrown lit match is the most fun. But don't burn the forest or field or house down for a hornet nest.

 

[NorthwoodsLife]

 

[Old Machinist]

Also look at the videos on collecting them with a shop vac with some water in it.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=collecting+yellow+jackets+with+a+shop+vac

 

[Flintknapper]

I guess someone needs to tell me what the heck a 'Deck Box' is?

 

[imnukensc]

I guess someone needs to tell me what the heck a 'Deck Box' is?

Something like this is what I think the OP is talking about. Not sure why his would have a hole in it. Mine doesn't and have never seen one that did. https://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-600...565&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-5&ts_id=671804011&th=1

 

[NCL4701]

This may be useless, but if:

1. You can reasonably get to the nest by opening a lid on a deck box or removing a couple boards AND;
2. You have access to a full bee suit such as used with honey bees;

Suit up good and tear into them. By “suit up good” I mean duct tape coverall pant legs to boots, duct tape glove gauntlets to sleeves, etc. Shortly before dusk when the field workers are all coming in to shut down for the night, gear up with wasp spray, brake cleaner, lacquer thinner in a spray bottle, or whatever else your favorite poison is along with a flat bar or stiff putty knife and destroy every bit of their nest and every last member of the colony. Scrape up all the debris and burn it. If it’s somewhere you don’t want to use poison, just manually destroy the nest and burn all the resulting debris. Any workers you don’t get won’t last long without a nest.

I gave the bees and almost all the equipment away when my father passed away. But I kept my bee suit for just such occasions. If you discovered the nest by being expectedly stung a few dozen times, returning in a bee suit to manually destroy the nest can also be a cathartic relief to the irritation caused by the stings.

 

[Flintknapper]

Something like this is what I think the OP is talking about. Not sure why his would have a hole in it. Mine doesn't and have never seen one that did. https://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-60012-Extra-Large-Deck/dp/B0030GG2GC/ref=sr_1_5?c=ts&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.u2K4XogxFB4jkxRFHiWuLSPMwi9TFk5_bbeTanavYsL9amK3QCaBA7QX8-W4jTr3L1oL3AqCChmj1BOfzArTTlU4LXe4lBurRjvD6vqFulpCfmNveKrGhEdbxEkcghHwvoU2butOdx79Y_SYMrUdLXZ90uqz6_HvKJRwJnt79mhlzhggY6ckUB7YBfkeSlxDDCyeGqEo48rqM0UEoohlk-1N0zyal420hvwRhxKaBXbSRXJWpRdGGNm-1cZpRE3LIZc_dDeqTIIr1IcFh6zlonO8N1fYcue6NYZjdllJU-Q.E3uWaRTBF9UWOc5ZH-n84-LgTcpeX7SgEfygc2r_Rm0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Deck+Boxes&qid=1756347565&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-5&ts_id=671804011&th=1

OK.....figured it might be something along those lines. So.....if the OP would simply post a pic of the set up (like I requested earlier) we could better understand the issue and conclusively provide a solution.

 

[MAXA]

I guess someone needs to tell me what the heck a 'Deck Box' is?

It's a box on a deck.

 

[MAXA]

Something like this is what I think the OP is talking about. Not sure why his would have a hole in it. Mine doesn't and have never seen one that did. https://www.amazon.com/Lifetime-60012-Extra-Large-Deck/dp/B0030GG2GC/ref=sr_1_5?c=ts&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.u2K4XogxFB4jkxRFHiWuLSPMwi9TFk5_bbeTanavYsL9amK3QCaBA7QX8-W4jTr3L1oL3AqCChmj1BOfzArTTlU4LXe4lBurRjvD6vqFulpCfmNveKrGhEdbxEkcghHwvoU2butOdx79Y_SYMrUdLXZ90uqz6_HvKJRwJnt79mhlzhggY6ckUB7YBfkeSlxDDCyeGqEo48rqM0UEoohlk-1N0zyal420hvwRhxKaBXbSRXJWpRdGGNm-1cZpRE3LIZc_dDeqTIIr1IcFh6zlonO8N1fYcue6NYZjdllJU-Q.E3uWaRTBF9UWOc5ZH-n84-LgTcpeX7SgEfygc2r_Rm0&dib_tag=se&keywords=Deck+Boxes&qid=1756347565&s=lawn-garden&sr=1-5&ts_id=671804011&th=1

Yep that is it! They sell these things at every store!

There is no hole they warp over time.

 

[MAXA]

OK.....figured it might be something along those lines. So.....if the OP would simply post a pic of the set up (like I requested earlier) we could better understand the issue and conclusively provide a solution.

It's a box not much there to post a pic of.

 

[WI_Hedgehog]

It's an actual box on your deck....

Dawn dish soap in water in a sprayer.