I was pulling some old dried logs out from underneath our porch, and stirred up what seems to be a nest of some sort of bees. Got one sting on the foot and noticed a handful of them flying around, then settling back. I think they’re in the old log, but maybe in the ground next to it. In any case, any ideas on how to safely kill them off or get rid of them? I have some Raid that’s for flying insects, but that seems pretty feeble up against this herd of fighters. What if I go out there at night, when they’re all sleeping and spray this stuff all over the log and ground? What if I hose it down? Is this a job for an exterminator? My neighbor freaked out because he’s afraid he’ll get anaphalactic shock if I wake up any more of these guys. What’s the safest, smartest way to do this, dopers? (I have visions of pouring gasoline on the thing and lighting it, thereby setting fire to our porch and ultimately burning down our building and the adjacent buildings, eventually turning our town into the next best thing to the great Chicago fire. I’d rather not.) xo, C.
Get a honey beekeeper to remove them. If they aren’t honey bees you should call an exterminator.
Basically the swarm will follow the queen where ever she is taken. Not a DIY job for the uninitiated.
Call an exterminator.
If at all possible, make sure you know what you’re dealing with. Are they bees? Or are they yellowjackets or something else? Bees tend not to be aggressive and territorial, whereas yellowjackets most definitely are.
Sevin dust (carbaryl) is highly toxic to bees (and yellowjackets). You can get Sevin at most garden centers. But it does take a couple of days to work. Try to figure out where their entrance/exit hole is so you can put the Sevin where they’ll come into contact with it. Apply the Sevin at night.
If they are bees…try to live and let live. (Easy for me to say – they aren’t under MY porch and I don’t have a freaking out neighbor.) But bees are important pollinators.
Assuming they’re not honey bees – buy a can of Raid wasp and hornet killer. Wait until late dusk (when you can still see a bit outside, but the wasps have returned to their nest) and spray the hell out of everything in the area. Don’t hang around waiting to see what happens, just get the hell out of there.
Observe from a distance the next day and see if there are any more wasps flying around.
p.s. – The spray will spew out some distance (at least 4 or 5 feet), so you don’t have to stand right on top of the nest.
I’ll throw in with those suggesting a bee specialist or extirminator.
Also, if you live in a Home Owner’s Association, contact the management company and the HOA will pay for it.
I have had quite a few brushed with yellowjackets, and in my experence* I have found that you can get very close to the nest without stiring them up. Once I was working about 6 inches from a medium nest. I didn’t see it till I was done, no wasp stung me, or even gave me a flyby.
Now if you do disturb the nest, or perhaps get closer to the 6 inch zone, they will attack. In order to spray them you have to find their nest. THis is not that easy to do in a pile of wood. You should be able to stay 10 ft away and observe, hopefully you can find it. Depending on the size of the wood, you may be able to poke it with a long pole, or even use a RC car to ‘bump’ the wood, hopefully to stir them up so you can zero in on the nest.
OK when you know where the nest is you can plan your attack. I suggest getting 2 cans of bug spray - one that shoots a stream and made for wasps, whcih will be your main attack weapon, and a second one that sprays a fog and is a flying insect killer - this one is more defensive, if the wasps get up a few fliers and they come after you, you can spray a ‘fog shield’.
Also you should wear clothes that will give you protection, jacket, gloves, long pants, boots, hat, anything you have to shield yourself. Plan your attack at dusk or dawn.
When you launch your attack, you don’t need much, but you MUST hit the nest. So just spray till you are sure you hit it. Once you hit it stop the attack, back off and use the fog if needed.
Next day carefully check, repete if needed
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- this is my experence, you must assume that the yellowjackets may not treat me the same as you - to be safe assume that you have some angry ones, not the nice ones that I have.
I like the concept of a dawn launch with two cans of spray, one offensive, one defensive. I also notice that the ads at the bottom of the page are for salves and lotions that deal with wasp and bee stings. Not encouraging. But I may go into the fray, none the less. Stay tuned.
Nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
I nailed two nests of paper wasps at 5 AM this morning with a can of Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer. Nothing was moving in either one, before or after…
Wasps are most certainly active when the sun is up, so here’s another amen for the chorus to say wait until the sun is down before attacking.
After some cautions posted above, I notified the building manager. If I get no help there, I’ll wade into the fray after sundown with the aforementioned wasp and hornet spray and probably a can of fog for self-protection. And, I’ll not wear my sandals this time, either. Stay tuned.
If these are indeed yellowjackets and the nest is in the ground, call an exterminator. Spraying from a can above ground probably won’t kill very many and is just going to piss the rest of them off.
An exterminator will have a nozzle that he can actually insert into the nest entrance and blast them.
Dammit! You sure have to be a fast poster around here.