# yellow jacket (?) help - need answer quick **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 8, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350 "2016-07-08T01:27:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Squallous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/22d042/32.png) [@Squallous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squallous)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/21 "2016-07-08T19:46:03Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > …the family is revolting. Now now, they’re not THAT bad. From The Wizard of Id: Rodney: “Sire! The peasants are revolting!” King: \ “I know.” [Sorry. We now return you to our regularly scheduled thread.] ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/22 "2016-07-09T10:29:36Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > I had those assholes try to build a nest above my garage door. The first time, it was about golf ball sized so I just took a shovel and smushed it along with the 2 or 3 pricks who were building the nest. a few days later, the shitheads were trying again in the same spot, so I went and got a can of wasp & hornet spray, and gave it a good blast. within ten seconds or so, the bastards went into a wonderful seizure and dropped to the ground. > > They haven’t tried again. > > Sonsabitches. [Pedant hat on] Like bees, the worker-wasps are non-reproducing females so they’re just bitches. [P h off] ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/23 "2016-07-09T13:59:44Z")
We had some who had discovered a hole into a power outlet in our outside wall. I was able put some electrical tape over the hole and secure it, which pissed of the little bitches to no end. The ones inside were separated my less than a mm from those outside and there was nothing they could do. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/24 "2016-07-09T14:20:32Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > [Pedant hat on] Like bees, the worker-wasps are non-reproducing females so they’re just bitches. [P h off] sorry, a couple of years ago they built a nest in one of the walls of my apartment bedroom, leading to some unpleasant surprises in the middle of the night. I’ll use whatever bad words I can to describe them. ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2016, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/25 "2016-07-09T14:52:36Z")
I had a nest in my mailbox (Well, in a hidden gap between the mailbox and the wooden post). I got stung 3 or so times while getting the mail before I realized that that was where they were coming from. I didn’t even realize that I was allergic until I got stung the next year, again, so I tried to self-treat it each time with ice packs. The second year it happened, it actually got infected and had to go to the doctor, and he was the one who told me I was allergic and that I should have come to him as soon as it swelled up (I thought that was normal for wasp or yellow-jacket bites, whatever they were). ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/26 "2016-07-10T03:34:12Z")
We had what must have been the world’s stupidest wasps repeatedly try to build a nest in the gas-fired grill. Hubby woykd shut the lid and turn on the flame. Fried wasps. The few out foraging then tried to rebuild the nest with the same results. Took quite a few grill fires before they gave up or we cooked them all. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2016, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/27 "2016-07-10T13:53:00Z")
You have to be wary of dead bees. When walking barefooted, for example, the sting you receive is as serious as the one given by a live bee, all the more so if the bees as a group were agitated. I myself have experienced this many times. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/28 "2016-07-12T00:19:57Z")
Obligatory reference to “To Have and Have Not”. I tried to find the first part, with Walter Brennan, but only found the Lauren Bacall part; [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSgqrrWyF0Y)you go. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2016, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/29 "2016-07-12T00:37:21Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I live in a brick house. About ten years ago I noticed a lot of hornets swarming around the wall over the front door. Then I noticed them going in and out of a small hole in the masonry. They apparently had built a nest within the brick wall, above the door. My husband squirted an entire can of bug killer into the hole, but they were still there. So I resorted to plugging up the hole. The little bastards who were trapped outside continued to swarm around the location for a few days, but eventually they were gone. So to this day, within my front wall is a hornet cemetery. I did the same thing at a house I rented years ago. Except I skipped the bug spray part, I had a caulk gun handy already so I filled up the hole in the cement foundation with it. A few of the guys on the outside hung around trying to get back in but eventually left and I didn’t see any more yellow jackets after that. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/30 "2016-07-13T01:33:56Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Obligatory reference to “To Have and Have Not”. > I tried to find the first part, with Walter Brennan, but only found the Lauren Bacall part; [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSgqrrWyF0Y)you go. Did you read the thread? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/31 "2016-07-13T01:55:54Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > In any event, there is now an entire population that considers me the greatest monster in history. And I am OK with that. “[Oldzilla Approaching…! Oldzilla Approaching!](https://youtu.be/3WkxVHyzivg?t=48)” “Honey… did we give away all those micro-machines the kids used to play with when they were little?” “I think they’re in the basement somewhere. Why…?” “…No Reason…” ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/32 "2016-07-13T15:39:06Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > Obligatory reference to “To Have and Have Not”. > I tried to find the first part, with Walter Brennan, but only found the Lauren Bacall part; [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSgqrrWyF0Y)you go. > [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Did you read the thread? Yes, I did. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/33 "2016-07-13T16:21:19Z")
The first part is right there…more or less. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/34 "2016-07-13T17:32:43Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > The first part is right there…more or less. > 🙂 Are you referring to your post? It was not clear to me that you were referring to the film. Maybe my humor detector is broken. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2016, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/35 "2016-07-13T17:39:47Z")
It is the speech you are looking for, word for almost word. I looked it up. Sorry if you were not amused. I, for one, was. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2016, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/36 "2016-07-14T02:15:43Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > It is the speech you are looking for, word for almost word. I looked it up. > > Sorry if you were not amused. I, for one, was. Are you telling me Walter Brennan says “wary” and “agitated”? Sorry for the hijack, OP. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/37 "2016-07-17T14:58:12Z")
Heh I just had to remove another wasp nest - bald faced hornets in a tree. The nest was dangling over the driveway/sidewalk. The nest was hidden in foliage but we noticed it because my wife got stung - just standing on the sidewalk. Obviously we couldn’t leave it, because just walking down the sidewalk was enough to trigger them. Thing is, I didn’t want to use the poison spray because the neighbourhood had lots of kids and pets running about. So I used the ‘sneak up on them at night, bag them, then drown them’ method. I first put on an amateur bug suit - windbreaker, heavy gloves, head net, etc. Then I filled a bucket of water, put a couple of bricks aside, snuck up on the nest and slipped the pillow case over the nest - clipping the nest free of the tree. I held the bag closed and drowned it in the bucket, putting the bricks on top. Worked well, but a very neve wracking procedure. This am I saw a lone survivor attacking one of the gloves, which must have been sprayed with a pheromone. ---
**Author:** ![Fir\_na\_tine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Fir\_na\_tine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fir_na_tine)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2016, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/38 "2016-07-17T20:33:30Z")
Granddaughter pointed out a large wasp nest hanging from the eaves on the garage. Volleyball size. I had just run a lawn mower under it an hour before and never noticed it! Soaked it good with wasp spray for two days running and then trashed it. Hates the bitches! ---
**Author:** ![FluffyBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecb155/32.png) [@FluffyBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FluffyBob)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2016, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/39 "2016-07-18T05:12:21Z")
Shop Vac like Machine Elf says. I have never put water in them, just use an already dirty vacuum or put some dust in it. The dust incapacitates the wasps effectively. Obviously best if you can suck up the whole nest but if you can only reach an exit they are using it will suck the buggers up. Used a bunch of times, never been stung, always been fast, easy and non toxic. I have never opened the vacuum right away, always waited until the next day. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2016, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350/40 "2016-07-19T18:18:30Z")
Here’s a yellowjacket nest you definitely do not want to tackle unless you are a pro: Woah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yellow-jacket-help-need-answer-quick/759350.md?page=1)