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I recently got a text while I was in Church from a friend who advised me that she was in the hospital
and having a bad reaction to a bee sting. Upon an investigation of her home, we found a severe
infestation of very aggressive yellow jackets in more than one location in the yard. They were not only
around the flower beds in the back yard near the swimming pool, but almost there was a large
infestation by the mailbox in the front yard.
I have found that it is necessary to either treat early in the morning or late in the day so that the yellow
jackets are in the nest when control measures are applied. Dusting does not knock down the yellow
jackets immediately, but it is the only method I have found that will kill all the yellow jackets in a few
days.
A lot of people will try spraying yellow jackets and end up getting stung by a lot of them. Yellow
jackets leave a chemical on you that signals other yellow jackets to come and attack you. Yellow
jackets build their nest in the ground. Their entrance hole is usually about the size of an empty toilet
tissue roll.
Treating the entrance in the middle of the day will delay any control because the yellow jackets are
not usually in the ground during the day. Any treatment will repel the yellow jackets, make them even
madder than they were, and now spread even further into your yard.
Yellow jackets are 5/8 to 3/4 inch long and have a distinctive black body with yellow stripes. Their nest
can contain up to 30,000 yellow jackets.
Some of the publications instruct that treatment can be done in the day, but I have found that if I do
treatments in the day that we will miss some of the yellow jackets.
I would not attempt to do any treatment without using a traditional Bee Suit so that I am protected
from being stung. The yellow jacket sting hurts more than a bee sting and as I said you usually end
up with several stings at once. Almost everyone that gets stung by yellow jackets reports multiple
stings. Instead,
always protect yourself.
The nest needs to be dug out from the ground and either burned or put in a plastic bag that is sealed
and then disposed of.
Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any help to you.
