Post by Russ Koon on Jan 9, 2020 14:02:34 GMT -5
Couple of years ago I had a colony of the German yellowjackets inside a used railroad tie left over from a landscape project, located under my back deck. Those darn thing look more like honeybees and seem to rarely come to rest outside their hives. And they're mean-tempered to boot!
I had sprayed them with the various products I had in the garage, and nothing seemed to have any effect. Figured maybe the products had lost their strength since it had been a while since I'd used them last, so I went to town and got a couple of two popular brands of hornet and wasp killers and attacked again. Pretty much same result, a few actually were killed, but they may have simply drowned in the amount of spray I had hit them with.
Went to the 'net for a better solution and found several sources recommending a solution of Dawn liquid and water. They said it would dissolve the waxy substance that holds the exoskeletons together and would darn sure kill 'em!
Mixed a large batch of Dawn and water and took my two gallon herbicide sprayer, dressed up in a hunting coat and hat with headnet, gloves, and went under the deck to do some serious chem warfare. Sprayed a BUNCH of german yellowjackets and suffered some from the enemy that figured out how to sneak in under my armor. Finally retreated and gave it an hour to settle down, and went back to see what a bunch of yellowjackets looked like with their little bodies melted.
Didn't see any yellowjackets melted or in any way the worse for wear, just a bunch of very clean (and still angry!) ones waiting for me to get close again!
My next attempt was using a two-liter bottle half full of pump gas, applied quickly and followed a few minutes later by a piece of rolled up paper in the other end of an eight-foot long PVC pipe I had in the garage, and lit with a Bic. That method worked, and I used a similar one on another nest of them in a different railroad tie later in the summer and then in an underground nest in the front yard the following year that I discovered when I stepped on the entrance to it while mowing with the Lawnboy.
I had sprayed them with the various products I had in the garage, and nothing seemed to have any effect. Figured maybe the products had lost their strength since it had been a while since I'd used them last, so I went to town and got a couple of two popular brands of hornet and wasp killers and attacked again. Pretty much same result, a few actually were killed, but they may have simply drowned in the amount of spray I had hit them with.
Went to the 'net for a better solution and found several sources recommending a solution of Dawn liquid and water. They said it would dissolve the waxy substance that holds the exoskeletons together and would darn sure kill 'em!
Mixed a large batch of Dawn and water and took my two gallon herbicide sprayer, dressed up in a hunting coat and hat with headnet, gloves, and went under the deck to do some serious chem warfare. Sprayed a BUNCH of german yellowjackets and suffered some from the enemy that figured out how to sneak in under my armor. Finally retreated and gave it an hour to settle down, and went back to see what a bunch of yellowjackets looked like with their little bodies melted.
Didn't see any yellowjackets melted or in any way the worse for wear, just a bunch of very clean (and still angry!) ones waiting for me to get close again!
My next attempt was using a two-liter bottle half full of pump gas, applied quickly and followed a few minutes later by a piece of rolled up paper in the other end of an eight-foot long PVC pipe I had in the garage, and lit with a Bic. That method worked, and I used a similar one on another nest of them in a different railroad tie later in the summer and then in an underground nest in the front yard the following year that I discovered when I stepped on the entrance to it while mowing with the Lawnboy.