DIY Yellowjacket extermination

[BigV]

Hi there.

Up to now, we've only seen this season's provocations by those G-D yellowjackets in the What is this? thread.

Well, fuck that shit.

Here's a quick rundown of my triumph over *this* nest.



The nest is under this pile of western red cedar bark. As I said over there, it's still early and they're not revved up. Yet.




This is why, the sun's not yet topped this cedar (different cedar) in the back yard. I have to get to work.

[BigV]

I found the entrance, that little dark hole (pretty neat entrance, props to the soon-to-be-dead builders).




I raked off some of the strips of bark and found lots of little white eggs which I mistook for yellowjacket larvae. I was a little on edge because my first strike initiative didn't produce a critical hit and one yellowjacket managed to sting me on my neck, fucker. As I slapped at him, I hit him... and knocked in down the neck of my shirt, where he stung me again, double fucker. He couldn't fly away anymore so I crushed him. This is why I was wound up. You can see the better part of can number one coating the wood, murdelizing countless unborn ants.




I raked away the rest of the bark and lo, and behold! Paydirt.




Gloved hand for scale.

[BigV]

I cleared the area very neatly as I wanted make sure I had a clear understanding of the scope of the problem. In this wider shot you can see I've uncovered the top of the nest. The whole thing was about the size of a large cantaloupe.




When I went to try to pry it out intact, I wound up tipping the axis of the core with the four horizontal disks of hive inside the paper skin. This was unintentional, but very revealing. There are (barely still) living yellowjackets in this shot, having spent a second can of chemical warfare, but they're subdued.




So I took the opportunity to kick'em while they were down. What? I'm not paying me to bring these bombs back home! This final strike made a very wet soggy mess of the whole/hole affair.




Plus, as you can see here in the distance, I'd staged more cans of poison along my escape route should I need to beat a hasty retreat. Hopefully I wouldn't trip on the rake on my way out.

[BigV]

Mop up operations.



I got some kitchen bags, I intended to scoop it out and wrap it up like a plastic towel here, not needing to carry it far, just a few inches.




I would then plop it into another bag and wind it shut (more poison on hand).




And another bag, double bag those bastards.




I did say it was soggy, this is what the mass grave looked like before I entombed them in white plastic.

I hate them, but I'm sure I'll have to repeat this process in the future. But *this* nest is closed.

[BigV]

One more, out of respect for their hateful diligence. After they were buried in the garbage can, I came back and looked at the hole. Wow, they excavated this spherical cavity, probably building as they went, enlarging the hole as the nest grew and compressed the working area between the surface of the nest and the dirt wall. Look at the spot on the bottom of the hole at about the 9:30 position. That's the entrance to the burrow. It's about the diameter of a golf ball and it is about a foot long to the surface. Very impressive. Such a beautiful ruin.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'm surprised how shallow that is... was.

[glatt]

Well done!

[Griff]

Happy ending!

[BigV]

Thanks guys!

Yes, a good ending for one nest. We had dinner on the deck last night and really kind of cut it short due to yellowjackets pestering us, hovering around the table, drawn by the grilled hot dogs or somesuch. Just a few of them, but persistent, as they are. We didn't get stung but we retreated inside before we would have liked to.

When I find *that* home base, it's next.

[Undertoad]

Apparently they're especially dangerous in swarms but killing them outright seems like going too far

[Griff]

A meat trap made out of a plastic bottle would pick them off. It wouldn't be toxic and you wouldn't need to seek out the nest.

[BigV]

UT u r teh lol.