Yellow jacket nest under hydrangea

12 years ago

I have unavoidably been away from home a lot during spring and summer this year. Trying to catch up on all my weeding today, I was stung several times. Apparently the neighbor's dog has been digging in one of my hydrangea beds and badly loosened a two year old white swan hydrangea in the ground where it was planted. Now there is a yellow jacket nest under this area, and they are entering the ground in several places around the partially exposed base of the hydrangea. I am not sure how to kill the wasps. Any suggestions????

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Comments (6)

luis_pr
12 years ago
Check the link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to kill a y/j nest
hc mcdole
12 years ago
The easiest way to kill them is with wasp and hornet spray. Like the link said wait until they've settled down for the night or early morning before they get active. I would locate the entrance to their hive by scouting out the area before they settle in. Stand back 15 feet or so and aim the spray into the entrance. They will start coming out but as the spray hits them they will drop like flies. Continue spraying until no more come out. Another way to do it is pour gasoline down their entrance (I don't like this method but I've seen it done).
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stillwelljill
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for your suggestions. As I mentioned the yellow jackets are entering in areas all around the very loose base of the hydrangea in the ground, so there are more than one or two entrances.
I think the gas idea might kill the very precious White Swan hydrangea but the soapy water might be worth a try. If that doesn't work, I will try the wasp and hornet spray. Thanks again.

This post was edited by stillwelljill on Fri, Aug 1, 14 at 7:42
allen456
12 years ago
Don't try soapy water, and for the love of all things good, don't use gasoline!

You can try the wasp spray, but I've found it hard to get to the queen with the spray. Sevin dust applied liberally after dusk has been most effective for me.
hc mcdole
12 years ago
It sounds like you may have more than one nest then if you see more than one entrance (entirely possible - I've seen that when the guy poured gasoline down each entrance).

Wasp and hornet spray is very effective - I've killed many nests using this method. Never seen any more activity after a couple minutes of a steady stream into the entrance.

Yeah, don't use soapy water - that might just agitate them enough for them to find the user at the end of the sprayer.

Hmm, never thought of Sevin dust for yellow jackets. Does it kill them overnight or over a few days? Used it for fire ants...
stillwelljill
Original Author
12 years ago
Luis, Thanks so much for the link you suggested. I tried dishwashing detergent and then lots of high pressure water and the tons and tons of yellow jackets are dead or gone and hopefully the sweet little White Swan hydrangea is going to be fine. I really didn't want to use any chemicals down into the roots of the hydrangea so chose the soap and water first. Everything seems to be fine now. Thanks to you all for your suggestions. I really appreciate it!