They feed a lot on sugar. Since the rhody will not be blooming at this tme of year - therefore no nectar/pollen - they could be foraging on the honeydew left behind by some insect pest....or the pests themselves (most wasps are omnivores and eat meat or proteins as well. Yellow jackets take insects or protein sources back to the nest to feed the larvae).

Try hosing down the rhody to wash off both the honeydew or any other insects. If all else fails, I'd resort to a spray wasp killer. Yellow jackets are very territorial and can be very aggressive if they feel their territory is threatened.

thank you. I tried spraying the bush down with water and got attacked. I will have to resort to bee killer

If you got attacked there is a nest present. If it is hanging in the shrub or on something else nearby these may be European hornets rather than yellow jackets. Both are wasps rather than bees.

resort to bee killer

----

Both are wasps rather than bees.

===>>> in other words.. a bee killer might not work ...

also ... many wasps return to the hive at night ... so dusk is the usual time to attack them .....

ken

Look at the ground under the rhododendron - yellow jackets often next in the ground, and in dead wood - do you have any decaying stumps around? And yes, get some wasp & hornet killer.

Yes, use a good wasp/hornet killer. They offer a foam sprayer that will spray up to 15 feet away. We’ve just dealt with two different nests in the ground underneath a bush or plant. Both nests had to be sprayed 3 early mornings in a row to truly kill all the wasps.

Underground yellowjacket nests can be quite large and occupied by hundreds of individuals.

I've been spraying (for 2-3 weeks) my nest opening (inside eaves of house) daily or twice daily with a concoction derived from googling. It's simply peppermint oil, dishwashing detergent, and vinegar. While I'm not sure if it kills them (it may the oil and detergent potentially has effect on wings and the moisture-retention layer), but the surprising thing is they never go after me, the repellent effects of the oil (which apparently they dislike immensely) puts vengeance out of their little minds.

And over the course of the three weeks, I was thinking this was ineffective, however, I'm thinking differently now. I still see (less) workers guarding the outside, but I've noticed that the workers I'm seeing are smaller and often deformed. My thought process (unproven) is that I've killed or driven away much of those older workers that fed the larvae, and newer adults are coming on that haven't had sufficient feed to develop properly.

It's a theory, but it was a low cost organic method I wanted to try, when I noticed the yellowjackets coming out of my eaves, right over a bed full of flowers with heavy pollinator activity. If my spray kills the yellowjackets I may also be eliminating beneficial, but probably less than killer sprays would do. Or if not totally saturated in the spray, the beneficials may simply be repelled.

I've got a persistent yellow jacket problem too out in the ornamental garden. It's a ground nest that I've treated at 5 AM with 4 different products and nothing has worked. This is the first time I've EVER had that happen, and I have treated a ground nest almost every summer for years It looks as if I'm going to have to wait until winter and then dig up the nest. And it's right in the middle of a beautiful perennial.

watch this YOUTUBE what could be simpler? If the YJ are agressive put it in place at night.

Agree, yellow jackets and wasps are annuals.

Years ago, a neighbor had a nest they could not get rid of after multiple sprayings. Then one night, something came and dug it up. End of nest. About the only thing anyone thinks could do that much damage in one night is a bear. The moral is 'Be careful what you wish for'.

Actually I think I remember that skunks and badgers dig them out too.
It doesn't take a big critter to dig a lot...as long as it keeps at it.

I had one under an iris, the pest service I was using anyway removed it for me.

In a matter of minutes.

If you have a Shop Vac, look up You Tube videos on using a Shop Vac to significantly reduce the colony (if you have yellow jackets) so that you can actually get close to the nest opening in order to administer a serious amount of wasp killer. It has worked for me. Put an inch or so of water with dish soap (wetting agent) in the bottom. I set the vacuum end at the entrance to the nest, turn on the Shop Vac and leave it running for 3 to 4 hours or so. The commotion causes them to come out of the nest and they get sucked up immediately. Foraging wasps come back to the nest in that time and also get sucked up. But I think you'd need to administer enough spray to saturate the nest in order to get to the queen.

Are you sure they die over the winter? I've been told that the queen survives and repopulates the nest. If they all died, they'd have become extinct in no time. Some have to survive.

Inseminated queens hibernate over winter. The rest of the colony - the workers - die. Except in some very mild climates that do not have prolonged cold temps (Florida, parts of Texas, SoCal), in which case the nests and their colonies can last longer than a single season and grow to an enormous size.

Lacey, I don't use Sevin dust in my gardens because of its toxicity to bees. I did use it the year I had three ground nests of yellow jackets....two were sited where they had to be treated or risk stings to people, guests, one was isolated enough I could leave it (warning only one neighbor who was unlikely to climb up the hill it was located on ) and wait for winter to take care of that last and third nest.

For the two ground nests in harms way: I put approx 1/4 - 1/3 C Seven dust from the shaker container into a disposable cup. Went out after dark and dumped the entire contents in a pile immediately on the visible ground entrance (if you look at a diagram of the underground nest, the actual nest entrance is quite protected underground). The yellow jackets emerging and returning had to land in the dust and carried it back into the nest on themselves. It took a couple of days until no more activity could be seen, and then I was able to hose any residual Sevin away.

YOu can also use something like a turkey baster to blow Sevin dust in an entrance that is not going down. I had a nest in my bathroom exhaust pipe once. That worked.

Lacey I had a underground nest a few years back. Was attacked one day, so I was determined to rid of them.

I Researched the best/safest way to kill them (without chemicals and getting attacked again).

I found that if you wait until it gets cold (when they hibernate) and pour boiling hot water down the hole it’s sure to kill the Queen. I covered the hole with screen as I was fearful they would get me again lol! I also added dish soap for good measure, then poured two large pots of boiling water down/over the hole.

It was amazing to watch the soil wash away and to discover just how large the nest really was...it was huge!

Queen dead! :0)

Yellow jacket update. Yesterday when I checked out that section of the garden, I saw that some critter had, during the night, dug under the perennial and almost completely obliterated the nest. Parts of the nest were flung several feet away. I tossed some clumps of dirt into the hole from the side and several YJ came flying up, so some of them have survived. When I next go into town, I'll get some more spray and spray it under the plant now hanging in some dirt with a huge hole underneath it.

Wonder what the critter was. Skunks do that, but this hole was so big I'm wondering if it could have been a bear. Wouldn't be the first time a bear was in my yard, but on the other hand, it touched nothing in the barn.