High Tide Aquatics

Anyone ever deal with underground yellow jacket removal?

Just noticed a nest in the backyard, hole actually. It all came because last night was smoke free and cool so windows were open and of course I smelled a skunk, so went out to shoe him away... or attempt to... he just looked at me for a second then went about continuing to dig holes apparently looking for food of some sort. Well, today I saw a hole under a bunch of piled leaves and a "more than I'm comfortable with having in the backyard" number of yellow jackets flying in and out and around that area mind you not like swarm amounts, but enough that I knew a nest under there would house 10s to 100s of times more than I physically see, I'm guessing the skunk went digging there for some "tasty treats" (not sure if they can withstand being stung by them or whatever) In fact before all this pandemic started I was walking back there in flip flops and jeans and got stung right on the top of my foot, and I knew it was a wasp of some sort because the pain kept getting strong and stronger and I didn't see any stinger stuck in, still have a scar there to this day in fact.

Well long story short, my kid plays around the area of the nest (or has in the past) and I'm wondering if there's some off the shelf method to kill every last one of including the queen without too much risk to myself, or will I have to go the expensive route and call an exterminator?
 
Disclaimer - I have not had to do this - but I did spend a lot a of years testing for pesticide residues in vegetables, soil, and water.

Most of the pyrethroid based insecticides (chemical names that end with "-thrin") show very little toxicity to most mammals, break down in the environment pretty easily, and are very effective. A bit too effective if you happen to be a honeybee or other pollinator. Also, don't let any of it get in your aquarium, even small amounts have a nasty habit of wiping out aquatic microfauna, and can be toxic to fish.

If it was my yard, I'd spray them down with one of the commercially available wasp sprays, wait a day or two, and spray some more in the nest. The mist does not need to directly contact them, coming in contact with enough of the residue will do it. Overall, I'm not a fan of using poisons, but for targeted cases like this, I'd make an exception. Plus I hate yellow jackets, been stung too many times.
 
We had such a nest and, after researching a bit, I decided to call in a professional. There are just a lot things that can go wrong when you DIY.
 
No half measures on PPE. Either cover up and fully seal your clothes or if you don’t, make sure you don’t have a way to trap bees in your shirt/pants for them to sting you more. I think yellow jackets are one pump wonders so you won’t get multiple stings from one bee, but I’m not sure.

My brother stepped on a nest and they went up his shirt and just covered his chest in stings

Or if it’s possible use a spray like raid with the 30’ range, but I don’t think it’ll work with your situation. Good luck!
 
I was on call sunday and listening to talk radio in my work truck. Just so happen they have a gardening talk show on the weekend. Who knew? Anyways a caller called and asked about yellow jackets and their underground nests. The host said to just wait till early morning or evening when they are less active and just spray it with the commercial wasp spray they sell everywhere. The 30' range should keep you more than safe.
 
Damn I feel ripped off, my stuff only has a 27' range... which in thinking of things this is a San Francisco backyard so the distance from my back door to the nest is only about 25 feet. I assume they just get super pissed off when you spray them? Because I can get within 4-6 feet of them without them acting aggressive. The stuff I got also says kills nest, but I don't know if that's for those that build above ground where you can shoot the nest, or if the wasps will carry it into the nest and kill the queen. Either way I have no plans on trying to remove it manually myself, I did see an amusing youtube video though where a guy basically got an electric fly swatter and put a clamp on the button and just put it right over the nest and crackle crackle zap! Wonder if one of those electric bug zappers would work, or if they're even attracted to the blue light, I probably could put one on a stool near and just run an extension cord.

But anyways, I'll squirt in a day or two, actually curious if the skunk comes back, because it definitely looks like a bigger hole than wasps should make considering how the whole area is basically dry leaves that have been decomposing for years (yeah no WD40 + blow torch)
 
We had such a nest and, after researching a bit, I decided to call in a professional. There are just a lot things that can go wrong when you DIY.
Out of curiosity what did that cost? Google isn't helping much, and the nearest thing I can find is "$100 to $1300" and I'm like WTF, they don't have to tear apart my house to get them.
 
Out of curiosity what did that cost? Google isn't helping much, and the nearest thing I can find is "$100 to $1300" and I'm like WTF, they don't have to tear apart my house to get them.
If you want to get a quote, Handy is a pretty decent app for finding services like that. I’ve only used it for house cleaning so far, but you can get a quote and then schedule it based on the person’s availability. They have a couple of pest control options
 
Damn I feel ripped off, my stuff only has a 27' range... which in thinking of things this is a San Francisco backyard so the distance from my back door to the nest is only about 25 feet. I assume they just get super pissed off when you spray them? Because I can get within 4-6 feet of them without them acting aggressive. The stuff I got also says kills nest, but I don't know if that's for those that build above ground where you can shoot the nest, or if the wasps will carry it into the nest and kill the queen. Either way I have no plans on trying to remove it manually myself, I did see an amusing youtube video though where a guy basically got an electric fly swatter and put a clamp on the button and just put it right over the nest and crackle crackle zap! Wonder if one of those electric bug zappers would work, or if they're even attracted to the blue light, I probably could put one on a stool near and just run an extension cord.

But anyways, I'll squirt in a day or two, actually curious if the skunk comes back, because it definitely looks like a bigger hole than wasps should make considering how the whole area is basically dry leaves that have been decomposing for years (yeah no WD40 + blow torch)

From my experience once they get hit with the spray they go down and dont get back up.
 
If you were in San Mateo County you could just call the County Vector control and they come out for free to take care of the nest.
Yeah tell me about it, my research found Mosquito & Vector control of San Mateo county... just put a flag near the hive and they'll deal with it, Marin county, ditto... other counties... yup... San Francisco county? ha! do they even have a Vector control? No wonder it cost so much here, tax the hell out of everything and then it's all up to you to deal with problems :D
 
Yeah tell me about it, my research found Mosquito & Vector control of San Mateo county... just put a flag near the hive and they'll deal with it, Marin county, ditto... other counties... yup... San Francisco county? ha! do they even have a Vector control? No wonder it cost so much here, tax the hell out of everything and then it's all up to you to deal with problems :D
That's cuz there are no vectors in SF... ;)
 
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