Hostage Crisis

Jul
25

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I’m being held hostage by a nest of yellow jackets in the tractor attachment to the left of the barn yard gate. I’ve sought advice on how to rid myself of this criminal plague, but every evening, I chicken out. Then the next day I’m running scared every time I have to enter the barn yard. I’ve been stung several times. Every time I’m stung, I redouble my determination to kill the nest. Then evening rolls around and I freak out. I finally broke down and called my neighbor. He’s coming over tonight to help me kill the nest.

I’ll let you know how many times I get stung.





Comments

  1. rurification says:

    Yellow jackets. I hate yellow jackets. I hope you Get. Them. All.

    Bees are so much nicer.

  2. brookdale says:

    Wow! First spiders, then yellowjackets! Is this is the beginning of the “plague of locusts” you were worrying about earlier? :bugeyed: Hope not!
    Wish you good luck with getting rid of the nasty stinging critters!

  3. BuckeyeGirl says:

    Go at night and drag it out of the weeds to near the chickens so they can eat them! I had a nest and I fed the chickens scratch closer and closer to them then they found em and stood around in a circle gobbling them up!

  4. liberalhippiequeen says:

    I would call an exterminator. Yellow jackets are NO JOKE ! Dangerous creatures…. be safe and make sure you have some Benadryl on hand… :happybutterfly:

  5. Faith says:

    Don’t you just hate when something like that makes you dread doing something you have to get done or normally like doing?!

  6. WvSky says:

    Yellow Jackets, like most wasps, can sting repeatedly, and will do so when threatened. The females are the only ones with stingers. So the trick is to only make the males mad. 😉

  7. Old Geezer says:

    But, surely, some of those yellow jackets are mere BABIES!!!

  8. wormlady says:

    Under cover of darkness, creep stealthily carrying a kettle of boiling water, which you pour on the nest. No short shorts, though, but rather heavy fabric covering all possible skin & leave lickedy split! We did this to one in the garden a few years ago & the next morning there was no sign of any yellow jackets & the nest itself was really interesting to examine.
    Although I like the chicken scratch suggestion better.

  9. FreedomValleyFarm says:

    I would suggest, wait until evening. Then go out there with a can of wasp sray in each hand, stand back as far as you can and unload those cans on the nest until they are empty. You could even have a couple of spare cans ready. You would be the farmer version of some intense cop show…where you are the law and those bees are ruthless criminals. We have used this method, and it really does work. It will save you a couple hundred bucks(that’s what we were quoted to kill a big nest we had in a tree). Just have someone there to help.

  10. TracyT says:

    I think the big kettle of boiling water, pored over the nest once it’s fully dark is genius. I have managed to get rid of nests too close to animals, home, etc. by using the Raid spray-from-10-feet-away cans. They work, and quickly, but to avoid dumping all those chemicals in the grass with so many animals around by using super hot water is brilliant. Pour and run like hell!

  11. Flowerpower says:

    It’s going to be cooler tonite and that will be perfect. I had some make a nest under my porch where I keep my lawnmower. I waited till one morning while it was still dark and very cool. I emptied a can of wasp spray into the nest. Nobody came out.. The cool and the dark will help greatly. They cant see where to fly in the dark and the cool kinda deters them. Good luck!

  12. holstein woman says:

    Last summer our new place had loads of nests. I just took my can of wasp and yellow jacket spray and sprayed a little in each nest and NEVER got stung once. I got stung when I walked by the honey bee infestation in the wall and stopped to look at their work (by a yellow jacket I’m sure).
    I also used the same method after dark at the old place in a piece of farm equipment on a hornet nest, it works every time. YOU WON’T GET STUNG.

  13. Naturegirl46 says:

    Yellow jackets are horrible! I got rid of a nest in the ground by dumping a big bucket of sand over the opening. I let the bucket sit there for a few days and they were gone. Please try to avoid poisons if possible, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Good luck.

  14. VikingMiss says:

    We had a yellow jacket nest in the ground one summer. Hubby got stung several times when he found it with the mower. He now has to carry an epi-pen (never had a reaction before that time to being stung). We also chickened out in spraying the nest, so I called someone to come fix it for me… No kidding, the guy came out in the middle of the day (sunny and warm!), short sleeve shirt, regular clothes, and stood about 5 feet away and sometimes closer and sprayed the nest! He didn’t get stung at all!! It took care of the nest the first time, no one had to come back out and retreat.

  15. Journey11 says:

    Do you know any beekeepers? Maybe one would let your borrow their coveralls, hat, veil and gloves?

    If you can see the hole where they are entering and exiting–we wait until dark and go dump a bunch of gasoline down the hole. You don’t even have to light it on fire, although that is more fun. :devil2:

  16. outbackfarm says:

    GAS! And lots of it. That’s the only thing that will actually KILL them. And next time you get stung, find a patch of plantain on the ground, usually in the goat yard, take a leaf and chew it a little, then put it on the sting. It works in seconds. I make a plantain salve that works great for all kinds of stings and bites and itches. I hope you kill them all and don’t get stung any more. Good luck!

  17. California Paintbrush says:

    Wasp spray works BUT don’t to like my husband did and shine a flashlight on them…..they have guards and they followed the light up to his thumb on the spray can! Just have a guy do it, plead womanly weakness (it comes in handy for wasps and skunk situations), and spray them in the dark.

  18. Dghawk says:

    I feel your pain…literally! Of all the stinging insects, I hate yellow jackets the most. I was mowing grass one day, and without knowing it, ran over a nest in the ground. One stung me on the front of one ankle and another stung me on the back of the other. I just got the you-know-what out of there leaving the mower running. My neighbor came over after dark and poured gasoline down the hole. It worked. I hate those suckers! :shocked:

  19. oct4luv says:

    The ones out here in CA sleep when it cools off, like in a coma sleep. So I just go out with a flash light at night or first thing in the morning before they warm up/wake up and spray them. Before they know what hit them, they’re dead. They sleep all in a bunch too so you can get them all at once. Not sure if the ones you have are the same species and do that but hopefully!

  20. Karo says:

    Everyone has advice. Mine is let the neighbor do it.

  21. Claudia W says:

    It’s no fun when your peace is stolen like this!
    All of the above? That’s what I would do!!!

  22. Stick Horse Cowgirls says:

    Don’t mess around with those yellow jackets! “C”‘s son got stung a couple of weeks ago with no reaction and then stung again Monday which ended up with a trip to the Emergency Room! He’s fine now, but you can develop a sensitivity!
    V

  23. Faith says:

    Wondering…are they gone now?

  24. Leck Kill Farm says:

    Are they nesting under that piece of metal? Stuff like that laying on the ground freaks me out, I always worry that it is a great environment for snakes and other undesirable critters.

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