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Yellow Jackets Nest

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user 48702

Richard Turner
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This past weekend I was moving some stuff around on a back shelf in the barn. I saw this old ammo crate that hadn't been touched in better than 30 years. I thought, wonder what is in it so I pulled it down off the shelf and opened it. And to my surprise, yellow jackets had been making it their home for more than one season. Just glad I didn't open it during warm weather while they were at home. In the second photo you can see where they chewed the wood to enlarge a hole in the crack at the top.
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If you notice, there are two nest, the large one in the bottom of the crate and a small one about the size of a grapefruit. Also, you can see in the bottom of the crate where there was an older nest that they more than likely chewed up in order to make a new nest. I figure they have used the crate for at least three seasons.
 
I do not like wasps, bees, yellow jackets, anything that flys and stings. I also do not like spiders. I like snakes but am kinda terrified at the same time. Once dad was painting the exterior of the garage and I was doodling around his ladder and a bee came by to sniff me. Mom heard the ruckus, the cussing, the sheirking. I had blew by and knocked the ladder out from under him and then came around a second time and my perfect lil shoe print was on the back of his shirt. I was about 7 or 8 years old.

Another time while on vavcation and driving from Flagstaff to Indy to visit relatives in the summer we stopped at a camp site or whatever and a BUMBLEBEE came by to sniff. All I recall is HAULING arse as fast as I could. Then I remember waking up in the camper bed. I had ran full speed and screaming into the brick wall of the pooper! Knocked the poop outta myself for sure. Had a GIANT knot on my head the entire 2 week vacation. About 10 years old that time.

Now I am a big boy, a father, a husband and I have to act tough and not scream and kick and run. I am doing the above very much in my head though, just so ya know.
 
Day-um! I hate Yellowjackets. I had a ground burrow in my yard full of them last summer. I poured half a jar of gasoline down the hole. No more Yellowjacket. I known I just ****** off a bunch of ecologists but I don’t care.
Seems to me that the ground dwelling wasps, hornets, yellowjackets, or even bees that live in the ground are the most aggressive.
 
I had one in my back yard a couple of years ago that was a particularly tough one. I found it while mowing early one morning. I think I woke them as when I turned to come back they were swarming around the nest that I just mowed over. I started with wasp and hornet spray on the first night. The second night I filled the pump sprayer with gasoline and lit em up after pumping a half gallon of flaming gas in the opening they were just more active the next morning. After a few more days I walked back to think about what to do next and found armadillos had turned the nest inside out.
 
I've been a bee keeper, small scale, for quite a few years. Certainly not an expert, but I know more about bees, wasp, and hornets than the average person. With that being said, yellow jackets are my least favorite variety. They are aggressive and can be quite dangerous or at least quite painful. I get along fine with my honeybees, carpenter bees, and paper wasp. Even get along fairly well with hornets as long as I see them first. Bubble bees aren't bad either unless you disturb their nest, then look out! But yellow jackets just seem to be looking for a fight. I agree with @Ed C. that those that nest underground are the most aggressive.
 
I use yellow jacket nest same a white face hornet's nest. they both work very well. use the out side & the inside, complete with the pupa, it's free. and does not burn on the ground. jmho.
 
I imagine in warm weather you would have noticed the guards on the box.

What are you going to use it in?
I've collected a few nests to use in my fowler, but haven't gotten around to it yet.
 
I mowed over a ground hornet nest and got nailed 5 times before I could get inside. Went out late that night and emptied a can of brake cleaner in the hole There was a hole about the size of a large mayonnaise jar in the ground. I also was harassed by a wasp while ground hog hunting many years ago. Don't know if it was the ball or the flame that got him but it was self defense.
 
I do not like wasps, bees, yellow jackets, anything that flys and stings. I also do not like spiders. I like snakes but am kinda terrified at the same time. Once dad was painting the exterior of the garage and I was doodling around his ladder and a bee came by to sniff me. Mom heard the ruckus, the cussing, the sheirking. I had blew by and knocked the ladder out from under him and then came around a second time and my perfect lil shoe print was on the back of his shirt. I was about 7 or 8 years old.

Another time while on vavcation and driving from Flagstaff to Indy to visit relatives in the summer we stopped at a camp site or whatever and a BUMBLEBEE came by to sniff. All I recall is HAULING arse as fast as I could. Then I remember waking up in the camper bed. I had ran full speed and screaming into the brick wall of the pooper! Knocked the poop outta myself for sure. Had a GIANT knot on my head the entire 2 week vacation. About 10 years old that time.

Now I am a big boy, a father, a husband and I have to act tough and not scream and kick and run. I am doing the above very much in my head though, just so ya know.
I have had bee hives and I used to joke that there’s something wrong with people that provide a home for thousands of stinging insects.
 
My yellow jacket story:

I was about 10-11, me and the 2 neighbor kids would spend time at the creek catching salamanders and crayfish (crawdads). Well we were heading back from the creek and walking up to the house. I noticed a stew pot sitting upside down on the ground. Well being a kid I did what kids do...I kicked the pot. Wrong thing to do as some idiot had put it over a yellow jacket nest in the ground. Need I say more? We all got our share of stings as we ran to their mother for help. Guess I learned a good lesson that day and I never found out who the genius was who put the pot over the nest.
 
Yellow jackets are more aggressive than bees. I have never walked into a bunch of yellow jackets without getting stung, but I haven't Ben bee stung since I was a kid. That's when I found out that fear of the bee is your worst enemy. Yellowjackets are equal opportunity destroyers, the hate every animal.
On bees:

Why Do Bees Attack People?​

bees in a hive
Photo by Simon Kadula on Unsplash
The fear of bees, apiphobia, is common amongst many people. Most people start to move unsteadily, swatting or jerking at the mere sight of bees or even the buzzing sound. At that instant, human beings panic and become fearful.


Related: Check out some of the best bee quotes for more inspiration about the life of bees and what people have to say about our buzzing friends.

When humans or other animals are scared, we release the fear pheromone. Consequently, bees can smell these chemicals our bodies release. Individual bees that detect the fear pheromone communicate quickly to nearby bees about the threat. Bees defend their hive to protect their space. Therefore, they attack people when they feel threatened. As a result, more bees come around to protect their territory.

Although bees are compliant creatures that only attack when they feel threatened, some different types of bee species are highly aggressive. The Africanized Honeybee, known as Killer Bee, is extremely aggressive and quick to chase people and attack. Research shows that this bee species has been responsible for the death of around 1000 people since its introduction to Brazil. On the other hand, the regular honey bee stings only as a last resort and when it senses a threat to its colony.
 
Setting up camp many years ago I disturbed a yellow jacket ground entrance. They came out like a water hose and out for blood. Soon the entire trailer was covered with yellow jackets. We tried gas, chlorine, nothing worked. We were getting to the point of asking where were we going to sleep or get our food! Then for no other reason then to try it, I lit a road flare and put it near the entrance. Amazingly, the yellow jackets swarmed down upon it and tried to use their bodies to snuff it out. Four flares later we had cremated the entire colony. There were millions of them that perished that day. It was amazing. Note: The incident began around noon. Yellow jackets who were out foraging arrived up until sunset. I am never without the old fashioned road flares. IF you try this remember you can start a forest fire. Usually a few shovel fulls of dirt will do the job of getting the flare out.
 
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