How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets

          Yellow Jackets are stinging wasps that are especially aggressive in the fall. They build their nests in the ground, in dead trees, or in the eaves or any crevice of manmade buildings. If they have a nest in your lawn or yard, it can be dangerous to mow your grass. They will sting and BITE humans without provocation, and they can sting you multiple times. Once they sting you, a chemical marker is released that alerts and signals other yellow jackets to find you and sting you! Smashing or squashing a yellow jacket also releases that chemical.

How To Locate The Nest

If you see a yellow jacket, discreetly watch it to see where it goes. Where there is one yellow jacket, the others from the colony are nearby. Watch to see from where they are coming and going to discover the entrance and exit points of the nest.

The yellow jacket nest is usually spreadout just beneath the surface of the ground and is often hidden by a bush or by thick grass in your lawn. Sometimes it is in the eaves of your house, or near your door, window, or porch. 

How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets

Once you have located the nest, wait until after dark or right before dawn to apply powdered inseticide, such as powdered Sevin, to the entrance of the nest. As the yellow jackets enter and exit the powder treated entrance and exit points, the powder sticks to their legs and the little hairs on their body. When they groom themselves, the powdered insesticide is ingested, and the yellow jacket will die.

It may take a few days to a week to completely eliminate the entire colony. After a few days, come back to check the nest entrance. If any yellow jackets are still swarming around, treat the nest again with more powdered Sevin. Again, be sure to wait until after dusk or before dawn. After a week, your lawn and house will be safe from the dreaded stinging yellow jackets, and you can mow the grass, have a cookout, and enjoy your outdoor spaces once again!

Alright, now let's review:

How To Really Get Rid of Yellow Jackets:

• Find the Nest

• Wait until after dusk or before dawn

• Apply powdered insecticide, like powdered Sevin

• Repeat