[TowerTalk] Yellow Jackets

[chas]

Roger (K8RI) wrote:
> A day or so ago I responded in a private e-mail about having the bees 
> and Yellow Jackets related to the "Adolph's"  and "flying critters thread(s)
> 
> I thought this part might be pertinent along with some caveats I didn't 
> put in the other reply.
> 
> 
> Last fall, (DO NOT DO THIS IN WARM WEATHER WHEN THEY ARE ACTIVE! ) 
> 
> THE REASON for not doing this in warm weather when they are active is 
> thus: 

> BTW when shooting bees with that "bee killer" ALWAYS have a way out if 
> you miss some. A second can for backup can sometimes be handy too.  I 
  > 73
> Roger (K8RI)


Here in Houston (where summer lasts from Mar thru Dec) wasps are always 
active. I am not about to let them have 10 months of reprieve.  Anyway, the 
only bugs I go after are those which act like africanized bees... that means 
yellowjackets...  or paper wasps as we tend to call them down here in 
Southernized Texas...  anyway, I had three nests with about 2 doz wasps which 
speaks towards my diligent efforts for the last 20 yrs.  To fight them, I 
have two cans of spray in each hand, the left hand (weak hand) is a can of 
Flying Insect killer and my strong side is a can of 20' stream or "wasp 
killer".  I ease in and gas them from about 3 feet away with my left hand 
then quickly step back. Last time I had one land on my eyebrow and walk down 
over my eye until I could gently remove my eyeglasses.  next time, wear goggles.
The distance is important.  if you spray from too close, they feel the cold 
jet from the can and they leave Dodge like the proverbial cloud in the 
Cartoons.  What you want to do is to get the left hand spray into the target 
without getting them up.  three feet is about right but if it is breezy, you 
may have to get closer and shoot downstream.   THEN you soak the paper nests 
with the 20' stream and wait a couple of hours and a few will come back, they 
get my left hand again.  THEN you knock the nests down into a fire ant mound 
and feed/poison that hazard.

Other wasps will leave you alone if you do the same. I am speaking of the 
large RED wasps and some Black wasps.  Another one that I will treat like a 
yellowjacket is the metallic blue/black mud dobber.  Those will chase you.
But the Red and the large black are mostly interested in eating lawn 
parasites like aphids, mealy bugs, etc and so on.  They are beneficial and 
will even get out of your way while mowing.  And then there are the 
BUMBLEBEES, both the all black and the strain with a yellow band across the 
thorax.  Those generally nest in the ground.  if you find one of those, get 
your dedicated to the purpose cannister vacuum cleaner and turn it on with 
the hose right on top of the hole.  you will not pull a vacuum because there 
is another hole not too far away.  then you seal up your hose to keep the 
bees in the can and set it out in the 110* sun and let it bake for a week.
Empty the bag and load another, shake out the hose and secure the can-vac for 
the next excursion or whenever you need to vacuum your car out.
This should work well for your towers, etc where the nasties are nesting in 
pipes, etc.  TIP - keep your duct tape handy to seal off the hose end.

good luck and happy hunting.

chas  k5dam
Hou߆on, TX