Saturday, September 01, 2007

The Yellowjacket War!


Battle 1 Winner - The Yellowjackets

About a month ago, as I was clipping the bushes on the side of the driveway a stream of aggressive yellowjackets streamed out of a hole in the ground beneath the bushes. I sustained ~6-8 stings as the jackets followed me around back and even into the house.


Battle 2 Winner - The Yellowjackets

I launched my counter attack with cans of hornet killer and water. Over the course of the few weeks I dumped buckets of insect killer and at least four cans of hornet killer into the hole leading to the nest. No noticable impact. I also attached the hose to a 15 foot PVC pipe and shoved it into the hole and turned the water on for 15 minutes. No material impact. At least no more stings though.

Battle 3 Winner - The Yellowjackets
I bought a throw-away yellowjacket trap and daringly hung it just outside the hole. They seemed to love it...but would not fly into the holes on top and get stuck inside. Rather, they just swarmed around it. Here's a picture. If you zoom you can actually see a yellowjacket by the wire holding the trap.



Battle 4 Winner - Undecided - but it is looking good!
I found a reusable trap and hung it across the driveway before heading to the store. When I returned I was pleased to find ~10 yellowjackets had already been trapped. I'm quite optimistic.

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