Deterrent for Yellow Jackets-without chemicals?

Question

We have Yellow Jackets in our back yard. My husband is severely allergic. I need to get rid of them, but I'd prefer not to use chemical pesticides. Are there any plants that they don't like that I could plant as a deterrent? Would attracting more birds help? If chemicals must be used, are there any that target Yellow Jackets specifically? And, where exactly are the bees located? Trees? Ground? I havent' seen any "hives", just the bees, and I have been stung more times than I care to think about.

Thanks for your time

Answer 1

You will in all liklihood never get rid of all of the Yellow Jackets but I can suggest a simple solution that will get rid of 95% of them.

Take a small dish or small foil pie tin about 4" in diameter and fill it with 3/8" of an inch of common liquid dish detergent.
(Any brand will do) Take a small wood skewer cut off to about 6" in length that you can buy at any grocery store. Cut a 1" square of any Apple and put it halfway on the skewer, then lay the skewer with the apple across the small dish of liquid soap. The Apple piece should be centered on the skewer and it is OK if it touches the dish liquid.
Yellow Jackets will automatically be attracted to the Apple, will land on it and attempt to eat it. The Yellow Jackets will take off and as they drop down before gaining any altitude, they fall into the liquid. They wind up in the liquid dish soap and drown.
You will be absolutely amazed at how many you will catch and kill this way. You can put a new piece of Apple (Or substitute a small raw beef meatball) on every few days and dump the liquid out with the dead Yellow Jackets as often as you wish.Put in new liquid soap and start all over. Put the dish outside under your Patio umbrella and out of the rain if possible. Also try to put it in an area away from the activity areas that your family uses. This works GREAT to reduce the numbers of Bee's significantly....NO Chemicals or sprays

NOTE## Yellow Jackets are in fact Hornets and live both above ground and underground.Nesting in both places...

Answer 2

Yellow Jacket Repellent

Answer 3

Homemade Yellow Jacket Trap

Answer 4

I'm a beekeeper and seldom get involved with yellow jackets unless it gets personal. I shut my back door yesterday and it stirred up a football size nest under the eaves. I often feel sad when stung by one of my honeybees, knowing she died for the colony. Not so with those evil tempered, biting, stinging buzzing buggers called yellow jackets. If I'm bit for closing the door to my house, it means war. After reading a few answers involving the use of spray foam, I decided to try it instead of long range spray. My problem was a delivery system, they were 10-12ft. off the ground. Solution - a fishing pole and aquarium hose. After dark I taped the hose to the pole, attached the can to the hose, inserted rod and hose into the nest opening and pulled the trigger and - nothing happened. This is good!! It's now hanging as an ornament on my front door. RScott

Answer 5

Scrub Jays are your friend. They love yellow jackets and their larvae; if they can get to them, the yellow jackets will be no more. I encourage the Scrub Jays for that reason; I've even seen the jays catch them on the fly. When I find a nest outside (usually when I move a tarp or board), I leave it open and it is completely gone, nest and all, within hours (or even minutes if the jays are around and I get out of the way).

Bounce fabric softener sheets are supposed to repel them; they don't like the smell, but it must be the brand Bounce.

Zip lock bags of water hung around may help; this is supposed to repel flies, something about the ways the eyes are made and the reflections. I've not tried it.

Be aware this is the time they are collecting food for the winter and are getting frantic so are more aggressive. If you just want them "out of the way," put bits of chicken/ham/etc. in a bottle or jar and put it in some out of the way place to lure them there and out of your traffic area. They are seriously looking for protein now. The advantage of a bottle is that when several are in it, you can cap it and very carefully add water to drown them. They are mean critters, no question about it.

Long-term solution - those birds!!!

Answer 6

We had this problem (minus the husband with allergies) but we were able to absolutely control the yellow jackets this year. (I don't remember seeing any!). Buy bee traps! You can buy a plastic one at a home improvement store for less than 10 bucks or you can get a glass/decorative one and put bee attractant in it or just sweet water. A very important factor is to do this early on in the season. Good luck!

Answer 7

Yellow jackets are smallish bees that live in the ground. They usually live in a hole near a garden or a bush, where the ground is softer. When you hit their nest, they all come barreling out and sting you even if you run away. I have been stung three or four times, and you have to use ice for days, and if your hand is affected, sleep with it in the air so the poison will drain away from your hand. My hand will swell up the size of a baseball.

If you see a couple in an area, chances are there is a nest nearby. They won't bother you if you don't bother them.

So much for my story. Now if I find a nest, I just leave it alone. The bees will leave when the weather gets cool and they don't come back to the same spot next year. Just stay away from them if you see them around. Good luck!

Answer 8

Yellow Jackets are hornets and not bees. Beekeepers would not be interested. If you are getting stung frequently, you are probably stepping on their hive. Look for a spot they are coming out of the ground. Flood with a garden hose then cover all openings with a plastic tarp.

Answer 9

Kepp an epi-penn available for your husband. Good luckYellow Jackets build grey colored paper nests. The best way to get rid of them is to find their nests and spray the nest with one of the insecticides in a can that ejects the spray 10 to 20 ft. Nests can be found under eaves of houses, under decks, under old piles of lumber or logs. They place their nests in places that usually protected from rain as the nests are paper. Failing to find the nests you set traps for them. The best and least expensive trap is a shallow pane with an inch or so of water in it. Place a rock in middle of the pan and ut a piece of protein such as bacon or lunch meat on the rock. Pie pans work well. The yel. jacs.come to the protein and drown in the water, Place traps well away from the house. WE had a bad year for them last summer. I set out five traps and averaged 2 quarts of dead jacks a day.If you kill lots and lots of them you will starve the nests. Forgot to say to add a few drops of dish soap to water in each pan I was so succesful with this method tha didn't see more that 5 0r 6 Jacks all summer. Good luck..Yellow Jackets are not bees, they are hornets and don't live in the ground.

Answer 10

yellow jackets are attracted to sweet liquids. you could try putting out bottles of pop (away from you of course). just a small amount is needed in each bottle.the yellow jackets will fly into the bottle in search of the sweet & drown. hope this helps somewhat.