Garden

[Libbylady]

How do you recognise the ground nest?? 

[colliegirls]

---

@Libbylady wrote:

How do you recognise the ground nest?? 

---

Often you can't.  I had no idea that I stepped on a yellow jacket nest. It was somewhere under our pinestraw in the bed.

[Julie928]

@Libbylady ~ Unfortunately for me, I didn't know the nest was there until I sprayed it with the hose.  You know the rest of my sad story......

I did notice sort of a sideways hole just in front of one of the other flowerbeds.  I thought it was a small animal's home until I saw yellow jackets flying in and out of it.  Check your property carefully and cautiously.  Look for holes in the ground that have been dug on an angle (hope that makes sense).  Like I stated earlier, I wouldn't wish this on anyone.  :-)

[jlkz]

@Julie928

Sorry for the bee stings and after effects.

As one poster mentioned, August and September are dangerous for gardeners and " hidden " yellow jacket inground nests.

While dividing my irises in a raised bed, my shovel dug into one of those hidden nests.  I never ran so fast but still got bites on my wrist.  Always a good idea to wear safety glasses just in case something goes wrong.

Safe gardening !

[deb5555]

---

Libbylady wrote:

How do you recognise the ground nest?? 

---

They are usually well hidden.  Our dog was playing catch with a tennis ball and it dropped on a hidden nest and they came up in a hurry and 1 stung him. It was around our backyard swimming pool.

They were everywhere.  I gave his some liquid benedrayl and he was ok but it happened so fast you get caught off guard. We used some bee killer spray and it helped get rid of them.

I am always looking for them now .

[JustJazzmom]

The best time to attack with insecticide is at dusk when they are all inside the nest.

In all my years of gardening, I never saw a yellow jacket nest but one year while removing peony leaves, one must have been starting to hibernate for winter. It bit me on the hand and I slapped it off killing it. 

Several hours later, my hand still hurt. Turns out the stinger was inside! Had to use a tweezer to remove it carefully so I wouldn't squeeze more venom into my hand. I also made a paste of baking soda and water which helped ease some of the pain.

[Allegheny]

Oh, I hate those nasty things.  I am very observant when I go out gardening as I have accidentally disturbed them.  There are two areas near the house they like to build their nests, but this year I have seen no activity.

Last year before I could try and eradicate them, something (perhaps a skunk) did the job for me and dug up the nest.

I am glad for Julie92's reminder because starting tomorrow we are having work done on our retaining walls and I want to caution the guys before they start.

[Fressa]

We have had this problem for years. We have woods surrounding our home but I never knew they build nests in the ground. My husband had the misfortune of stepping on one when mowing. We spent a few years killing off those nests with Raid at night. They just kept moving the nest to another location in the ground. I'm allergic to bee stings and now he is with as much as he's been stung. I purchased the DynaTrap and we have finally solved our problem. It really works! 

[silkyk]

Last year we had lots of yellowjackets but not this year thank goodness. One tip...if you get stung RUN and use.....Adolph's Meat Tenderizer neutralizes the venom of bee and wasp stings. ( Papain, the enzyme in meat tenderizer, breaks down the protein in bee venom) ... Make a paste of meat tenderizer and water, and apply it to the sting. This really works. I grabbed one of my hummingbird feeders once without really looking and there was a YJ right where I grabbed. YOW! On the hand is not good but I mixed up the Adolphs and it  did the trick. I always make sure I have some in my kitchen...and medicine cabinet!