How to Get Rid of Yellowjackets and Keep Your Outdoor Gatherings Safe This Summer and Fall

You know you want to know how to get rid of yellowjackets. Pretty much anyone who has attended an outdoor picnic or BBQ has been the victim of these small yellow menaces. Not only are they annoying but they can give a painful sting that for some people can be downright dangerous.

Not only are they buzzing around your food but a yellowjacket nest in the ground can stifle a perfectly good game of touch football when a teammate stops short howling in pain. Soon no one is running after a ball, they’re just running.

Before this happens to you, read on to learn how to get rid of yellowjackets.

What Are Yellowjackets?

Yellowjackets are a type of wasp that builds paper nests, often underground. They can be aggressive which is why they are such a nuisance to humans and will deliver a painful sting if they feel threatened.

Unlike honeybees which have barbed stingers which detach upon stinging, yellowjackets have smooth stingers allowing them to sting over and over again. This little nugget or information makes them even more alarming to many people.

Yellowjackets are social animals which means they can move up in life. That is, a wasp may start as a worker and work her way up to becoming the queen of the colony.

Environmental Importance of Yellowjackets

Unlike bees, these social insects do not purposefully collect pollen, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important to the ecosystem. Eliminating wasps from your yard might be important for safety if they are near areas where kids play and humans gather, but they should usually be left alone.

While yellowjackets don’t actively gather pollen like bees, they do take part in the pollination process albeit rather accidentally. They do visit flowers to sip on nectar and in the process inadvertently transfer pollen.

Yellowjackets are also important predators of other insects, often pests like flies and caterpillars that damage our crops. Feeding on these pests not only helps to regulate insect populations but reduces our use of insecticides.

Not only do yellowjackets feed on nectar and pests, but they feed on dead animals and other organic matter. This helps the decomposition process, hastening the valuable nutrients back into the environment.

Leave the Yellowjackets Alone

Yes, you can launch an all out war against the yellowjackets in an attempt to eradicate them, but you can also ignore them.

Unless you actually trod on their ground nest, they aren’t interested in you. That is of course, unless you have food or sugary beverages. That’s when they go from becoming a valuable part of the ecosystem to full blown nemesis.

What Attracts Yellowjackets?

Generally however, if you are mindful, you can avoid getting stung. Keep an eye open for any ground nests and avoid them. Be wary in areas of the garden with ripening or fallen fruit. Some simple spring cleaning can keep yellowjackets from nesting in your yard.

You can take steps to mitigate their presence by cleaning up any fallen produce especially fruit and by keeping your trash and recycling bins clean and with their lids closed. I like the Garden Weasel large nut gatherer from the Home Depot to quickly and easily pick up fallen fruit from my trees.

While they love your food and drinks, yellowjackets are also attracted to your pets' food so feed your animals inside if possible.

Yellowjackets also seem to be attracted to brightly colored clothing so tone it down at the BBQ, as well as some perfumes and hairsprays; really any scented toiletry product. So if you know you will be hanging outside, eschew the aromatic lotions and sprays.

Keep your picnic food covered and clean up sticky hands and faces that will attract wasps. Wasps are interested in sugary beverages, ice cream, proteins of all sorts including deviled eggs, and well, pretty much anything you’re eating or drinking.

Yellowjackets need water so they will be attracted to swimming pools, landscape water features, slip-and-slides, etc. There isn’t too much you can do about this except be aware that wasps will likely be present.

How to Get Rid of Yellowjacket Nests

While there is no doubt that yellowjackets are an important part of the ecosystem, nonetheless they can still be aggravating. So how can you keep them from ruining your summer plans?

The best way to get rid of these pests is to locate their nest. Usually they are underground or in other sheltered areas like open spaces in walls or even in attics. Look for a stream of wasps entering or exiting an area and you’ve found the nest.

Depending on where the nest is located and how brave you’re feeling, you may want to tackle the nest yourself or call in the professionals. If you are allergic or the nest is in an inaccessible area definitely call in the pros.

If you choose to tackle the nest on your own, there are several eradication methods. You can choose an aerosol spray with a long range jet stream that saturates the nest entrance and area. These are also available as foams.

Permethrin or carbaryl dusts can also be applied directly to the nests entrance. Either of these methods should be attempted at night when the wasps are less active.

If you don’t wish to use chemicals or sprays, you can try using soapy water. A simple mix of dish soap and water can be used to drown out the yellowjackets. Be sure to flood the nest entrance.

Along the same lines, is the use of dry ice. Dry ice can be used to cover the nest entrance. Break the ice up first and cover the hole.

Always treat yellowjackets with extreme caution. Safely battling them is key and sometimes a professional is required.

Additional Methods for Yellowjacket Control

You can also try using traps, lures that contain attractants like sweet liquids or proteins. They often have more than one lure and multiple champers in a disposable bag. These are great to minimize the population in areas that are difficult to access.

You can also make your own traps using plastic bottles filled with a sweet beverage like soda or juice combined with a few drops of dish soap. The dish soap makes it more difficult for the wasps to escape the trap. You can purchase readymade wasp traps from Amazon or your local hardware store. Just be sure to hang them away from where you and your family gather.

Poison baits, usually protein based, can be placed near nests. The wasps carry the poisoned food back to their colony, eventually leading to its demise. This method, while successful, isn’t immediate. It can take several weeks for poisoned baits to work on a colony. Also, these baits are often attractive to other insects including bees.

Safety Precautions

As we all know, yellowjackets come equipped with stingers that can not only hurt, but even result in death for those allergic. So, always be careful when trying to eradicate a nest.

Plan to attack in the evening, night or very early morning when the yellowjackets are still at rest.

Be sure to wear protective clothing that covers as much of your body as possible.

If you choose to use pesticides, read and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to the letter.

Once the nest has been treated, you can remove it if you desire once you’re sure the wasps are dead. Also, seal any other possible entry points to prevent any errant wasps from building a new nest.

Last Word on Yellowjackets

You may have noticed or heard that flailing your arms or batting at wasps will make them more agitated, and this is true. While it is a natural response on our part, it may do more harm than good.

When yellowjackets are attacked or perceive an attack they send out an alarm pheromone that alerts their situation to other members of the colony. So instead of battling a single yellowjacket, you may be warding off multiple wasps.

Also, an agitated yellowjacket is more likely to sting you and if you read this entire article, you know that it has the capacity to sting multiple times. Ouch.

So, the best thing to do is to stand entirely still. It won’t be easy, but if the insect does not feel threatened, it will likely go in search of more of your soda or hot dog, leaving you unscathed.