Yellow Jackets
All it takes is one yellow jacket sting to unleash an army of natural born killers. These swift merciless wasps join together, becoming one mind and one body. One yellow jacket sting turns another yellow jacket sting into pure rage. The numbers of their army increase quickly. As each sting occurs, the scent of pheromone pours throughout the wasps’ holy ground. After all, you have invaded their land. In matter of seconds these winged commanders, wearing black and yellow bomber jackets, have taken flight. The mission is simple; attack or be attacked. Their simple purpose is to protect their future, their offspring and their Queen.
Yellow jacket attacks can come without any warning. You could disturb them by simply mowing the grass or throwing a baseball near the nest. These underground nests are hard to detect; anyone with an untrained eye will easily overlook them. When you see these black and yellow bodied wasps around, don’t panic. Here are some techniques to find a yellow jacket nest.
1. Early in the morning, as the dew is evaporating off the grass, yellow jackets love to hover over the grass blades. They are pulling the dew off the blades to get their daily intake of water. While they are doing this, the yellow jackets are never too far away from their nest. Carefully look for a hole that is about the size of a nickel where the surrounding grass is worn away. The clearing of grass will be about the size of a quarter. This is caused by high yellow jacket traffic wearing down the grass.
2. Squat down to ground level and look beyond the nest, across the yard. Just watch, watch and watch. This can be tedious, but it is an effective way to locating the nest. When you have seen some jackets flying vertical from the ground make sure it is consistently active with jackets moving in and out of the nest. Carefully approach the nest to verify activity.
When the nest is located, always put some type of marker around it so no one becomes victim to an attack. If you are treating the insects yourself, the best time to treat is in the evening because they are rarely active at this time. Come back in the morning and check for activity to see how successful you were. Repeat the nest treatment if necessary. Remember to always follow the label of the pesticide you are using.
