Getting rid of bees

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
The bushes in front of my house are overgrown and need trimming. I was out there going to town w/ the clippers and discovered (the unpleasant way) that some yellow jackets hang out there and aren't fond of me shaking their bush :lol:

So I've got to get rid of these guys so I can finish the job.
what's the best way to run them off? I'm generally of the mindset to just leave bees alone, but they aren't going to let me around and they're in front of the porch anyway. is tehre a fogger i can buy? All the preventive/run-em-off sprays at HD are for... every other bug in the world....
 
Wasp/Hornet spray in a can. They sell it at the HW store. Wait until evening when they're less active.
 
I find brake cleaner works wonders as well. And if these are super bees, the optional lighter to turn it into a flame thrower works wonders. That said, sounds like you're pretty close to a house and plants you may not want damaged.
 
mark the hole during the day (brick thrown from a distance). Tonight, dump about 1 gal of gas down the hole and stomp it shut.
 
Spectracide Commercial at Lowes or HD is my favorite. http://www.lowes.com/pd_200906-316-...rrentURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=spectracide&facetInfo=

It sprays well and sprays pretty much the whole bottle out. Raid is ok, but stay away from Hot Shot. I just used some and it stopped spraying at half bottle and only sprayed about 8ft.

My favorite way to do it is to get them real stirred up by beating around the nest with a long stick, then pull the car up beside them and crack the window, spray a few seconds, then roll it back up.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
mark the hole during the day (brick thrown from a distance). Tonight, dump about 1 gal of gas down the hole and stomp it shut.
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x2. You can also get a liter or 2 liter bottle, fill it full of gas, and turn it upside down and shove it in the hole. Once you do that, stab a hole in the bottom of the bottle with a knife to give it a vent so it'll drain faster. The bees cant get out and the fumes from the gas will kill every one of them.
 
Yeah so the problem is, I can't really tell where the hive is - the bush is really thick and overgrown so the greenery gows all the way to the ground etc - I just see a couple of them flying around it when I shake the bush. Not exactly thrilled about sticking my head in there ;-)
Dosn't the hornet spray stuff need a direct hit or will the odor of it run them off?
 
You're gonna have to kill them all if it's yellow jackets. The good ol hornet spray will just give them a little more motivation to light you up. The easiest and most painless way to do this would be to wait until winter to do something with the bush. Then dig up the hole and get rid of the nest.
 
put a jar of honey near the bush..they will fly into and get stuck i saw this at a ball field on time pretty cool
 
Yellow jackets live in the ground so a spray won't help but take some diesel fuel an pour in there at night an let it soak for a few min then light it an it will soak into the nest an burn it out. Also you can buy some 7 dust an pour down the whole an it will kill them an keep them from flying.
 
Several bags of ice around the bush, will make them dormant(at night). Then dig around till you find the hole. the pour what ever you want to kill them. If you use a petroleum product, you do not have to light it. But it very well may kill your bush.
 
x2 on the gas you dont have to light it... just the hard parts is going to be finding they're entrance hole if the bush is that thick i found one the other day doing some weedeating got me right on the eye brow damn thing hurt for a week... good luck!!
 
Gas in a bottle, turn bottle upside down with neck stuck in the hole, walk away. You don't need that much gas. A 16-20 oz drink bottle is enough.

Since you can't find the hole due to the overgrowth, I'm not sure what to tell you other than wait till winter to do landscaping projects.
 
I hate bees, I've become skilled at dealing with the bastards...
be patient, sit out a ways and watch them you will see where they go.
I had a nest in the bushes and it makes it harder to see where they go.
They usually keep a 2-3" open area near the hole clear up good..

There are a few methods you can use.
1) Flood them. This works well in bushes or areas you don't want to destroy or use chemicals. Pretty easy, and works well if your not 100% sure where they are... Adjust spray nozzle and aim at their hole. Dusk is good cause they all start coming home. This doesn't kill them all but it clobers the nest and little ones inside..
Water for 2-3 hours. Moving hose around a little. You can stop and let excessive water soak in as needed..

The last nest I used this method. Nest was under by flox flower patch and the other 2 methods weren't working well as the nest was down and under a ways.. I ended up with a basketball sized sink hole where their nest was..

2) Lawn insect control granulars.. I buy the 5-10# bag for the lawn. I toss several giant hand fulls at the hole. Dusk is best, creep up in low 4-5ft away and toss it on... Gently water in around the hole.. Repeat if needed..

3) I hate to advocate this but it has worked many times for me... 1 qt (used) motor oil. I tape the qt to the end of a broom stick and walk in, tip and pour into hole opening. This shit sticks to them and they can't fly, anthing coming in or out gets covered... Stand ready with a spray can to knock down any in the air... Dono why but the ones coming back feel the need to land and check it out... I usually follow this up a few days later with options 1 or 2.. Gas is fun but it evaporates to fast...


I've had so many around my house from all the loose building debris from when they built the house, its tapered off now but they still come back...
 
late tonight, take the hedge trimmers to the bottom of the bush and rake the ground really well. Clear it up enough so tomorrow you can see the hole (binoculars) because they will be clearing the hole back out from the raking. Tomorrow night, gas em.
 
I've had some brutal problems with yellow jackets in the past, and call me crazy, but I've never been comfortable with pouring gas down the hole like a lot of people do. I tried several different sprays that all failed miserably, until someone recommended Enforcer foaming yellow jacket spray, and man, that stuff is awesome. Just wait until after dark when they're in the hole for the night, go shoot the spray foam into the hole, and that colony will be dead. It's a little harder to find since they don't carry it at Lowes or HD, but the stuff works great on the yellow jackets.
 
sgtbriangreen said:
late tonight, take the hedge trimmers to the bottom of the bush and rake the ground really well. Clear it up enough so tomorrow you can see the hole (binoculars) because they will be clearing the hole back out from the raking. Tomorrow night, gas em.
Click to expand...


I forgot that I had a nest one time where I couldn't find/see the hole. I went out there at like 5am, and raked the ground clean of debris real quick where I thought the hole was, then ran back in the house. The next moring, the hole was visible, and I hit them with gas.

I've heard soapy water in a bottle just like gas works too, but I didn't want to fool around in case it didn't work. I think the soap cuts the surface tension of the water and it will then drown them.
 
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