Yikes... I think any of the gound-dwelling wasps and yellow jackets are pretty agressive. (Assuming that you mean they are flying into and out of a hole in the ground, rather than a nest that fell out of the eaves and landed on the ground.)

I quickly found one article on gardens alive, http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?ai=469

but in general I think I would try to get rid of it or call an exterminator to do the hard work, and definitely keep the kids away until then. The yellow jackets or whatever they are called will definitely attack if provoked and there can be lots of them in the hive... many years ago the owner of my house was mowing the lawn and disturbed a ground hive and was chased into the house and stung badly. I can't imagine having one of my children near a hive.

-k

They are predators, so beneficial, but the benefit comes with a price--they can be aggressive as well. Your call as to whether or not you can live with them. Be careful and good luck!

I think, if I had children or pets, or needed to work around that area, I would call an exterminator. Right away.

Jeri

Yellow jackets are the most aggressive stingers of all, and they do nest in the ground. They are about the size of honeybees, but lack the fuzz. Their range includes Florida.

There are other ground-resting bees and wasps that are harmless.

Thanks for the replies. My husband killed them straight away, he wouldn't even discuss it. He's hated wasps ever since getting stung by one years ago.

I think they might have been some type of mud wasp, which aren't aggressive and supposedly don't sting. Oh well it doesn't matter, they're gone now.

We had a large nest of wasps under the eaves of the house. We took care of the problem ourselves by waiting until it became dark, when they are not active, and blasting the nest with a very strong spray from the hose. Most if not all the wasps were exterminated but the important part was that if any were left they must have left the area. The next day what was left of the nest could be easily removed as no wasps were in it.

Ingrid

Thanks for the replies. My husband killed them straight away, he wouldn't even discuss it. He's hated wasps ever since getting stung by one years ago.

I think they might have been some type of mud wasp, which aren't aggressive and supposedly don't sting. Oh well it doesn't matter, they're gone now.

I meant to say a strong spray of water. I should also add that at that time of the day (late evening) the wasps were not at all aggressive although of course it would be wise to stay at some distance from the nest while doing this. Much cheaper than an exterminator and no poisons were used.

Even rattlesnakes are beneficial, but I wouldn't keep them in my garden.

Yellow jackets are aggressive enough that their presence makes it impossible to make use of the out of doors, especially in late summer when their aggression increases. They won't even let me consume a cup of coffee in the garden. The traps go up first thing in the spring so that nests never become established. If they do, getting rid of them is a job for a professional exterminator.

Mud wasps are less aggressive. They can be tolerated if their nest is not located near the house or were you are likely to run over it with a mover, or step on it, or bump it.

Our garden is full of non-aggressive wasps, that sting if harassed but are otherwise peaceful. I walk gently around them and get along as well with them as I do with the dog, the cats, and our rabbit. Yellowjackets on the other hand are impossible to live with.
If you have a wasp problem you might look around and see if there's a local wasp collector: if you're lucky you could get the wasps eliminated for free and without poison. Years ago I had a major ground wasp nest behind the house. I recalled an ad I'd seen in the classifieds, made a phone call, and within a day or two had the pleasure of seeing a gentleman appear dressed in a white space suit and with a vacuum cleaner in his hand. He attached a jar to the vacuum cleaner and began to vacuum wasps into it, continuing on until he had a quart jar full of squirming wasps and a cleaned out nest. They never came back. It was a memorable sight and an elegant solution to the problem.
Melissa

These things are not to be messed with. The handicapped young son of a friend rolled over a nest in his backyard while in his wheelchair and was stung to death. In the same town he was from, last year an 80-something year old woman was stung. She survived but was in the hospital months.

Having said that, my 80 year old father discovered an underground nest in his backyard and bought one of those bee bopper bomb thingies and set it off and then flipped a tin washtub over the exit hole so they couldn't escape. He said it sounded like the bucket was going to launch itself the buzzing was so intense from the angry yellow jackets until they finally all expired.