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Five ground nests of wasps/bees in our yard!

9 years ago

Five nests of yellow jackets/bees (unsure which these are) in our yard is unusually high. I'm not sure what they are; either a small yellow jacket or a small ground nesting bee. They come and go in large numbers, flying around the hole, streaming in and out. They are yellow and black and don't have the fuzzy body that bees seem to have.

This week I was cleaning out an overgrowth of weeds behind some large spirea. I noted that the spirea was reblooming again while I started to pulling out the weeds. I heard the sound of the bees/wasps and figured they were bees drawn to the spirea flowers. Unknowingly I was squatted down right over their hole and they were flying all around me. There were two or three dozen, but never once did I get stung. When I was done, I just walked away unconcerned, not knowing they may have been wasps.

I've never gotten a pass from yellow jackets before and know you can't threaten them in any way or you get stung. These didn't. What could they be? A less temperamental wasp? It's smaller than a yellow jacket, but has the same striping. Do you know what they are? How do I get rid of them? All five ground nests have the same wasp/bee.

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Comments (5)

zzackey
9 years ago
I would hire an exterminator. It's not worth getting stung because it would probably be more than one sting. Sounds like yellow jackets to me. They are ground nesters.
larry_gene
9 years ago
Could be five entrance holes to the same master nest unless they are widely separated in your yard. Any one nest of this type is normally used for just one year.

Ground-nesting wasps will often use an overgrown spot, and it is best not to leave piles of trimmings around, as that is a choice location also.
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Thanks for the replies, Penny and Al. I followed up on the weblink and called my local Vector Control Dept. It took a day to hear from someone there. Even though their website mentions yellowjackets, the guy left a message on my machine saying that I should probably hire a professional to take care of them (unless I'm prepared to suit up like a beekeeper--which I'm not). I suppose that is the safest thing, so I'll probably call a pest control company that offers environmentally sensitive solutions. It's surprising (pleasantly so) that if these are indeed yellowjackets (rather than other wasps or bees), they haven't stung me yet, even on the occasions when they've gone up a sleeve or gotten in my hair. Does anyone know if the colony would die out in the fall in the San Jose area, given our mild winters?
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That's not true. I have a wild honeybee colony in a tree this year (happy, happy joy, joy) it has ONE entrance and exit. Jean001 gave excellent advice. I had the bees identified by my extension agent, and I am not killing them off. They are essential pollinators and have not been showing any signs of aggression whatsoever. Having creatures nesting in your house is a special circumstance, and you need good information to make the decision of how to deal with it, or if to deal with it. If you do seal off a bee nest, and they die in there, you will have a stinky, hideous mess. If you seal off a yellow jacket nest, they can very well get into the house. Consult with your ag extension agent for advice in how to handle your particular critter. You always need to identify WHAT you have to know HOW to handle it. Methods and choices vary depending on what you go there.
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Twice in past houses I've lived in, I've found a yellowjacket nest entry hole beneath the bottommost board of the siding. One was right next to the back door of the house and if closed the door too hard they would come out to defend the nest. I tried one store brand of wasp/hornet killer on them, but it didn't seem to have any effect. The force of the spray would knock them to the ground, but they would shake off, and fly away, seemingly unharmed. I tried a stronger name-brand wasp/hornet spray, that killed the wasps on contact, but those in the nest stopped using the poisined entrance, and found another way out of the nest directly into the basement. Another time I had a yellowjacket nest (which is probably what pennysworth son found) in the ground in our yard 3 feet from the corner of where we would set up the volleyball net. (Bump. Set. Sting. :-) Based on a suggestion from a friend, I ran an extension cord out into the yard and set the shop-vac there, with its snout right next to the hive entrance, sucking up the wasps as they left or came back, for several hours. The next morning when I crept out to check on the nest, I discovered that something had come by in the night, dug open the entrance to the nest, and pulled out and munched on the remaining larva filled nest pieces, leaving a hole 6 inches across and about 2 feet deep.
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Fori
9 years ago
If they swarmed you over the nest and didn't sting, why would you want to get rid of them? If they out of the way most of the time (except when you're clearing out the weeds), it would be perfectly fine to let them be and let them do their thing.
hoehum
9 years ago
If they are that friendly, I would leave them alone. Try a dollar store butterfly net to catch one, jar it, & take to a garden center for identification.

I have had the nasty kind--couldn't even mow the law without them attacking so had to remove. The dog learned to avoid their part of the yard but not the toddlers.

Wait until night (so everyone is home & sleeping) to pour into the hole.
-2-3 gallons of boiling water can kill a small nest
-my neighbor swears by vinegar (1-2 gallons) but the acidity may harm the plants.
- I had what must have been a deep nest or had multiple rooms. Boiling water got some (multiple tries) but the hive quickly bounced back and the bees ruled the yard. I resorted to mixing up 2 gallons of insect killer. (I hated to use for the residual killing to the worms & good bugs for weeks after, but I couldn't let the grandchildren in the yard until the bees were gone.) I've learned over the years to hit them with boiling water at the first sign of a hive--in 35 years only had to resort to chemicals twice.

You can test the 'multiple entrances' theory by laying a garden hose at one hole during the day, flooding, & watching if they suddenly fly out other holes. Any treatment must go in all holes.
eibren
9 years ago
If you kill them, a more hostile crowd may fill the ecological niche. I would let them be.

Folks in the bee forum have been encouraging a ground dwelling bee to colonize on their properties to help with pollination; they could help you identify these little workers.

I would think twice before killing something that did you no harm. Some wasps even kill flies.

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