Posted: 9/20/2011 8:10:50 PM EDT
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Our Franklin apartment has some yellowjackets building unwanted homes in the railings of our porch. The apartment manager and maintenance are pretty much useless. I've killed a few of them over the summer, but they are getting bad in afternoons now. Debating how to deal with them. What says the hive? (Pun intended)
Raid? Drowning pool of Mtn Dew? Kill it with fire? 
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As bad as a pissed off swarm of yellow jackets can be, swallowing just one is worse. They can sting multiple times all the way down. If you decide on the passive let them freeze solution, don't drink from a can while sitting on the porch. You can't see if one is inside the can.
Even with great insurance, Raid is cheaper than an ER visit copay. Anything that uses sugar to lure them to their death will attract more than you already have. PS After using Raid go ahead and burn it all down |
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Wait till night and spray the living shit out of everything... That's how I've always dealt with bee's... This is what I do with them as well Ayup. I've had tons of wasp troubles this year, including some that got in between some windows upstairs (We don't use the upstairs so it took weeks for us to notice them). |
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Brake and carb cleaner spray kill them even faster than insecticides. Most insecticides take a few minutes to work, while you can still be stung.
Aggressive solvents wash away the fats and waxes that waterproof insect's chitinous bodies, keep their organs separate etc. and they die almost instantly. However, that railing looks as though it might be that plastic decking material, or painted metal. I would test it for colorfastness and/or if it just strips melts stuff right off. And that's bad ju-ju for the security deposit. 
In that case, just wait for dark and go out there with some bug spray and a flashlight as the others suggested. |
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wait till night then spray the fuckers with raid or brake cleaner.
if you are renting and the management of the property is not addressing the issue, send them written notice of the problem, then hire a pest control company. deduct the cost of the bill from next months rent. include a copy of the receipt and original letter asking for them to take care of the pest renters should not have to deal with this... |
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Quoted:
Brake and carb cleaner spray kill them even faster than insecticides. Most insecticides take a few minutes to work, while you can still be stung. Aggressive solvents wash away the fats and waxes that waterproof insect's chitinous bodies, keep their organs separate etc. and they die almost instantly. However, that railing looks as though it might be that plastic decking material, or painted metal. I would test it for colorfastness and/or if it just strips melts stuff right off. And that's bad ju-ju for the security deposit.
In that case, just wait for dark and go out there with some bug spray and a flashlight as the others suggested. they may not fly at night but the can crawl... and they will crawl if you piss them off |
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Brake and carb cleaner spray kill them even faster than insecticides. In that case, just wait for dark and go out there with some bug spray and a flashlight as the others suggested. Brake cleaner would work like a charm, but it's really nasty stuff. Brake cleaner is ridiculously toxic. Like others suggested, buy a can of Raid and wait until it's dark and cool outside. You'll likely get no resistance from the bees. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
Brake and carb cleaner spray kill them even faster than insecticides. Most insecticides take a few minutes to work, while you can still be stung. Aggressive solvents wash away the fats and waxes that waterproof insect's chitinous bodies, keep their organs separate etc. and they die almost instantly. However, that railing looks as though it might be that plastic decking material, or painted metal. I would test it for colorfastness and/or if it just strips melts stuff right off. And that's bad ju-ju for the security deposit.
In that case, just wait for dark and go out there with some bug spray and a flashlight as the others suggested. they may not fly at night but the can crawl... and they will crawl if you piss them off They will fly at night....i've watched them do it...they're just more sluggish at night when it's cold. Any advantage is worth it against bee's. |
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The main reason to spray them at night is not because they can't fly at night. They certainly can. You spray them at night because they typically don't forage at night, and they'll all be "home", so you will kill every member of the nest. Spraying during daylight means most will be "at work" and not killed. They'll be super-pissed when returning and find their nest destroyed and sometimes will attack anything in the vicinity that moves. They will immediately start rebuilding. Also, the colder the temperature, the less active they become.
The foaming wasp/hornet spray works best at destroying both the nest and everything in it, and it's usually harmless to paint and other finishes if you rinse it off quickly (not too quickly... you need to let the spray work it's way into the nest to kill everything inside, including eggs). I usually have a garden hose handy to remove the spray from whatever it's sprayed on in the process of soaking the nest. I also water-blast away any remnants of the nest. If you don't, they'll keep coming back to rebuild year after year. |
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Kill them with fire? Or silently.  I just so happened to have stopped in Lowe's this afternoon looking for another bug product and they had the bug/wasp spray on "clearance" for a dollar something FYI. But yes, you will have to treat where they have built nests. Those apartments in Franklin look very familiar, I lived many years ago, first apartment out of home. |
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As bad as a pissed off swarm of yellow jackets can be, swallowing just one is worse. They can sting multiple times all the way down. If you decide on the passive let them freeze solution, don't drink from a can while sitting on the porch. You can't see if one is inside the can. Even with great insurance, Raid is cheaper than an ER visit copay. Anything that uses sugar to lure them to their death will attract more than you already have. PS After using Raid go ahead and burn it all down +1 to that, did that when i was about 9 years old. Bastard hid in my soda straw. |