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Yellow Jackets

We have a terrible problem with yellow jackets in late summer. They are nesting in the ground and when I mow, they come after me! How can I get rid of the nest?

Yellow jacket populations can build up in late August or early September to annoying levels. Most homeowners become aggravated when wasps arrive in great numbers at picnics or when mowing disturbs a ground nest. Yellow jackets are actually a beneficial insect through most of the summer, feeding on caterpillars and flies. However, in late summer, their diet switches from high protein needed for developing larvae to high carbohydrates needed for the adults.

The Eastern yellow jacket has been common in Ohio, but in the past few years, has been displaced in large part by the German yellow jacket, which is more aggressive. Destroying a yellow jacket nest is difficult to do, and can be dangerous. Because nests do not overwinter and are not used the next season, it is best to leave them alone unless they present a serious hazard. Only the fertilized queen survives over the winter, and she begins a new nest in a different location the following spring.

If you must destroy a nest, treat it with a dust formulation of the insecticide Sevin (carbaryl). Do this at dusk, when the insects are all in the nest, and carefully approach the opening to the nest. As the yellow jackets track over the insecticide as they go in and out, they will track some into the interior of the nest, eventually killing all the adults.

Source: OSU Plantfacts

For more information contact George McVey at the OSU Extension Office, Union County at 937 644-8117 or 1800 589-8584.