Yellow jacket nest in ground? - Ask Extension
Greetings,
I am thinking of planting a vegetable gardening and have a good space for it; however, I have noticed some holes in the ground that are n...
Knowledgebase
Yellow jacket nest in ground? #391948
Asked April 04, 2017, 8:30 PM EDT
Greetings,
I am thinking of planting a vegetable gardening and have a good space for it; however, I have noticed some holes in the ground that are near a mound of dirt that also has a hole in the middle. Last year we had a lot of yellow jackets in the spring, so I am concerned this might be an in-ground nest.
I am attaching a couple of pictures. Can you tell me if this is something to be concerned about? I do not want to disturb it until I know what it is.
Also, if I do need to call someone to spray for insects, is now a good time of year to do it? We are still seeing some freezing temperatures here at night in Klamath Falls.
Best regards,
Carrie Patten
Klamath County Oregon
Expert Response
Yellow jackets typically make their nests in existing holes in the ground (rodent burrows, etc.) or wall voids in buildings. So the holes in your pictures could be used by a yellow jacket queen to start her colony. (However, if those particular holes had nests last year, they are not likely to have nests in them this year).
The only way to tell if it is an active nest is to observe a yellow jacket going in or out.
Only queens survive over the winter, and they start new colonies in the spring, Numbers build slowly in the spring but increase as the summer goes on. By the fall, there may be several hundred to several thousand workers in a colony.
Because there are so few yellow jackets in the early spring (and only one per nest - the queen - until the first brood matures), finding nests is difficult (think - needle in a haystack).
You can place yellow jacket traps around your yard's perimeter now. If you trap queen's now, it will reduce the number of nests in your lawn/garden. Traps are available at most garden center types stores.
Traps will help avoid problems with you disturbing nests. However, keep in mind that yellow jackets fly long distances so workers from nests on surrounding yards may fly into your yard.
Maintaining traps around your yard's perimeter through the fall until a killing frost will help control the number of yellow jackets flying into your yard.
If you find a nest in your yard, you can call a professional to take care of it. You may also do this *carefully* on your own. You can use a home owner wasp spray that shoots a stream. Try this in the late evening when the workers are in the nest and relatively calm. Please keep in mind the part about "relatively" calm. When they are disturbed, workers will fly out to defend their nest.
Again, yellow jackets are not abundant in the spring. However, there are other insects that resemble yellow jackets. If you happen to be able to collect a dead or live one and take it to your local extension office, they can identify it. This will help determine if yellow jackets are what you are seeing in the spring or something else - and whether they are a pest or not.
The only way to tell if it is an active nest is to observe a yellow jacket going in or out.
Only queens survive over the winter, and they start new colonies in the spring, Numbers build slowly in the spring but increase as the summer goes on. By the fall, there may be several hundred to several thousand workers in a colony.
Because there are so few yellow jackets in the early spring (and only one per nest - the queen - until the first brood matures), finding nests is difficult (think - needle in a haystack).
You can place yellow jacket traps around your yard's perimeter now. If you trap queen's now, it will reduce the number of nests in your lawn/garden. Traps are available at most garden center types stores.
Traps will help avoid problems with you disturbing nests. However, keep in mind that yellow jackets fly long distances so workers from nests on surrounding yards may fly into your yard.
Maintaining traps around your yard's perimeter through the fall until a killing frost will help control the number of yellow jackets flying into your yard.
If you find a nest in your yard, you can call a professional to take care of it. You may also do this *carefully* on your own. You can use a home owner wasp spray that shoots a stream. Try this in the late evening when the workers are in the nest and relatively calm. Please keep in mind the part about "relatively" calm. When they are disturbed, workers will fly out to defend their nest.
Again, yellow jackets are not abundant in the spring. However, there are other insects that resemble yellow jackets. If you happen to be able to collect a dead or live one and take it to your local extension office, they can identify it. This will help determine if yellow jackets are what you are seeing in the spring or something else - and whether they are a pest or not.
Thank you so much for your thorough reply!! I will put out some traps and call an expert to spray, because I'm too chicken to do it myself! :-)
