Ground bees?

Ground bees? Nope. Yellow jackets.

I hadn't thought about the little buggers I called ground bees in quite a while. A neighbor who cut my grass back in 1995 got stung and I've been careful about that spot in the backyard ever since. We've seen the bees from time to time, but not the hole. I guess they moved their entrance to someplace a little more out of the way.

Through the loop

But Ken found it yesterday. Ouch. He came indoors, followed closely by three more bees, which we quickly swatted down. He got the ice and I got my magnifying loop for a better look. I Googled on ground bees and quickly found a lot of contradictory information. I could deduce from the mishmash of sites that our nemesis probably wasn't a ground bee and may be a yellow jacket.

About that time I spied Ken marching back toward the hole with a gas can. I jumped up to stop him just in the nick of time, just after reading that one should NOT POUR GASOLINE into the hole. Kerosene maybe, but BY ALL MEANS not gas. AND not during the day when they are active. Although several sites shouted back at me to not pour gas into the nest, none explained why. Research for another day. But never mind. I came back to the computer to Google up yellow jackets .edu, with the .edu added so that my results would provide some more credible information than just any old blog.

Herewith I provide you that more credible information so that you don't have to believe this humble blogger. How about a fact sheet posted by Mark Moran of Island Creek Elementary School in Alexandria? At his site I learned that "Eastern Yellow Jackets are probably the best-known wasps in Virginia, as well as the least-liked. This is most likely because yellow jackets are responsible for about one half of all insect stings." Of course! Visitors to Colonial Williamsburg encounter these babies around trash cans on Duke of Gloucester Street all the time. Everybody around here has a story about being stung by a wasp in Colonial Williamsburg. I wince every time I remember my sweet little 3-year-old daughter sitting out on Market Square drinking her Sprite when, . . . Her Dad raced around looking for someone with a cigar or cigarette because he'd heard that tobacco drew out the sting. Anyway, you can download a coloring page or an up-close view of a yellow jack on the Fairfax County school's web page. Good job, Mark!

I found a page on the Penn State site with information about management. I was glad to find out what the Extension Service had to say about pouring down the wasp hole after reading about everything from kerosene to hot water with Dawn dish washing detergent to lit tiki torches. At night, of course. So here's what Penn State Extension has to say:

"Eastern yellowjackets can be considered a beneficial insect because they reduce populations of unwanted insects such as earwigs and caterpillars. Therefore, unless the nests are located close [off] an entrance to a building, in the ground of a lawn that is mowed, or in any area where the public is likely to encounter them, the nests can be ignored."

Okay, well here's where it's a problem for me, you know. They said what I felt in my heart. I'm a card-carrying treehugger. And as an admirer of Eastern philosophy I know that yellow jackets are sentient beings. All life is interconnected. So can we just leave them alone? Maybe not. I forgot to tell you that the reason my husband found the nest has to do with a leak in our basement. Funny, but we hear the water trickling down the basement wall during rainstorms just about where the wasps are nesting and that's why we looked there. We really have to fix the leak, especially after 5.5 inches of rain the other day flooded the garage and my husband's man cave again.

So, let's read on. What else, Penn State Extension?

Vespula maculifrons (Duke.edu)

"Those individuals without medical concerns and with a degree of daring can kill the colony by dusting the nest opening with an insecticide during the nighttime. The nest should be scouted during daylight to determine the best approach that will not disturb the yellowjackets prior to introduction of the insecticide. DO NOT stand away from the nest and dust only the exterior of the entrance as this will anger the colony and increase the risk of stings during the next several days. Effective control can only be achieved by stealthy approach and then liberally dusting the material directly down into the nest opening. It is advisable to wear long sleeved clothing, long rubber gloves, goggles and a dust mask to protect yourself from any insecticide that blows back out of the opening . . . launder clothes and take a shower immediately after application. Products containing 5% carbaryl dust such as Apicide® [are] currently labeled for this type of application."

One more reference, this one from Duke with some cool close-up photos, as above.

I think we're going to try the hot water down the hole method tonight. You know, insecticide.