How to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets in Siding or Window Trim in One Day

Last week, there were dead yellow jackets in my house near a picture window. It turned out that there was a yellow jacket nest in the trim around one of my windows, and I had to eradicate them before they could cause real problems such as forming a nest in my attic. Below I have a description of how I was able to successfully get rid of yellow jackets in the window trim of my house in a single day.  This would also work for a nest in vinyl or shake siding where access to the nest is restricted.

Originally, I had thought this was some kind of bee. Five minutes online taught me that it was indeed a yellow jacket by using google and comparing the body of a dead one to an image. I also learned this is a wasp which can sting multiple times. A couple of these small insects will teach you that in a hurry if you make them angry.

Knowing this was a wasp, I investigated the location of where the nest might be. There were a lot of yellow jackets flying around the outside of one of my windows, and I followed the trail to where they were entering the window trim.

This picture shows the window and trim I have, which was installed by home depot. It is a standard vinyl type replacement window with aluminum textured like wood around the outside. The aluminum is hollow and it allowed the queen to form a nest somewhere along the vertical piece. I had assumed the hole was intentional to allow drainage, but home depot will let me know if it was poor installation or if it is intentional.

There were approximately one dozen yellow jackets flying up to the hole with entry or exit of a different yellow jacket every 2-3 seconds. I put a long branch into the hole to see if there were other entries. This was somewhat successful to tell me that they were only interested in using this hole to get to the nest. However, I knew it was temporary and it didn't even completely cover the hole, so they could still get through.

How about using something else to block the hole completely? I thought that a 2 inch piece of duct tape over the hole would work and then the problem would be solved. I did this, and the insects started flying around rather quickly appearing quite angry. However, I didn't get stung for at least two reasons: 1) they didn't feel I was a threat and were focused on entering the hole as they had been for at least a week; and 2) it only took a couple of seconds for me to cover it and get away fast.

Unfortunately, the yellow jackets figured out other ways to try to get in and out. The horizontal piece of trim seemed to be one option as they kind of disappeared along the bottom. No problem. I can put a long piece of duct tape all along the bottom and that should stop it, or so I thought.

I put on a long wind breaker and some heavy cloth work gloves and got ready. They were flying around faster than before, but I thought I could move quickly as before and be safe. I was able to attach the duct tape strip at the end away from the entrance, and tried to quickly attach the tape in a rapid motion. It worked, but I was stung through both the wind breaker and gloves!

Lesson 1: Don't do this during the day!   Everything you read on the internet will say this and it is wise to do this after dark.

Within a couple of hours, they had eaten a large hole through the duct tape and I now had a lot of angry yellow jackets to deal with. To make matters worse, the new hole was not as efficient of an entry as the bare hole, so there was a traffic jam of yellow jackets flying around.

Lesson 2: Professional duct tape is not a barrier.

A more permanent blockage seemed like a possible solution, such as caulk (during the evening, for sure). After reading much on the internet, that did not seem like a good idea for a few reasons:

They were probably going to be watching for possible threats to the entrance I was smarting from being stung earlier.  Worst of all, they may burrow into the attic or siding to escape.

In addition, home depot is due to arrive in a couple of days and assess the situation. I wasn't sure if they would reimburse me for an exterminator, and even if they would, it would delay fixing the issue while waiting for an exterminator. I needed to do something pretty soon or I would be in a bind.

Solutions for killing yellow jackets include several chemical methods. I chose the last one listed below, but here is what I found at the local hardware store:

• Wasp / hornet spray - generally, this type of aerosol spray will shoot 15 feet or more (good to keep from getting stung), it kills on contact, and is relatively inexpensive at less than 5 dollars a can. The drawbacks include poor ability to focus the spray into a hole (it would work well for a nest that is in the open), and it is pretty toxic.
• Carpenter been and yellow jacket spray - this aerosol includes a small straw like WD40 and would enable me to get poison into the hole without making a huge mess. The drawback is that it is petroleum based, which is not good for either the latex paint or the vinyl replacement window. I could wash the siding with soap and water the next day, but it still was not a good choice for me because the nest was likely a distance from the hole and I would not be able to actually spray the nest. Most likely, there would be a pile of dead insects that block the hole and they would not suffocate for a few days if they didn't find another exit or way into the attic.
• Traps - there were several brands available and the concept was appealing to me because it would not require getting near the nest. I purchased two and learned that they should be placed at least 20 feet from entrances and edible vegetables / plants. I understand keeping it away from an entrance to draw yellow jackets away from where you might be. I also understand that keeping the traps (and chemicals used in them) need to be kept away from edibles because they are HARSH. Not ideal.
• Poison dust - this was the best option in my mind because it will not kill the yellow jackets instantly, but will enable them to return to the nest and share the poison with the others, leading to total success for killing the colony. There are a number of kinds available.

Here is How I Was Able to Get Rid of Yellow Jackets in One Day

Assuming you have a similar problem with a yellow jacket nest that is not near the entrance and you are considering using dust, I can say this worked very well for me. 

1. Purchase the insecticide. There are number of brands available and the price varies significantly. Ace hardware did not sell the popular brand Delta Dust, and in fact, the only option was Sevin. This worked fine for me.
2. Determine how to apply the dust. Based on other people's posts, putting a pile of dust is not very efficient. Some have said it is effective to use a turkey baster in which you blow the dust several times. I was unable to find a post that gave a better description of how to do it (jump to step 6 if you want to seed the method I learned to do this.
3. Select a method of propellant. The bulb won't blow the powder far, so I thought of a way to do it. I used an portable air tank which I already owned. You can pick one up at the hardware store for about 20 dollars and they are useful to fill up a tire that is low on air, blow off dust in the vacuum, etc. You can fill it up at the gas station or use a compressor if you or a neighbor has one. As it turns out, you can probably use a can of air from an office supply which is commonly used to clean out a computer.
   
   
4. Cut or drill a hole in the turkey baster bulb. This allows the air to push out the insecticide. Don't make it too big or it will be less effective.
5. WAIT UNTIL NIGHT!!!! I went out at 9:30 pm and there was not a single yellow jacket to be found. I had read there would be a guard watching out, but he must have been sleeping that night.
6. Fill the baster about 1/3 of the way. Just squeeze the bulb, stick the nozzle tip in the dust, and when you allow the bulb to expand there will be a significant amount of dust in the baster which is more than adequate to provide a lot of poison. I figured I would apply it several times in one instance and repeat the procedure if necessary. It turned out I only needed one instance to kill them all.
7. Blow the dust in the hole. I suggest wearing a cheap dust mask as a minimum.
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 several times.

Following this procedure, I never encountered a single yellow jacket during the installation and even had time to blow the dust off the equipment without fear of getting stung. I am not absolutely sure the dust went all the way up the trim, but I am pretty sure it did. Why? Because the next morning, I saw two yellow jackets hanging out near the hole for about an hour, and then, NOTHING! It is possible a pile of dead yellow jackets is sitting on the bottom of the trim. When home depot comes out to seal my trim, I will ask them to pop it off and see (I will report the results later).


Let me know if you think this was interesting or have tried it. I wanted to share the turkey baster filling description as it has been mentioned by others but never actually described well. It was really easy. I do believe the propellant is essential to expedite the killing, though. I can't imagine getting to the queen unless you use a lot of air to really drive it into and through the nest.