underground yellow jackets don't want to die

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I Had a little hydraulic oil in a pan and
poured it into the top of the spring Now no more wasps.
I think that 1 oz. of oil Just enough to coat the spring
No more wasps, and bonus rustproofing...👍👍👍
 
I had to stop at a house today to treat a bumble bee nest that was in the ground under a set of stairs
I found where it looks like bumble bees were going in/out of a hole in the yard the other night...didn't know that they'd live in the ground...or is it those wood boring bees? (they look the same to me) Thought about parking the mower on top the nest for a while...see if I could make "bee chopped salad"...
 
Bumble bees do live underground (at least some). I believe the wood boring ones do not.

Bumble bees are much less agressive than wasps, and even than honey bees.
They can sting, but very, very rarely do so. I'd leave them be. Even in the baseball area of my kids. (In fact, they are there - presumably courtesy of not using chemicals when most of my neighbors do... - , and we've never had issues with them.)
 
Bumble bees are almost always ground dwellers. I’ve seen some confused ones in soffits though. I nearly fell off a ladder in shock. The wood boring bees, carpenter bees, like to be out of the ground, in wood.

They look the same pretty much. Carpenter bees have bald bee-hinds where bumble bee have hairy bee-hinds.
 
what, so I'm a bumblebee?
(never mind... ;p )
 
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I have done the following to a few ground nests.
1. Use the foam wasp spray on the hole.
2. Get a can of brake cleaner with the red long tube. Stick that past the foam and let it rip for 5 or so seconds.
3. About 2 hours later, small amount of gas, and light a rolled up newspaper.

I unexpectedly found that brake cleaner kills wasps instantly. Its a great dual purpose product. I would recommend taking a shovel to it after 24 hours have passed. I usually still find stunned or almost dead wasps that can't fly and step on the eggs.
 
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