If I knew I would tell you. Sue thinks they are yellow jackets but I don’t. I will say I have never experienced a bee like this. Apparently nothing tics them off. I can go up the ladder and even spray with no bad effects. Neither of us have been stung.
Definitely not yellow jackets then.. they have a bad attitude even if you're trying to leave them alone.
I have some left-over outlawed insecticide from the early 1980's 1-tsp in a bucket of water is certain death to the yellow jackets nest.
I've only seen Yellow jackets in the ground, or burrowed in a barn down in square bales. I'm guessing you would know if it were honey bees. At least they're not attacking you...
Put some Sevin dust on the entrance, should be gone next day or so. We had yellow jackets getting under the vinyl soffit, did the trick Dave was talking about.
I purchased a wasp trap at the local hardware store. $9. It is plastic, hangs, and catches wasps, yellow jackets and flies. The directions give a "recipe"for bait, but I just use cheap fruit juice. I hang it where the sun will hit it, they get in but can't get out, and eventually either cook or drown. It doesn't seem to get the ground ones though. Empty and add juice a couple times a week.
We used to make one out of a 2 liter drink bottle to put around the bee hives to catch hornets, wasps and YJs. Cut a round nickel to quarter size hole right at the top of the label. Always put some banana peel in, that keeps honey bees from going in and dying....
OMG Dennis. making her do the dirty work? Be a nice date to go trick or treating together. Kids at heart?
One trick I tried was to mix dish soap with water and spray bees as they come and go. They get stunned, fall to the ground, wriggle about for 30 seconds then die. We had a nest in the stone wall next to where the car was parked a couple years ago and I kept the bottle there. I'd go out for a few minutes and spray them. Never eradicated the nest but rather therapeudic.
Some type of hornet IMO. Yellow jackets are mostly in the ground IME and are the same size. The hidden nests like that will usually have different sized bees from what I've encountered. Few Summers ago I helped a contractor friend build an addition on his daughters place out of state. They put me up in an extra bedroom for a couple nights. I heard scratching in the wall and thought it was a mouse. 200 year old house. Turns out it was a gigantic hornets nest. The swarm of bees coming and going was rather unnerving as it was right behind me as I lay in bed. Told them and they showed me the next day.
I was going to say, and still lean towards, the pic looks like yellow jackets. But...doesn't make sense that they haven't bothered you... YJs are some mean bastages, and I'm pretty sure they'd have lit you up by now...like Chaz said earlier...
Had a phone, my only way to here, that didn't allow me to log in. The phone finally died and it took some maneuvering on my new one but I can finally get back on. It was a long 2 1/2 year forced mute for me and had withdrawal something awful.
