What to do when you find an eight-layer yellowjacket nest
Yes, even yellowjackets can be beneficial insects. They feed on aphids, caterpillars, flies and even grasshoppers. They also help with your cleanup chores by eating rotting fruit, decaying animals, feces and other stuff you’d probably rather not deal with.
However, where they decide to nest can quickly turn them from friend to foe!
I was recently weeding a planting bed near our barbecue when I was stung in the abdomen and chest by a couple of aggressive little Part of the eight-layer yellowjacket nest found on the author’s property.
wasps. Our outdoor fire pit and dining area are in the same general area and we, and our dog, hang out there all the time. The wasps were flying around a stacked-rock retaining wall, so I sprayed some hornet and wasp spray into the crevices and figured I had solved the problem.
But a week later when I saw several wasps flying around the same area. I was surprised to see them emerging from the ground behind the wall. I decided I needed some help with the situation and immediately called Deb Conway with GirlzWurk in Saratoga. Deb is a beekeeper, does bee removal and relocation and sells amazing honey. I was lucky to reach her right away and she came to our house the same day.
When we removed a large section of the stacked wall and dug a few feet into the soil, we found a huge, eight-layer yellowjacket nest. Deb guessed that there were at least 5,000 live yellowjackets in there!