Pests We Treat - Hidden Yellow Jackets Pose Danger to Family in Maplewood, NJ

I was dispatched to a home in Maplewood, NJ, a township in Essex County, to resolve a yellowjacket infestation outside the home. Yellowjackets, with their distinctive alternating bands of black and yellow on their abdomen, are the one wasp that pretty much anyone can identify. Yellowjackets are predatory wasps that live in colonies where the queens are the center of attention and workers do all the foraging and care taking. A mature colony can number in the thousands. Besides eating other insects, yellowjackets scavenge human garbage for food and are especially attracted to items rich in sugar like ripe fruits and soda. So, they are often around people. Unfortunately, of all the wasps, these are considered the most aggressive and territorial. If a nest is disturbed, you will likely be attacked by many wasps and each of them can sting multiple times. These stings are extremely painful and for those allergic to its venom, it’s a serious medical emergency.

Some wasps like paper wasps and baldfaced hornets build their nests above ground. Yellowjackets, on the other hand, prefer to dig their nests in hidden locations such as in a wall cavity, under or behind siding, or a hole in the ground. One problem with yellowjacket nests is that, because they are hidden, you can easily inadvertently disrupt them without realizing it, such as when mowing the lawn or kids playing in the yard, triggering a massive attack of these wasps. 

Since this was an outdoor infestation, the homeowners let us know that they could not be home to greet me. While it helps to be able to speak to the homeowner to get a better idea of the infestation, every so often, we are sent to a home, especially with outdoor infestations, to figure out the problem and resolve it purely from our own inspection. Since yellowjacket nests are hidden and I did not immediately see any wasp activity, it took me some time to hone in on the location of the problem. Putting on my detective cap, I came toward the back slide area of the home. There, I  observed a flowerpot with some out-of-the-ordinary activity going on. 

As shown in the video, yellowjackets were entering the flowerpot and nesting inside the pot itself. Locating the nest is often the biggest challenge, especially with insects that build hidden nests. Once you zero in on the location of the nest, you can then determine the best course of treatment. Here, I applied a non-repellent application. With this type of product, the wasps do not try to go anywhere and the entire nest soon become dormant. After a few minutes, once I saw that there was no more insect activity, I could safely remove the hive. I consider it a good day a the office when I am able to take care of a yelowjacket infestation without being stung myself!

When the homeowners return home this evening, they could once again enjoy their yard with our worrying about being terrorized by ornery yellowjackets. Stinging insect jobs are especially satisfying for me. You have to be on full alert at all times, and once the nest is removed, you know that you helped make a home safe once again.