Having yellow jackets in your home is a scary proposition. We received a scary call yesterday. A customer stated she had no less than a few hundred yellow jackets flying around her office. Now, this is a problem under any circumstance, but especially while she is occupying the office. Fortunately, this client was only stung several times before we arrived. It certainly had the possibility of being much worse. Here is what happened and what we did.
Upon arrival at the home the client was not exaggerating, she certainly did have several hundred wasps in her office. This is scary but true, the secretions from the colony soaked the drywall ceiling to the point that the colony fell through the ceiling.
The wasps made their entry into the building around the soffit area of the home and then into the ceiling cavity. If this is happening at your home you must remember that yellow jackets nest in cavities and it’s very common for this situation to happen. Things you MUST NOT DO:
1. Do not plug the hole from the outside
2. Do not treat the nest yourself during the day
3. Do not open the wall OR push on the drywall where you hear a tapping noise. That noise is the wasps and your hand will go straight through if you push hard enough.
Our solution in this case was to put on a bee suit and enter the room with a pyrethrin to kill existing wasps and then physically remove the remainder of the nest. We then treated the exterior with an insecticidal dust at the entrance point to kill returning wasps.
The procedure is different if you are just hearing the tapping noise in your ceiling. Please do not attempt this type of service on your own. It’s dangerous and best left to a pro.
If you are in need of our services, we can be reached at 1-888-879-6481