How to Kill Bees & Yellow Jackets

Yellow jackets are far more aggressive than regular bees and even Africanized bees, but by the end of summer, all of these flying insects become extraordinarily aggressive. They are frantic to find the last of a dwindling food supply before winter sets in and most of them die. Understanding basic behavior is a key to getting rid of both bees and yellow jackets. Here are several tips that will keep them out of your backyard.

Things You'll Need

• Surfactant soap spray--Dawn liquid soap and water
• Bee swarm trap
• Black light bug zapper
• Raid
• Pheromone wasp trap
• Pyrethrum chemical spray
• Preventative measures

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Instructions

• 1

  Identify what kind of flying creatures live near your home. Not every striped insect with wings should be eliminated. Honey bees pollinate plants. Paper wasps prey almost exclusively on black widow spiders and leave humans alone. Africanized bees are an import that breeds with the European honey bee and shows a great deal of aggression. Yellow jackets sting repeatedly and bite indiscriminately. Identify and eliminate the last two colonies.

• 2

  Locate the bee hive. It may be in the ground or even between the outer siding and inner drywall of the house. In either of these conditions, if the hive is large, it is best to call a professional.

• 3

  If the bees are swarming, hang several swarming traps. Insect black light zappers work too. A surfactant soap spray made of half Dawn dishwashing liquid and half water can be sprayed directly on bees and they will die almost immediately. Raid Insect Spray is effective against bees. Follow directions on the label for time of day and manner of application.

• 4

  Yellow jackets are attracted to protein. Picnickers temporarily hang raw strips of beef or chicken parts in trees well away from their food tables to pull yellow jackets away from humans. Use permanently placed yellow jacket traps to attract the insects with pheromones. They enter the trap and cannot get out. Their frantic activity also lures other yellow jackets to the same fate.

• 5

  Pyrethrum chemical sprays will kill a yellow jacket nest almost immediately. Follow directions on the label for time of day and amount to use. Use a second application the next day to be sure all insects are gone.