Guest post by Holly Collier

I’m typing this with a swollen finger, so all blame for typos falls on that.

Awhile back I posted about fighting yellow jackets in my house. And today, one struck back. Strangely, it struck back after I thought I had killed it and was sweeping it up with a cloth. Can yellow jackets sting you when they’re dead? Insect experts, please weigh in!

Since midsummer, I’ve been finding dead and dying yellow jackets in my south-facing dining room and in my basement. They’re usually on the windows, but I’ve seen enough on the window-shade pull cords and on the floor that I’ve become very cautious. My day usually starts with me taking a newspaper or shoe to the pests. Splat. Splat. Splat.

I’m not allergic, and I usually just let typical household bugs be. In fact, the spiders have been helping me out on this front, treating yellow jackets as a delicacy. (OK…I kill centipedes IN the house because they’re creepy, but boxelder bugs deserve nary a shrug from me.)

And if the yellow jackets were outside, I’d ignore them, too. But the problem is heating up as the weather cools down. I kill 10-12 a day, especially when the sun shines.

There appears to be a nest in the cedar eaves of my house, but I see very few of the nasty zappers entering or exiting. A diligent and very punctual exterminator has been out four times, dusting and spraying. He sees no sign of an indoor nest. (Always look for a company with a guarantee, by the way….)

Anyone have any advice, horror stories or solutions?

My house is stucco. The eaves are cedar, and the walls are plaster. I have a bad childhood memory of waspy bugs chewing through the wallboard of my bedroom and creating quite a household buzz. But I’m trying not to think about that.

Will they just die when it gets cold enough? Will they invade the house in a giant swarm? Will they return next year?

Share your stories. Or your sting remedies.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 9:13 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.