At 07:11 PM 7/29/96 -0400, you wrote:
>
>I have just joined you list because I am having a great deal of difficulty
>finding any information on the web on ground nesting bumblebees.  We have
>developed a large colony in the ground outside our back door.  I have tried
>spraying but seem to be doing more damage to the herb garden then to the
>bees.  I really don't want to kill them but would like them to find another
>home.  Whenever we try to cover or fill their holes they just seem to
>burrow other holes.  Our extension service told us we have to kill the
>queen but they have no suggestions of how to do this.  Can anyone help me
>with information about getting the bumblebees to find another home?  We
>live in Rochester, NY.
>Karen Florentine
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>
 
I've successfully used the following method to get rid of yellow jackets in
the ground and under the eaves of the house:
Hook up a shop-vac with the end of the hose at the entrance to the colony
and let it run for a couple hours.  As the bumble bees go in and out of the
colony they get sucked into the vacuum.
 
When your done, spray some insecticide into the hose to kill what you
trapped, tape up the end of the hose and leave it for a couple days to make
sure everything is dead.
 
You may have to do this a couple times, but I've only had to use 1
"treatment" for yellow jackets.
 
Wayne Rumball
ODEM International Inc., Montreal, Quebec
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Tel: 514-974-1412
Fax: 514-974-1450