Yellow jackets in a/c box

Dick A wrote:
The yellow jackets often seem to find a home under the covers of the air conditioners. Just a week ago my son had a blower wheel fail and when removing the A/C cover he discovered three active nests. He used some industrial bee spray to kill them. He also pulled the cover of the second A/C and found the same thing in that unit. He was stung once getting rid of those nests.

Go after them after dark with a flashlight and the spray. They're inactive, not mobile, and you can liquidate them easily. I discovered a hive in my water valve junction box in mid-June at my home. I approached at night and dumped pure bleach in there, and covered the lid hole with a brick overnight. Bye-bye bees/wasps. Had a huge honeycomb working in there I cleaned up in the daytime.

Horizon170 wrote:
I thought Yellow Jackets always made their nest under ground. We have some yellow/orange Wasps in GA and their sting is very painful. You can buy Wasp and Hornet spray at many places and it will shoot a stream 10-15 feet so you stay safe.

Nope - in fact I have seen them above ground more often than below. It may depend on the area and differences in the species. They look the same though.

Thanks Ken

Do not do anything to restrict the air flow like putting screens over the louvers. It is vital for efficiency that you have the maximum air flow over the evaporator and condenser coils possible. The only thing I would do is preemptively spray the covers inside area to possibly prevent the bees/wasps from establishing in there in the first place. Be sure to check and clean your inside filters to the units too. Makes it work better.

rhagfo wrote:
To answer to OP's question No! Outside air is not drawn into the 5er through the AC. The air in the 5er is recycled inside the air outside stays out side.

Thanks I wasnt sure what would happen if I turned the AC on I was a little worried it might suck them into the trailer!

Thanks to everyone for the replies, I'll be getting some spray ASAP

I know from 1st hand experience that the ground dwelling yellow jackets do not like having their home ran over with a bush hog. OUCH!

CRC wasp and bee spray is the best you will find. As it is an industrial trades product it will not be found at big box stores but rather at many industrial supply houses such as Grainger. It costs a little more but one can lasts a long time. In Spokane I buy it at House of Hose or Fasteners. It is a seasonal item so I usually buy a can in spring or early summer.

The organic spray is MUCH more effective than the normal kind, especially on a roof.

If you spray with Raid or similar, the yellowjackets will chase you a bit before they die. This is bad if you are on a ladder. With the organic stuff, they just fall down dead instantly.

Plus it's made out of mint oil, so it smells good in your AC :).

It also might work to spray some preventatively at the beginning of the summer, to encourage them to build there nests elsewhere. Yellowjackets are good in the garden (they eat aphids), just not near where people hang out.

'Poison Free' is the brand, sold at big box stores.

Source: I work in an area with a LOT of yellowjackets. At least, it used to ;).

To answer to OP's question No! Outside air is not drawn into the 5er through the AC. The air in the 5er is recycled inside the air outside stays out side.

Well thats what I thought, was hoping that there was something I could use to repel them from going there in the first place. Oh well, wasp killin time I guess.