not sticking your hand in it. Seriously, yellow jacket stings hurt. There are sprays for nests and they seem to work.

it would either hide or run out the back door.

Very glad we don't have poisonous snakes here!

That's my advice.

My way of getting rid of the yellow jackets cheap and easy is to find the hole in the ground and place something on the ground just inches from it. Wait until an hour after dark for them to all get in for the night. Next take an empty coke bottle, fill it with gasoline, take a flashlight and something to go over the hole like a piece wood board about 6 in to cover the hole, then quickly put the neck of the bottle in the hole till empty, then move it and cover the hole with the wood. Next AM move the board they are all dead.

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/organic/msg0816272915553.html

I love their crawling insect killer which is just diatomaceous earth plus bait.

Here's the wasp killer:

http://www.saferbrand.com/store/insect-control/5730

At night when all the wasps will be inside the nest. Then do whatever treatment you want by pouring it through the screen into the hole. This way if the wasps get agitated, they are less likely to get out to sting you.

My solution is to always get someone else to treat the nests. I react badly to stings, no anaphylactic shock but lots of swelling, enough to be dangerous if stung in the wrong place. So I get my husband or someone else brave to treat them.

For treatment if you don't mind a little poison, look for the wasp spray that sprays a very long distance.Some spray as far as 20 according to the labels. I'm intrigued by the peppermint soap idea!

Did that with a wasp nest in the car (!) and it wasn't any kind of a deal.

But in the past we've had ground nests in areas on the farm not near any lights but where we have to walk with the horses.

The worst was one that turned out to be a giant nest with multiple entrances. Once we finally killed off the entire nest - it took four efforts - we excavated the hole - it was about 3' across in every dimension with some entrances extending a few feet past. The main entrance was about 6" across - we put a screen across it, but the wasps kept getting out the auxiliary entrances and attacking. We'd locate those holes, and spray them and find another way out. (I say "we" but it was actually the people taking care of the farm for me - brave folk.)

Then there are the nests built in the pipe gates - it's hard to hit those small holes in the dark. That's how I got my last sting - a wasp flew out of the gate I was unlatching, got me right next to my nose. By the time I walked in the house, I couldn't breathe through my nose. I spent several hours at a medical clinic getting the shots to stop the swelling and to make sure it wasn't going to get worse.

for me and it about as non-toxic a solution as it gets.

Good luck.