I have a nest of yellowjackets (the not very aggressive european kind) that is just below my flat roof. I would normally just leave them, but I have no way of getting to the yard without passing by the nest at a distance of about a foot. Currently, this does not seem to make them swarm yet (though I can get hit by one as the swoop down a bit before entering the nest).
I'd like to get rid of them without using poison (the yellowjacket poison I can get in the stores here is a neurotoxin that also kills cats and there are a lot of cats in the neighborhood and they love that flat roof).
The nest itself is hidden. I can only see the entry points. Damage to the roof or walls is not a big issue (the entire building needs to be replaced in the next few years anyway).
Best Answer
You might consider building a "bee vacuum" from a box with some screened holes and a shopvac, like the one in this video by Matthias Wandel: Wasp Sucker. This would enable you to catch most or all of the adult wasps (you might need to do this a few times over a week or so, I'm not sure about the yellowjacket lifecycle) and then dispose of them through drowning in soapy water, controlled posioning (since your concern with using posion seems to mostly be about residue on-site), freezing in a block of ice, or whatever method suits you.