Controlling yellow jackets (flowers, apple trees, insect, spring)

[ansky]

For some reason this spring there are tons of yellow jackets flying around my property. I need a way to control them because they have really become a nuisance when I'm sitting out on my deck, and they are freaking out my small kids.

I was thinking of getting one of those traps they sell at Home Depot that you hang up and it has an attractant. How well do those work? I don't want to be attracting every wasp in the neighborhood! Are there any other methods that work well?

[johnrex62]

Good question. I have no information on the effectiveness of wasp traps. In my own area yellow jackets are pretty harmless unless you are in close proximity to their nest. I just kill and remove any nests within 20 feet of an area people might be in. The occasional visiting wasp generally moves along without incident and is not aggressive unless someone swats or sits on it. Even an effective trap will not prevent the travelling wasp incidents.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by johnrex62

Good question. I have no information on the effectiveness of wasp traps. In my own area yellow jackets are pretty harmless unless you are in close proximity to their nest. I just kill and remove any nests within 20 feet of an area people might be in. The occasional visiting wasp generally moves along without incident and is not aggressive unless someone swats or sits on it. Even an effective trap will not prevent the travelling wasp incidents.

wow, we have such a wasp problem we have almost given up. The last few years we have paid to have them exterminated and nothing. We did have some work done to our outside. The contractor found several huge nests and distroyed them. Toward the end of last season we realized they had built another nest, this time in a small hole the woodpeckers made. All we do now, is keep the spray handy and spray the heck out of them. For us the worst part, is hubby is very alergic to wasps.

[Hemlock140]

We haven't seen but a few the last few years, but when we did last have a problem I tried one of those and it actually worked well, probably had 3" of them in it at the end of summer. When we lived in CA I did my own trap that worked well too. Tie a piece of fatty meat on a stick, and lay it on top of the edges of a wide can such as ham comes in, or similar filled with soapy water. When they take off they go down into the water and can't get out.

[KKay9]

We figure out where the nest is and suck the whole thing up, including the wasps, with an old Dyson vacuum reserved for this purpose. We have an extra long tube attached to it so no one has to get tooooo close to the nest. It has a big spinning screw type thing in the middle that turns them into wasp goo and they won't escape the vacuum, because the are liquified. Disgusting, but it works and we don't have to use insecticides that we don't want, as we need honey bees for our apple trees.

Do this in the evening, when the wasps are "home" and sleepy, wear several layers of long sleeves/pants/wide brimmed hat with a net over it and be fit enough to jump off the ladder and run for it if they get REALLY mad .

This completely ridiculous, and probably dangerous, but very effective, routine has been working for us for 10 years, with a grand total of maybe 3 stings.

[rodentraiser]

I tried something for a couple years and it sort of works when you aren't having dinner on the patio. I just put a large pie pan full of water a little ways from the house. I also put a rock in the middle so the wasps can sit on the rock too. The wasps will find the water and sit there on the edge or on the rock and totally ignore everything else. Of course, they're using this water to build a nest, so maybe this isn't the best idea. We waited until it got cold in October and then knocked the nest down and burnt it.

However, both times I did this, I had the water set right next to the sidewalk from the back door so I wouldn't have to run all over with water refilling the dish all the time. In all that time, I never had a yellow jacket or wasp pester me as I walked by them. I could lean right over them while they were drinking and they never did anything except ignore me.

Unfortunately, as I said, this didn't work when you want to eat outside, but hey, you win some, you lose some.....

[LIcenter]

Those traps are really meant to be used in the early spring when the new queens are looking for a good spot to build there new kingdom. The more queens you can take down early on, the less hornets/wasps you will have in your immediate area. Hanging one any later than the end of May is only gonna invite all the bees that have built their nests nearby into your yard. When summer is winding down is when they are really at their worst. They know they don't have much time left, and start searching for sugar instead of other bugs/meat, and they become twice as mean.

[TheDragonslayer]

Originally Posted by nmnita

wow, we have such a wasp problem we have almost given up. The last few years we have paid to have them exterminated and nothing. We did have some work done to our outside. The contractor found several huge nests and distroyed them. Toward the end of last season we realized they had built another nest, this time in a small hole the woodpeckers made. All we do now, is keep the spray handy and spray the heck out of them. For us the worst part, is hubby is very alergic to wasps.

I am like your husband, very allergic to yellow jackets. I maintain yards for a living and often encounter yellow jacket nests, either the paper ball type or the ground wasps. I am organic, so try to avoid chemicals when ever possible. I do though make a home made spray from feverfew daisy [ pyrethrum ] mixed with water and dish soap. I keep it on hand in one gallon jugs and pour that into a smaller bottle, like a squeeze ketchup or mustard container add some water, shake well and spray the foam onto or into the nests, it is very effective at killing them. It even kills ants, aphids, scale and any other pests, just do not spay it on flowers, for it will kill bees too. Adding some calendula flowers increases its potency.

[Cambium]

I noticed they are really buzzing this year and even found a way in the house. Had to strategically let it back out (2 of them seperate times).

I sit and stare to see where they go and then I spray (wait for clouds or late evening) its amazing where they slip into!

[linda814]

We have one buzzing around the past week..same area just hanging...it's weird....