Wasps!
- Thread starter Bodfish
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,422
- Reaction score
- 29,218
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
Not near their nest ie right next to it. But traps, I tried them without sugar, loss a ton of bees and it was hanging near the yellow jacket nest just not right on top of it. And it was a trap that bees were not supposed to enter, yeah right!
When the bees are hungry they will do anything to find food. This is our low food for the bees season. Right when the wasps ramp up.
I get monster wasp nests which present a hazard late summer, I wouldn't hesitate to set a boric acid bait close to them, the wasps are going to hog the bait and swarm it. Can't say I see any other critter getting a look in. Have at it, you bad tempered so an so's.
I'm probably jinking myself saying this, but this is the first summer in 10 years that I've managed to avoid being stung by yellow jackets or hornets. We keep Benadryl stocked in the cabinet because it's happened so often. And the thing about hornets and YJ is they are aggressive stingers. You don't even know you're in their "territory" and they will get pissed off and come after you. I had one sting me on the lip when I passed too close to a shutter on the front of the house that they had started building a nest behind. Had no clue they were there nor any intention of bothering them. We get the monster nests, too @adavisus - I'll remember to try the boric acid bait trap. We called an exterminator for one that was high up in a tree - they wanted $250 to remove it. I knew winter would take care of it, so we just left it alone.
Hence the reason we eradicate them when we know they are nesting too close by - they don't need to be provoked to attack. I'm sure it's because they are able to sting repeatedly - honeybees get one shot, so they make sure it's worth losing their life over!
Hence the reason we eradicate them when we know they are nesting too close by - they don't need to be provoked to attack. I'm sure it's because they are able to sting repeatedly - honeybees get one shot, so they make sure it's worth losing their life over!
The boric acid bait works by being swigged by the wasps who take it back to feed the larvae in the nest, the weak boric acid is sufficient to make the larvae gut fail and die, with them all dying at the same time the nest fails in a few days
A mix of 5% acid, 15% sugar, 80% water is cheap and easy to do.
For a nest high in a tree I'd be inclined to place the bait close to the nest with a 20' bamboo pole....
Works effective on pesky ants, as well. I was alarmed to see a carpenter ant inside the house, looking under the floor there was a nest starting up, chewing on the joists. The bait offed them in a couple of days.
A mix of 5% acid, 15% sugar, 80% water is cheap and easy to do.
For a nest high in a tree I'd be inclined to place the bait close to the nest with a 20' bamboo pole....
Works effective on pesky ants, as well. I was alarmed to see a carpenter ant inside the house, looking under the floor there was a nest starting up, chewing on the joists. The bait offed them in a couple of days.
Last edited:
- Joined
- Jun 23, 2010
- Messages
- 44,422
- Reaction score
- 29,218
- Location
- Frederick, Maryland
- Showcase(s):
- 1
- Hardiness Zone
- 6b
- Country
We had a bald face hornets nest on our motor home roof on the antenna. We left them alone, they left us alone. Found out they like to eat yellow jackets!
Yellow jackets are the only ones I aggressively go after. Other ones get to live in peace if they our not in a place that could harm us.
One year we had so many yellow jackets, when feeding the bees 1000's died. It was the smaller ones, they could squeeze through the #8 hardware cloth into the hive top feeder, they would eat get too fat to get out and die in the feeder. Separate from the bees since the bees could not get into the feeders except from the bottom, up into the feeding station.
Yellow jackets are the only ones I aggressively go after. Other ones get to live in peace if they our not in a place that could harm us.
One year we had so many yellow jackets, when feeding the bees 1000's died. It was the smaller ones, they could squeeze through the #8 hardware cloth into the hive top feeder, they would eat get too fat to get out and die in the feeder. Separate from the bees since the bees could not get into the feeders except from the bottom, up into the feeding station.
I know this is not an environmentally-friendly method to get rid of yellow jackets - if that is what you have. But it works. And I am a literal tree hugger. (Yes, I have been known to hug, giant thousand-year old live oaks - they are just so incredible.) We only do this with yellow jacket nests and I would be hesitant to do it if their nest was built too close to the pond.
But you mark the entry hole with a LONG pole during the day, so you know exactly where it is in the dark. Wait for full darkness to allow them to go home for the evening. Then go out with a can of gasoline and pour about a cup or so into the hole.
I resisted this for years. After trying other methods that didn't work - and being stung like crazy - we did it. Very effective. It's a risk to the plants around it. One time, it killed the autumn fern the little boogers were nesting under -- but the plant came back the following year.
Again -- I really do try to avoid things that harm the environment. But when it comes to yellow jackets, all my lofty, Nature Girl principles go out the window.
But you mark the entry hole with a LONG pole during the day, so you know exactly where it is in the dark. Wait for full darkness to allow them to go home for the evening. Then go out with a can of gasoline and pour about a cup or so into the hole.
I resisted this for years. After trying other methods that didn't work - and being stung like crazy - we did it. Very effective. It's a risk to the plants around it. One time, it killed the autumn fern the little boogers were nesting under -- but the plant came back the following year.
Again -- I really do try to avoid things that harm the environment. But when it comes to yellow jackets, all my lofty, Nature Girl principles go out the window.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2011
- Messages
- 4,684
- Reaction score
- 3,761
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
- Country
I'm thinkin' the Arson Squad has an opening for you...
I'm thinkin' the Arson Squad has an opening for you...
Noooooooo! I'm scared of fire! But in the case of those danged yellow jackets, I pull out all the stops! - Joined
- Jun 22, 2011
- Messages
- 4,684
- Reaction score
- 3,761
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
- Country
I see...methinks the line has been drawn!
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2017
- Messages
- 368
- Reaction score
- 412
- Location
- North Carolina, near coast
- Hardiness Zone
- 8b
- Country
As long as you are very careful, the gas and match work very well. Speaking from experience!
Barb
Barb
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2011
- Messages
- 4,684
- Reaction score
- 3,761
- Hardiness Zone
- 5b
- Country
geez, we got lots of pyros on this forum...