Removing yellow jackets from your garden
Yellow jackets are a group of social wasps in the genus Vespula and Tolichovespula. These wasps are considered beneficial insects in the garden because they eat worms and other harmful insects at the beginning of the season. However, yellow jackets change their eating habits when other insects are in short supply and return to the foraging state in the summer breeze. This coincides with the time when the yellow jacket people are most numerous because they harass human beings as they gather as a source of human food. Yellow jackets can be hung around picnics and trash cans and look for pieces of food and drinks left on the deck.
To make matters worse, yellow jackets reach for a powerful stick and unlike bee stings only once, yellow jackets can cause multiple sticks. They release pheromones when alerting other yellow jackets to protect the nest, and effectively invite yellow jackets to the sting ceremony, explains the University of Maryland Extension.
Removing annoying yellow jackets should not be a challenge. There are many effective ways to take care of the problem with the right precautions and the right equipment.
Nest detection
Some yellow jackets, such as the western yellow jacket (V. pensylvanica) and the eastern yellow jacket (Vespula germanica), usually form nests underground in abandoned rodent caves. Others prefer holes or voids in rooms or walls, such as the German yellow jacket (Vespula germanica). Other yellow jackets can make nests under eves, decks or under trees, shrubs, and other garden debris. The first step in removing yellow jackets from your yard and garden is to determine where the nest is. See where the yellow jackets come from.
Destroying the nest
A quick and easy way to destroy visible nests under eves or decks is with a spray insecticide called Spray Insecticide to kill wasps or yellow jackets. Choose a sprayer that can reach at least 20 feet. Spray the nest in the evening when the yellow jackets are less active. Follow the instructions on the product container and soak the nest with the solution. Be careful when spraying the nest as angry wasps will swarm quickly and travel away from the nest in an instant. Spraying the nest will usually kill the entire nest of yellow jackets in a matter of hours.
Dust with pesticide
For floor-length yellow jackets, Michigan State University (MSU) recommends dusting the entrance to the nest with an insecticide. The yellow jackets that enter the nest carry the pesticide on their body and carry it into the nest, where it kills the colony. This may take several days. MSU further warns that the garden pesticide Sevin can be used to dust nests in or around the ground, which is not labeled as safe for vacuum entrances to your home. Ortho-Chlor Ant Killer Dust is the only product that is considered safe if you choose to dust off the nest entrances leading to the voids in your home.
Traps
Commercial traps for yellow jackets can be purchased at hardware stores and horticultural centers and can be useful for keeping yellow jackets away from family areas such as decks or other seats or tourist areas. But traps yellow jackets do not have a big impact on people because a nest can deliver hundreds or thousands of yellow jackets by the end of the summer. If your goal is to dine quietly or have fun without worrying about yellow jackets, traps may be the best solution for you.
Homemade traps
Sweet and simple
With a two-liter bottle and some simple household items, you can create a simple home trap to keep annoying yellow jackets from the deck and garden. Dissolve 2 cups of sugar in a cup or two of water. Add 1 cup apple cider vinegar and chopped banana peel and mix well. Pour the mixture into a two-liter bottle and fill it halfway with water. Cut a small hole of approximately ½ 1 inch in the bottle above. Place traps around the perimeter of dining or seating areas. Yellow jackets are inspired by both the sweet mix and the aroma of ripe fruit. After eating, tired yellow jackets fall into the water and sink.
Stingy does it
Clemson University Cooperative expansion offers plans for a different kind of trap. This homemade trap for attracting yellow jackets stimulates dead fish or liver. Fill a bowl with water and add a few teaspoons of dish soap. Make a twig or dowel deep into the top of the bowl and hang a piece of dead fish or liver by suspending a string from the center. When yellow jackets feast on fish or meat, they often get tired and fall into a bowl of water. The detergent in the water breaks down the surface tension, so the yellow jacket will fall down to the surface and sink.
Other control measures
Sometimes yellow jackets should be a threat to family members cleaning a small house.
Keep your deck and outdoor dining areas free of food and beverages.
Teach children to dispose of food and drink containers in the trash.
Keep trash cans tightly closed and make sure there is no debris from cookouts and picnics around the cans.
Place the retrievals from the soda or juice containers in a sealed bag as the yellow jackets are attracted to the sweet residue at the bottom of the can.
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