Yellowjacket or Wasp Bait

SeaBreeze

SeaBreeze

Endlessly Groovin'
Location
USA
I have a lot of probems with yellow-jackets every spring, and still end up dealing with them through winter. They nest in my house siding, in my storage shed, garage, and pretty much anywhere they can. I use a trap similar to this one http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-YJTR-DT12-Reusable-Yellow-Jacket/dp/B00004TBKI/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t.

The attracting bait that comes with it has shown to be useless. I've read recommendations about using fruit or meat as bait, and have had not success with either. These yellow-jackets are still appearing in my basement in March, after coming down my chimney...I haven't made a fire in my fireplace yet this winter.

Any advice on how to get rid of these pests? Hoping to get a handle on them this year in early spring.
 

Still have issues with wasps in summer, and I don't like to use poisons anywhere because of my pets (and the environment). But....there's been a LOT of yellow jackets who made a nest in an old tree stump in the front yard this year, something new.

Since I wanted to rake (or blow) my leaves off of my volcanic rock in the front, I decided to take an old can of wasp spray from the garage and give them a good dose so I could do the leaves without getting attacked.

Well, early this morning I went out and shot the stream at the tree trunk then stepped back. So many started to cloud up around the trunk, that I moved forward one more time for an additional spray. Big mistake, they were PO'd and two of them stung me, one in each arm. One was actually inside my long flannel shirt sleeve, so when he stung me I had to quickly take off my shirt and shake it out.

Took four Benedryl so far today, the areas are slightly red and swollen and itchy. They're still active, hubby gave them another squirt later on. If things aren't settled tomorrow, I'll have to put off the leaves for awhile, and maybe buy another can of spray.
 
At one time, we had a real bad problem with yellow jackets, Seabreeze. Finally, we called an exterminator and I could not believe the amount of bees we had in the attic. He donned his suit and sprayed a white powder to kill the bees.
Long story short, if you know where the nest is, he said to spray a talcum powder on then, as the bees breath through their skin and the powder will clog their breathing.
I've never had to use it but he sure got rid of our problem.
 

My mom has a lot of problem with yellowjackets, wasps, and yellow flies in her area. Up there, they use black small inflatable beach ball-like things sprayed with an adhesive and hung from the trees. The black color seems to attract them and they get stuck to the ball. When it gets full, you poke it and put it in a heavy bag and put it in the garbage.
 
Interesting Jujube, I've never heard of that before...kind of like Fly Trap Paper. BTW, both sting areas are more swollen today and itching the heck out of me, been taking more Benedryl, don't know if that helps or not.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Interesting Jujube, I've never heard of that before...kind of like Fly Trap Paper. BTW, both sting areas are more swollen today and itching the heck out of me, been taking more Benedryl, don't know if that helps or not.
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I can sympathize...a few years ago, I ran over a nest of yellowjackets with the tractor, and they nailed me....I barely made it back to the house, and the wife had to call the ambulance. The medics gave me an injection from an EpiPen, and within a few minutes I was improving. Now, whenever I go into the woods, I carry a Benadryl pill, and keep a couple of EpiPens in the medicine cabinet. I also keep some Repel (Deet) handy, and spray my shirt/pants and arms with it before going into the woods....especially in the Summer/Fall when these pests are more active.

We have a constant battle with the wasps, as they are always trying to build nests behind the house window shutters. I keep a 24 oz. spray bottle filled with a mixture of 2 oz. Dursban, 2 oz. Malathion, and the rest,water. Whenever I see any wasp activity near the house, I give them a good dose of this mix, and it kills them almost instantly....and probably violates every EPA regulation out there.

I've been splitting tons of wood over the past few weeks...built up about 8 cords of wood for our wood furnace...and this pile of seasoned wood had all sorts of bug nests built up...including yellowjackets....and they were buzzing around me almost constantly. The Deet (Repel brand) was sufficient to keep them off me, and I didn't get stung.

It seems that about mid-October, every year, the lady bugs hatch, and those little squirts are all over everything until the first hard freeze. The little "red" ladybugs are no big thing, but in the past few years there has been a lot of "Chinese" ladybugs also. These "imported" ladybugs are yellow, in color, and they bite. It's not serious, and is just an uncomfortable "nip" that only seems to last for a minute or two.

Living in the boondocks is a constant "experience" of coping with all sorts of bugs and spiders, etc., so I am pretty careful about taking the proper precautions.
 
I ended up getting a new trap for the front yard where most of the wasps/yellow jackets were. I put the little packet of attractant on the cotton ball and I bought an additional package of two applications. I put all 3 on at once and set the trap out in spring before it got really hot.

There was no activity and I opened the trap again around a month later and spritzed it with a water bottle so the cotton would stay moist. This is the first year the trap has been effective, there's several dozen wasps in there now. Recently we noticed some hanging around out front metal security door. They're nesting in the door jamb on either side of the door. My husband has been spraying some poison down there to kill them. He was stung in the face by one, but it didn't get him too bad.

The trap in the back yard just had some cut up fruit in it and some dog chicken jerky, just a few in that one.

Don, never heard of Chinese ladybugs that bit! :eek: Thankfully we only have the red ones here and I leave them alone.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Don, never heard of Chinese ladybugs that bit! :eek: Thankfully we only have the red ones here and I leave them alone.
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Yup, we get them...I think the correct name is "Asian Ladybugs"....probably some "import" that came across the Pacific, years ago, on a ship. They are kind of a yellowish orange color, and about the same size as a ladybug, but these little things do bite.

We had an infestation of wasps way up near the roof this year...where I couldn't reach them with my regular spray bottle. I bought a couple of cans of Spectracide...the kind that shoots a 20 ft. spray...and that didn't do much good, so I tried the Raid brand, and a couple of long range shots of that worked much better. I think once colder weather arrives, and the wasps are gone, or dormant, I will put my ladder up there and give that area a good dose of my "homemade" brew...in case they have built a nest with eggs behind the siding.

A couple of years ago, we had trouble with our phone, and when the phone man opened the box, he found a big wasp nest in there...and they had eaten the insulation off the wires...so after he fixed the wiring, I plugged the access hole with some foam rubber...those wasps get into everything.
 
I had them inside the house two years ago, could not at first figure out how they were getting in. I'd be sitting here and suddenly see one flying around. I have recessed lights in the kitchen. They entered a small opening outside and were in between floors. They could come in through the exhaust fan in the bathroom and also follow the light to the basement and come in by the electric panel! I called an exterminator and she sprayed that white powder into the nest and used a spray of some kind. Gone.
 
Don M. said:
Yeah, wasps are a real nuisance...and their bite can be quite painful. I keep a close watch around the house, and whenever I see any activity...under the window shutters, etc., I get out the bug spray.
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I get a handful inside the house every Summer. I just get a glass and a piece of paper, trap them with the glass against a smooth surface, slide the paper under the glass, hold the paper over the glass with a quick hand-maneuver, then crack-open a door and remove the paper from glass. Wasp flies away...
 
I have the same problem with the black wasp building nest in my window shutters.....also yellow jackets that build in a grape vine on my patio, I think the yellow jacket bite is the most painful, I used to see bumble bee nest in my shrubs, but have not seen one in years.
 
SeaBreeze said:
I ended up getting a new trap for the front yard where most of the wasps/yellow jackets were. I put the little packet of attractant on the cotton ball and I bought an additional package of two applications. I put all 3 on at once and set the trap out in spring before it got really hot.

There was no activity and I opened the trap again around a month later and spritzed it with a water bottle so the cotton would stay moist. This is the first year the trap has been effective, there's several dozen wasps in there now. Recently we noticed some hanging around out front metal security door. They're nesting in the door jamb on either side of the door. My husband has been spraying some poison down there to kill them. He was stung in the face by one, but it didn't get him too bad.
Click to expand...

Had good luck again this year trapping a lot of yellow jackets early with triple dose attractant tubes. Unfortunately, it seems they're discontinuing the little packets of attractant and have some kind of a cartridge now, probably the one dose that doesn't really work. Was able to buy a few old packs from Home Depot though and haven't had much trouble with them this year. Caught a lot in the trap, emptied it when there was no activity, spritzed the cotton ball with plain water, and now have a few more in there. None hovering around my door and windows.

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SeaBreeze said:
I have a lot of probems with yellow-jackets every spring, and still end up dealing with them through winter. They nest in my house siding, in my storage shed, garage, and pretty much anywhere they can. I use a trap similar to this one http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-YJTR-DT12-Reusable-Yellow-Jacket/dp/B00004TBKI/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t.

The attracting bait that comes with it has shown to be useless. I've read recommendations about using fruit or meat as bait, and have had not success with either. These yellow-jackets are still appearing in my basement in March, after coming down my chimney...I haven't made a fire in my fireplace yet this winter.

Any advice on how to get rid of these pests? Hoping to get a handle on them this year in early spring.
Click to expand...

You may have to hire an exterminator. You may have to gas behind your siding. If you wait until the temperature drops you might not get them all. You could get some wasp spray, the kind that kills instantly. Drill a some holes in your siding and spray into those holes. The wasps that survive will not be able to handle the smell because the wasp spray is an oil and drys slowly. They will fly around outside but close to the nest. The problem there is that you might end up smelling the oil inside your house inside your house. It is not something you want to breath. Last thing, you might try putting some beer in a pie pan out side the walls they inhabit. The beer will kill them is they drink it. They will likely be drawn to it because of the sugar in the beer. The problem is that you will not get rid of the nest. But it might cut down on the population.

Wasps become more aggressive in the fall because they have to make sure there is plenty of food for the larva in winter. This might help you if you try to poison them, However, you must get the right bait. I do not know of any.

One last suggestion is to spray the wasp spray around any entrance you can identify. The nest is likely very close to the hole. Wait until dark and spray inside the hole. They will not come out and the spray very close to them will kill a lot of them almost instantly and keep on killing as long as the smell remains.

Good luck.
 
SeaBreeze said:
Had good luck again this year trapping a lot of yellow jackets early with triple dose attractant tubes. Unfortunately, it seems they're discontinuing the little packets of attractant and have some kind of a cartridge now, probably the one dose that doesn't really work. Was able to buy a few old packs from Home Depot though and haven't had much trouble with them this year. Caught a lot in the trap, emptied it when there was no activity, spritzed the cotton ball with plain water, and now have a few more in there. None hovering around my door and windows.
Click to expand...

They didn't discontinue the little packets of attractant completely, they were on the shelves at Home Depot again this year. Bought four packs, put 4 packets of the liquid onto each cotton ball in the two traps I have, front and back yard. Been very happy using this method, it helps a lot to control them. All of my neighbors have those traps hanging in their yards, I'm please to see mine fill up.....safer for us and the pets.

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