My hummingbird feeders have been a feeding spot for the yellow jackets recently, so I figured I would try one of those soda bottle traps with a mix of 50/50 beer and fruit punch as recommended by some pest control place I found online. I also put a couple of drops of Dawn dish soap in it and greased the threads of the bottle before I flipped it and taped it onto place to keep any would be escapees in their place. So far it seems to be a waste of a few ounces of good beer. After about 6 hours of having the trap in place there are only two flies and one yellow jacket. I have watched several go into the funnel, but never far enough to drop through into the mix. I did notice a queen a few hours later on the porch railing acting as if she had one too many to drink, but I couldn't say if she had been in contact with the beer mix. I squished her anyway! Kind of on the same note, while mowing the lawn I noticed where a skunk had dug up something, so I had to take a look. Yep, there was the remains of a yellow jacket nest and some yellow jackets down in the hole trying to recover anything that was left. So I grabbed a bottle of spray and finished off the nest. It's a good thing I noticed or I likely would have been stung since I would have had to mow directly over the hole. An hour or so later while I was still mowing in another area of the yard, I did get stung in the neck for no apparent reason other than "I'm gonna sting her because I can!" sort of thing. I do know as the summer wears on and into fall, these yellow jackets become more and more aggressive and are easily provoked. So now I'm trying to watch where they go the assist them to their final reward. (KILL EM ALL!) I know some will say how beneficial they are, eating other bugs and grubs, but so far I haven't seen it. There are lots and lots of bugs and grubs around here that remain untouched. The skunk does a better job. And it's not like these yellow jackets are going extinct. There are something like 700 varieties of the things, so I really have no qualms about wiping out a nest or 100. Back to the original topic, the beer and fruit punch mix. The yeast in the beer is supposed to keep bees like honey bees away and the sweet of the juice is supposed to entice the yellow jackets into the trap. Once in, the beer is also supposed to deplete the oxygen. I added the soap to break the surface tension and allow them to drown quickly. Does anyone have any other concoctions that are supposed to work that I might try? I need to get rid of or control several hundred if the little stinging pests.
Boiling water down the hole. Be careful, best done early in the morning when it's cooler. Bees will attack even at night going for a flash light or headlamp.
Cup of diesel fuel or kerosene poured down the entry hole and covered with a little dirt after dark. Instant "bye-bye"......
Got rid of a ground nest last year by squirting Dawn dish liquid down the hole after dusk, and then put the garden hose down there and turned it on. Never saw another YJ there again.
I've never tried to trap them, but whenever I find a nest in the yard I pour a half gallon of gas down it. I know everyone recommends doing it at night, but I've always done it in the daytime and haven't ever had a problem.
Try putting a slice of deli ham inside the trap too. Yellow jackets are carnivorous....... My buddy made the same trap as you, but he used Mt. Dew and Chipped ham as bait.....it was LOADED with bees hours later
All I can say is yellow jackets like to get drunk so be patient. It can also take a little while for them not only to find it, but to change their pattern of behavior (if the hummingbird feeders are still up, take them down for a day or two). They know those HB feeders are sure things, so won't go somewhere else unless they have encouragement. Also, they like red/orang/yellow, so make sure that the color of the mixture is one of those. Back to their liking to get drunk: Years ago, a friend brought over a couple of paper grocery bags of pears that her tree had over-produced. After a hot week in an non-air conditioned house, the fruit was over ripe. So, I threw it all into the mulch pile. A couple of days later I threw a whole bunch of other stuff on the pile. As that stuff was in midair, I realized the fermenting pears were covered with yellow jackets. I could do nothing but stand there and watch in fascination as the airborne stuff landed on the mass of YJ's (I'm allergic, you would think I would start running instead of standing there like a fool ). The YJ's tried to fly, but were too drunk and went off in crazy directions and spiraling around. Not a one of them could fly straight, or even more than a couple of inches. That mulch pile was covered with YJ's for a couple of days.
Yes. I've poured boiling water into several but a couple years ago I did get stung when doing it after dark which is how we usually do it. But now I may try some of these other methods too.
I've never tried trapping them. I just find the nest, wait till dark, and eradicate them. My wife keeps those cans of foaming wasp killer and they seem to work. Except for the nest last week we found deep in a loose pile of untouched hay. I tried injecting that stuff into the spot in the hay but it never 'got' them. I ended up lighting it on fire.
Thanks for all the suggestions guys! I will be putting a good number of those to use, especially once I find the nest or nests. In the meantime, I'll give some of the other traps mentioned a shot. The one I have been using isn't doing a thing. So far, 3 yellow jackets and two flies in that one. I poured some in a bowl but the yellow jackets would just sip from the edge. When I'd see that, I'd cup my hands over them so they would fall into the mix. In 10 minutes I managed to drown 3 in the bowl.
I used a can of that foaming stuff on some wasps that had built a nest under the cap of my roof (metal) So I added a small diameter hose and shoved it up under and pulled the trigger. I'm pretty sure those are all dead! When I try to watch where the yellow jackets go, I lose them in the sunlight.
Just put a small dab of honey on the picnic table. While they are landed there, sucking up the fruits of their find, take em' out sniper style with shooting a heavy duty rubber band off the end of your index finger. Kinda of like playing a "lo tech version of Pokémon Go"...............
We had a huge nest that was way back in a crevice with no real way to get to it with spray. So we made a blow gun for some Sevin dust (IIRC) we used 1/2" PVC conduit about 5-6' long, put a "wad" in the end, load 'er with dust, then used a portable air tank with a blow gun on it to "discharge" the load...worked great...nitely nite!
I don't have to use any actual bait to attract my neighbors. All I need to do is run a saw (chainsaw, circular saw, table saw, jigsaw) and for sure I will get a visit from at least one. Heck, even if I snap something together, you can bet at least one will stop by. Others will drive by slowly gawking. Some will even take pictures. They're almost as annoying as the yellow jackets!
