Yellow Jacket Trap
Yellowjackets are named after their yellow-and-black-striped body markings. Worker yellowjackets are about 0.5 inch long. Their nests consist of multilayered combs surrounded by a paper shell. The eastern yellowjacket and the southern yellowjacket usually build their nests in underground holes and only occasionally in aboveground cavities. The German yellowjacket almost always nests in aboveground cavities. A large nest usually is about the size of a basketball. In late summer, nests may contain up to 5,000 workers.
In late summer, colonies produce a group of new queens and males. After mating, these new queens go into hibernation and those surviving start new colonies the following spring. The rest of the colony does not survive the winter. Old nests are not reused.
If you have a problem with a large number of foraging yellowjackets, traps offer some control. One such trap is a dead fish suspended from a tripod above a water-filled tub with a wetting agent such as soap. Foragers will come to the fish because of outdoor, and often they will cut away a piece that is too heavy to carry. As a result, they often fall into the water and are unable to get out because the wetting agent prevents them from floating.
This method is NON-TOXIC and for the most part pet and wildlife friendly due to the harmless components that are used to build the “system.” There are quite a few commercial products on the market to eliminate yellow jackets but this one doesn’t cost anything and I can guarantee its an extremely effective way to rid your yard or campsite of the yellow hoards in just a day or two.You will need the following components:
1) Plastic dish pan or wash basin.
2) A tablespoon of liquid dish soap, preferably non-scented.
3) 3 sticks about 13 inches long.
4) 2 or 3 tie wires.
5) A 3 or 4 inch piece of wire.
6) 12 inches of string.
7) A piece of raw fish.
Make a tripod out of the sticks and tie wires as shown in the photo. Bend the short piece of wire into a hook shape and attach the string. Add about 1 or 2 inches of water to the dish pan and mix the liquid soap in the water. Stir SLOWLY – you DON’T want any soap bubbles floating on the water. Insert the fish meat on the wire hook. Tie the string to the top of the tripod so that the meat is hanging ONE HALF INCH above the water level in the pan.
Do Not get soapy water on any portion of the fish!
How It Works: The yellow jackets love fish and will begin to cut off small pieces to take back to the nest. In their “excitement” of buzzing around the bait a few will occasionally hit the water. The soap in the water breaks the surface tension of the waterproof coating on the yellow jacket and it instantly sinks in the water and drowns in a few seconds. Some yellow jackets will successfully haul a piece of meat back to the nest and tell all the other gatherers in the nest where this great food source is. Soon all the wasps from the nest will be working on this fish and over a period of time, all will eventually make mistakes and either fall off the fish and into the water or bump other wasps flying around and knock themselves in the drink, then its curtains for them too. It only takes a day or two to wipe out nearly every yellow jacket in your area.
Put the trap on a table or other high area outside so that kids and pets will not be able to get close to it. A piece of fish with vertical sides works best for having the insects fall off easier.
More:
Last Comments