Thread: Wasp problem
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Old 08-08-2006, 04:46 PM posted to rec.gardens
Snooze[_1_] Snooze[_1_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 57
Default Wasp problem

I use these traps.
http://www.rescue.com/Products/dispo...jackettrap.asp



"sdmg2002" wrote in message
ups.com...
What do you use as an attractant for the yellow jackets. I bought two
traps and used some stale beer in them, but they didn't seem
interested. They come to your hamburger pretty quickly, but that
leaves a mess in the traps (joke).

Matthew Reed wrote:
....My yellow jacket traps have
hundreds of bees in them - where to they all come from?


Are these bees attacking your fruit? If not, why kill them as they
make
useful
pollinators for next year's crop?

snip

The only good yellow jacket is a dead yellow jacket. They are too
agressive
and are real pests. My daughter got stung by one the other day. I will
kill
them on site. I also have hundreds of paper wasps all over the place.
They
are rather gentle, like a honey bee, not all agressive, and I just leave
them alone. I also have bumble bees everywhere, and they too are not
agressive, so I leave them alone. I don't have the baldface hornet, so
the
only problem bee is the yellow jacket.

For the longest time I mistook the paper wasps for yellow jackets. I
bought
some yellow jacket traps, and when the traps didn't catch anything, I
contacted the manufacturer. I send them a pic of what I thought was a
yellow
jacket, and they identified it as a paper wasp. Now I know the
difference,
and I happily share my garden with paper wasps and bumble bees. Since
then,
the weather has warmed up and the yellow jackets have started coming out.
My
yellow jacket traps catch a dozen or more a day, leaving the paper wasps
alone.