Since my Redhaven Peaches have started to ripen, the black with white stripe
wasps
have appeared and are decimating the fruit. My current defense is to clean up
all fallen and attacked fruit and hang out wasp traps, which are filling up
pretty fast. Any ideas as to how to stop this invasion? I have not spotted
their nest yet. I prefer to leave the peaches on the tree as long as possible
to enhance flavor. Perhaps I have to start picking them when they are not fully
ripe.

Sherwin D.

sherwindu Since my Redhaven Peaches have started to ripen, the black with white stripe
wasps
have appeared and are decimating the fruit. My current defense is to clean up
all fallen and attacked fruit and hang out wasp traps, which are filling up
pretty fast. Any ideas as to how to stop this invasion? I have not spotted
their nest yet. I prefer to leave the peaches on the tree as long as possible
to enhance flavor. Perhaps I have to start picking them when they are not fully
ripe.

Sherwin D.


your best overall attack method would be to see if u can find the nest and get rid of it otherwise u will continually have wasps after your fruit. wait until near dark take a flashlight and try and follow them back to the nest. usually u will find in hot weather that there are wasps or bees outside a hive fanning the hive during the night so in that way u might be able to find where the nest if located. otherwise u will have to keep picking and taking in the fruit like u have said. good luck, sockiescat.

The black/white wasps are probably bald-faced hornets aka White-faced
hornets. They are close relative of the yellow jacket, are agressive, will
sting. They build paper nests, and are extremely protective of their nests.
Be carefull with them. Try to find the nest, and carefully destroy it. Good
luck, though, they can travel 1000 feet from the nest, maybe more, and if
you live in a dense area you will have difficulty finding the nest.

I'd do what you are doing, and trap them. My yellow jacket traps have
hundreds of bees in them - where to they all come from?


"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
Since my Redhaven Peaches have started to ripen, the black with white
stripe
wasps
have appeared and are decimating the fruit. My current defense is to
clean up
all fallen and attacked fruit and hang out wasp traps, which are filling
up
pretty fast. Any ideas as to how to stop this invasion? I have not
spotted
their nest yet. I prefer to leave the peaches on the tree as long as
possible
to enhance flavor. Perhaps I have to start picking them when they are not
fully
ripe.

Sherwin D.

Matthew Reed wrote:

The black/white wasps are probably bald-faced hornets aka White-faced
hornets. They are close relative of the yellow jacket, are agressive, will
sting. They build paper nests, and are extremely protective of their nests.
Be carefull with them. Try to find the nest, and carefully destroy it. Good
luck, though, they can travel 1000 feet from the nest, maybe more, and if
you live in a dense area you will have difficulty finding the nest.

No sign of a nest yet, but I'm having an effect on the population as there
are
less and less wasps appearing in my traps, even though I still have peaches
on my tree. I also think the ziploc sandwich bags I put over the peaches is
acting as a deterent, as well.



I'd do what you are doing, and trap them. 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? Problem here in the Midwest is that the
bees
did not appear until late in the Spring, so they were ineffective for
pollination
purposes. I don't see them even now in my wasp traps, just wasps, flies and
moths. Perhaps the bees are not attracted to apple juice, or are smart
enough
not to enter the traps.

Sherwin D.

....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.

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.

There is a special attractant on the market that attracts only yellow
jackets. It's a liquid you poor onto a cotton ball, and lasts a few weeks.
It's a chemical that the yellow jackets thinks is a queen bee, and they
horny little buggers are highly attracted to it. I see it at Wal-Mart and
WinCo foods, so you can probably find it at your local big box store,
hardware stores, etc. I like it because it does not attract paper wasps or
other non-agressive bees.

I have a wasp attractant recipe which is basically fruit juice with added
sugar and a few drops of dish soap. I've used that before, and it attracts
most wasps.


"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).

In article . com,
says...
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).


During the Summer yellow jackets are mainly meat hunters...they feed
insects to their larvae and in turn the larvae turns that into a liquid
diet for the adult. Towards the end of the Summer, their diet changes
from mainly proteins to sugars since for the most part they quit raising
new broods for sustaining the current colony. Early Spring, sugar such
as soda and juices can help catch the early queens...you might try
canned cat food or tuna fish during the Summer, but it can get to be a
mess and then once again back to soda and juices after mid August.
--
Lar

It is said that the early bird gets the worm,
but it is the second mouse that gets the cheese.

Cheap apple juice works the best for me. I am now trying some left over white
grape juice. I would not use any attractant until you are sure there is a big
problem.
Sometimes using an attractant will do just that, and attract more wasps to an area

where there is not a big problem.

I wish there was some substance like one uses on ants that they ingest and take
back
to their nests and infect the entire colony. If anyone knows of such a product,
please
let me know. It would work for cases like I have where I'm not sure where the
nest
is located.

Sherwin D.


sdmg2002 wrote:

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.

It is the paper wasps that have been the problem for me. True they are not
aggressive, but they are decimating my peaches. Is the dish soap to help kill
them,
because they usually drown in the fruit juice?

Sherwin D.

Matthew Reed wrote:

There is a special attractant on the market that attracts only yellow
jackets. It's a liquid you poor onto a cotton ball, and lasts a few weeks.
It's a chemical that the yellow jackets thinks is a queen bee, and they
horny little buggers are highly attracted to it. I see it at Wal-Mart and
WinCo foods, so you can probably find it at your local big box store,
hardware stores, etc. I like it because it does not attract paper wasps or
other non-agressive bees.

I have a wasp attractant recipe which is basically fruit juice with added
sugar and a few drops of dish soap. I've used that before, and it attracts
most wasps.

"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).

The dish soap just helps to kill them, but once inside the trap they
eventually die. I can understand how they could be a problem with fruit - I
have sooo many of them. I don't know where their nests are, they are not on
my property so there isn't much I can do about them anyhow.

"sherwindu" wrote in message
...
It is the paper wasps that have been the problem for me. True they are
not
aggressive, but they are decimating my peaches. Is the dish soap to help
kill
them,
because they usually drown in the fruit juice?

Sherwin D.

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.

I use this one:

http://www.rescue.com/Products/Reusa...acketTraps.asp

Same company, same attractant, mine are reusable. I like the design of the
disposables, I'm almost wishing I would have used those instead. My traps
are filling up:

http://zootal.no-ip.info/stuff/2006%...s/DSCF4442.jpg


"Snooze" wrote in message
...
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.