Let's Talk BBQ

General => General Discussion & Topics => General Discussion => Topic started by: pz on August 07, 2013, 05:46:02 PM

Title: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 07, 2013, 05:46:02 PM
... here in north Idaho this season.  If you're as tormented as we are, this might be of help, and at the very least really makes me feel good to have them out of our BBQ area.

We just purchased a combined wasp/yellow jacket trap and found some very interesting results:
Click image to zoom; click again to dismiss

We placed this trap exactly according to directions yesterday afternoon, and this is the result by this morning - not too bad
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-XSNyQQgBe88/UgK9c6TaHkI/AAAAAAAACzQ/QqYbe1-QcCc/w601-h901-no/IMG_1690.JPG)

This one I placed a couple of hours ago, but instead of the attractant in the top (wasp) chamber, I placed a chunk of fat-free hot dog - this is the result after only a couple of hours.  This trap is within 20 feet of the first trap.  I then moved the first trap closer to the area of this trap, replaced the attractant with hot dog, and it is now also beginning to fill nicely
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-U08Sb45zb9Y/UgK9rw2-kyI/AAAAAAAACzY/_NiWFF7PKBQ/w601-h901-no/IMG_1689.JPG)

Title: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: mikecorn.1 on August 07, 2013, 06:24:31 PM
Yellow jackets are the Devil's Spawn! We have those down here. I usually make the rounds before mowing so I don't get hit while walking down the fence line in the back yard.


Mike
Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 07, 2013, 07:02:44 PM
Funny thing is that they go to sleep at night, and don't wake up in the morning  8)
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: Keymaster on August 07, 2013, 08:12:39 PM
Bzzzzzz :) Looks like a good trap!
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: muebe on August 07, 2013, 08:26:47 PM
Now being over-run by them is bad but in their defense they do eat a lot of bothersome bugs like spiders for example. You obviously have a large problem with them so the traps are needed.


"Despite the fear they sometimes evoke, wasps are extremely beneficial to humans. Nearly every pest insect on Earth is preyed upon by a wasp species, either for food or as a host for its parasitic larvae. Wasps are so adept at controlling pest populations that the agriculture industry now regularly deploys them to protect crops."
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: sliding_billy on August 08, 2013, 05:35:17 AM
Crazy, but I'll take the stinging things to houseflies every time.
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 08, 2013, 11:45:55 AM
Quote from: muebe on August 07, 2013, 08:26:47 PM
Now being over-run by them is bad but in their defense they do eat a lot of bothersome bugs like spiders for example. You obviously have a large problem with them so the traps are needed.

So true on both counts - we've had it so bad this year that we cannot eat outside without being swarmed with the carnivorous wasps.  The evidently shift their dietary favor from sugar early in the season to meat at this time of the year.  :(

Quote from: sliding_billy on August 08, 2013, 05:35:17 AM
Crazy, but I'll take the stinging things to houseflies every time.

I know what you mean; decades ago I lived in San Diego, and we made homemade fly traps out of gallon mayonnaise jars.  They would fill quickly.  Interestingly, we did not  have the wasp problems in San Diego, and here in Idaho, we have few fly problems - kind of the flip effect.
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: Ka Honu on August 08, 2013, 11:54:54 AM
Only have occasional wasp problems but the neighbors' dogs insure issues with flies (and, of course, there are usually some mosquitoes around).  Never have found a solution to those - any suggestions?
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 08, 2013, 12:04:55 PM
Quote from: Ka Honu on August 08, 2013, 11:54:54 AM
Only have occasional wasp problems but the neighbors' dogs insure issues with flies (and, of course, there are usually some mosquitoes around).  Never have found a solution to those - any suggestions?

Personally I've tried most of what is on the market in desperation, but have not found anything that is all that effective.  The candles, coils and such are helpful, but are mostly effective only when there is a lack of air movement.  I've even tried one of those battery powered devices that you attach to your hip (talk about a desperate fool) - it had no effect at all.

The only thing I have found effective is to have some kind of gazebo with fine netting. I'm the guy that has the misfortune to be the one that biting insects just love - my friends and family like me to be in the area because I'm the sacrificial victim. (http://www.niscienceclasses.org/main/Smileys/fantasticsmileys/72.gif)
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: muebe on August 08, 2013, 12:11:04 PM
Quote from: pz on August 08, 2013, 11:45:55 AM
Quote from: muebe on August 07, 2013, 08:26:47 PM
Now being over-run by them is bad but in their defense they do eat a lot of bothersome bugs like spiders for example. You obviously have a large problem with them so the traps are needed.

So true on both counts - we've had it so bad this year that we cannot eat outside without being swarmed with the carnivorous wasps.  The evidently shift their dietary favor from sugar early in the season to meat at this time of the year.  :(

Quote from: sliding_billy on August 08, 2013, 05:35:17 AM
Crazy, but I'll take the stinging things to houseflies every time.

They actually don't eat the meat but gather it for their larvae that eat it. Then the larvae produce a sweet liquid the wasps drink. So that is why the swing goes from nectar from flowers to gathering meat as the larvae hatch and grow.

Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 08, 2013, 12:14:52 PM
Quote from: muebe on August 08, 2013, 12:11:04 PM
They actually don't eat the meat but gather it for their larvae that eat it. Then the larvae produce a sweet liquid the wasps drink. So that is why the swing goes from nectar from flowers to gathering meat as the larvae hatch and grow.

Ah.. I see... that makes perfect sense (http://www.niscienceclasses.org/main/Smileys/fantasticsmileys/main_thumbsup.gif)
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: Ka Honu on August 08, 2013, 12:45:20 PM
Quote from: CaptJack on August 08, 2013, 11:56:44 AM
turtle don't you guys have a frog (noise) problem?

Not so much on Oahu but there are some serious "infestations" of (originally Puerto Rican) coqui frogs on the Big Island and Maui.
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: TwoPockets on August 08, 2013, 05:10:23 PM
Quote from: Ka Honu on August 08, 2013, 11:54:54 AM
Only have occasional wasp problems but the neighbors' dogs insure issues with flies (and, of course, there are usually some mosquitoes around).  Never have found a solution to those - any suggestions?

Get a Thermacell, that is the only thing that keeps mosquitoes off me, not sure about flies but have never had a fly in the neighborhood while using one.

http://www.thermacell.com/mosquito-repellent
Title: Re: Yellow jackets, white-face hornets, and paper wasps are awful...
Post by: pz on August 08, 2013, 05:28:34 PM
Nice; although we are in a netted gazebo, the no-see-ums easily get through the fine mesh.