yellow jackets

[ruthven78]

Man I've noticed a large increase in not just the number of yellow jackets around but also their level of agressiveness. I have to go out and get a couple traps for my house. Right now there are about 5 swarming the humming bird feeder and probably another 5 buzzing around the garbage can...dont think we've had them this bad at the house. I know Crescent Lake and Fan Lake also had them really bad....probably going to be a common story for the rest of the summer. Anyone know how to deter these pests? And can you use them as bait...ie does anything eat them???

[Basshunter046]

Yes the yellowjackets are bad here in North Idaho also, along with Bald Faced Hornets. With the dry spring we had, the ground nests never got drowned out so they'er going to be bad this year. We had alot pester us out camping up Shoshone Creek this past weekend. We were having to watch our drinking cups and cans for an unsuspecting OUCH. Buy the end of the year I'll prob. get stung a few time espiecally out getting firewood. gotta get a supply of benedril for the remedy.
:shaking:

[Gringo Pescador]

I haven't noticed them over here on the west side yet - but they did make the local news last night, said that some places they can't even leave thier house. Hopefully I can avoid them - those little suckers make me blow up like a balloon My revenge - find the nest - return at night with a big can o Raid

[bigastrout]

I recommend Maxide Hornet,Wasp and Yellowjacket Killer it has a super fast knock down time.

I don't think there is any reason that you couldn't use yellowjackets as bait. Well, I take that back. Here is a question to ponder. A yellowjacket stinger contains a poison does that make them illegal to use as bait? The regulations state under the Gear Rules "you may not use drugs, explosives, or poison that may kill or injure fish and wildlife"

Hmmm....

[TroutCowboy]

they're bad in the spokane area too. we spent the night in the ER last week when my wife got bit (she's allergic) and my kids can hardly play outside. i've found paper nests inside my bbq, under my deck, inbetween the rails of my deck, inside the birdhouses and in the woodpile, among others.

when at the ER, a tech gave us a "recipe" for a sting kit:

1) benadryl (counteracts the histamine produced by the body after a sting)

2) zantac antacid (it's a histamine blocker to prevent more histamine from being produced)

3) "epipen" (to self-administer epinephrine/adrenaline. requires prescription. )

the first two ingredients are easily obtained and can be kept in the car/boat/camper. the epipen has to be kept between certain temperatures so it's not as portable. i can't remember the dosages of #1 and #2. i believe it was 50mg of benadryl (one 50mg tablet) to 150mg of zantac (two 75mg tablets). call a doctor or research online to confirm.

some other interesting facts:

1) a paste of meat tenderizer at the site of the sting will help

2) depending on the time of year, bait your traps with either fruit or meat. in the spring, they're interested in pollens so fruit juices work and in the summer/fall they're fattening up for winter i guess and they want proteins. i read this in a flyer that came with my wasp trap. don't toss it out the next time you buy one, it was interesting reading.


when i worked construction i'd have to refill propane tanks that we used to loosen up tar on the asphalt paver, and any whiff of propane brought wasps by the dozens. those propane-based mosquito traps don't say anything about working on wasps, but i'm sure curious. i think they burn off the propane to produce carbon dioxide to attract the mosquito, so maybe that's why they don't attract wasps since the odor burned off.

[ruthven78]

Yeah I put up a couple traps around the house. I put both the attractant that came with it (Rescue brand trap), some lunch meat, and also some sugar water in the bait cup....I already have a ton in there. I've noticed bald faced hornets at the hummingbird feeder too. Im also trying the newer Raid disposable trap and saw the bald faced hornets going into it too but not the Rescue brand one.

My son got stung for his first time in his life yesterday at my mom's house. There was a paperwasp nest getting started at the corner of her patio table and he put his back against the corner and POW! We used a paste made with baking soda and water which worked very well...he said it felt better after about 10 minutes. Luckily he is like me and not allergic at all. My wife is a little bit allergic in only that the area stung swells up a little. But with my son it only bled and got red....though that was a paper wasp and not a yellow jacket so hard to say if he is allergic to yellow jackets or not.

[tmusky1]

Man, I hate those damn things, there's no reason they shouldn't be erradicated from the face of the earth. I was riding my streetbike one day and one went down my shirt. That S.O.B. either bit or stung me 5 times before I could kill him by beating on my own chest while driving 50-60 mph down the highway. If my kids and I can stun them with the electric flyswatter (those things are great) the bluegill in my pond gobble them right down.

[ruthven78]

electric fly swatter???

[Marc Martyn]

Years ago I was up camping in the Winthrop area and the campground was swarming with them. I didn't have a trap with me, but remembered a story my father-in-law told me how they got rid of them years ago. His make shift yellow jacket trap saved the camping trip. He is the recipe:

Fry up some of the greasiest chicken you can make, or swing by KFC and get several pieces.
Fill a bucket with water 1/2 full. Place the bucket under a tree limb. Tie the string on a piece of chicken and hang it from the limb about 2" above the water in the bucket. The yellow jackets will eat to the point that they fall off the chicken and into the water. They can't swim so they drown.

This may sound a bit far fetched, but on the morning after I rigged up this trap, I couldn't see the water in the bucket! Hundreds of them. Just remember to place this trap in an area of the yard that isn't close to commonly used areas.

The electric fly swatter is shapped like a badmitten racket. It has webing in it with electric wire running through it that are connected to batteries in the handle. You can pick this up at places like walmart or shopko. I have never tried it, but I see a lot of them around town.

[GeryG]

That bucket trick works great. The way we did it was, get a 5 gal. bucket, fill it 1/3 way up with
water and a little dish soap. Put a stick across the top and hang raw pieces of meat over the sticks.
We did this while hunting, so fresh meat was available. The next day there would be 3 gallons of yellow
jackets. Another good thing to put over a bee sting, after you been stung. Cut a onion in half and put it
over the sting and hold it there for 5 minuts. Reduces swelling and pain.

[tmusky1]

electric fly swatter???

Those things are really cool. They hurt like hell when you touch them too. We all got one for our birthday one year and my brother in law snuck up behind one of our drunk buddies and touched his ear with it. You could hear the electrical crack and see the blue spark. I thought for sure we were going to see a throw down after that one. I highly recommend them but they are definitely not toys.

[ruthven78]

Mark, yeah there are places all over the internet describing various types of the same device, a lot of places said to ad a drop of dishwashing soap to reduce the surface tension of the water so that they cant take off from a float.

tmusky1, i'll have to keep my eye out and get one if not just for the novelty of it lol