Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them!

   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #1  

Pilot

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Here in the northwest, the queens are out. They usually become active in early May, establish their nests by early June and disappear by mid June. That's when the babies start emerging.

The time to put out your traps is right now, when you will catch the queens. Each queen is good for anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 workers and each queen killed is good for that many fewer yellow jackets later in the summer.

I have tried several traps and have settled on the ones that use a pheromone as an attractant.

On the advice of an old professor, I started putting my traps out on the first warm days of spring and we have had only a minimal number of the critters since. Several years ago in April we had a forecast for an unusually warm day, I put out my traps and caught 27 queens in one day.

This year with a very cool and wet May until now, I caught nothing until the temps warmed up a couple days ago. Caught 11 in one day.

Don't wait! By early June you will be too late.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #2  
Thanks for the heads up. How do you know the queens. I put out my trap two days ago and have 8 yellow jackets in them. Typical would be hundreds in less then a day during August/September. I use the ones that use the attractant as well. They are the yellow colored traps that have the bottom that unscrews.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them!
  • Thread Starter
#3  
Because that's all that exist right now in western Oregon and Washington. There are no drones right now, as they and last year's workers don't survive the winter. Queens are larger than workers. You will know by the lack of yellow jackets in August & September that you got the queens now. If you are in a warmer part of the country you may be getting workers already & you are too late for best results.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #4  
Thats probably the case then. We are definitely warming up. I have not seen any yellow jackets yet, we usually don't get them until August or so. I will have to commit this to memory though. If there is anything that is more of a nuisance, I can't think of what it is. It's war with yellow jackets. One thing of interest is that the skunks around here will go into the yellow jacket nest at night, dig it out, and raid it. I would love to take some night photography of this feat. You have to have some well, we'll just say fortitude to do that. I came upon one doing it one night about 2:00AM.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #5  
Thanks for the reminder. I took a look around and found some new nests around the eaves and hit them with some spray. Went out and bought some traps and set them this afternoon. Nasty little buggers.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #6  
The yellow jackets I'm familiar with don't typically nest in the eaves like wasps do, they live in the ground. We call them yellow jackets or "meat bees". There seems to be much confusion about yellow jackets and where exactly they tend to nest. I have yet to see anything as prolific as yellow jackets or as irritating.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them!
  • Thread Starter
#7  
Yellow jackets typically nest in the ground, although rotten logs and other places are often used.

The traps with the pheromone work best in warm weather, at least in the high 70's and the warmer the better.

In the northwest we are late this year because we went thru cool and rainy weather when the queens typically become active and my traps caught nothing. The recent heatwave finally gave me results. Unfortunately, we have conflicting forecasts for the next day or two; if it stays hot you'll get results, if it cools off you may not.

Someone said they don't get yellow jackets until August or September. That is when they are most noticeable, but if you watch you will see them in early July around here. The population gradually builds over the summer so that by August you can't miss them.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #8  
<font color="blue">Someone said they don't get yellow jackets until August or September. That is when they are most noticeable, but if you watch you will see them in early July around here. The population gradually builds over the summer so that by August you can't miss them. </font>

I'm sure your right about that. By August or so, I am really paying attention when mowing. Last year I got hit about 10 times total. I got hit with two stings in October or so in the forehead and swelled like crazy. I have never had that reaction before.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #9  
I checked my traps this morning and I bagged a queen. They are much bigger. I think this gal was almost 1.25" long. I look at here in there and just can't muster up much sympathy.
 
   / Yellow jackets: now is the time to prevent them! #10  
To those of you who have effectively trapped queens....what kind(s) of traps are you using? Thanks.
 
 
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