For yellow jackets, put these (
Rescue!) traps out in the spring as the weather warms up and use the pheromone they provide. Start trapping when the temps get solidly into the 70's.
You will catch the queens. No queens, no workers, it's as simple as that. Only the queens survive the winter and they have to go out on their own to establish a new nest. In our area, we start seeing queens in May and queens disappear in late June, to be replaced in July by the workers, leaving the queens underground to lay eggs.
Sometimes we get freak warm days early in the season. One year in April I put out my traps when the forecast for the next day was in the 80's & I caught about 25 queens, about half of my total kill for that year. I usually get about 50-75 for the season.
We used to have lots of yellow jackets, but since I started trapping the queens, only a few queens avoid the traps and start nests. You won't get them all, but you'll make a huge reduction in the population.
If you put out the traps and don't get any, move the trap. I typically use 2 or 3 traps, but end up with almost all the kill in one trap.
Hornets ignore these traps.
When you see yellow jackets eating dead bugs on the bumper of your car, that's when they are eating meat and that's when you should use meat if that's your choice. But the pheromone works better & lasts 2-4 weeks.
The problem with these traps is the marketing. Stores start displaying them when folks start getting bothered by the critters, but that's too late to get the queens and you won't make much of a dent in the population. The queens can lay eggs faster than you can trap the workers.
You can buy the pheromone separately and it will probably work well in the coke bottle traps if the traps are made well enough. Whatever traps you use, put them in a sunny spot as the heat kills them faster. The traps are not perfect; a few do escape.
