Yellow jackets--start trapping soon!

[Pilot]

TractorErnie,

You may be too early. I ususally don't catch any until the weather warms into the mid 70's. However, it only takes one good day sometimes. Several years agw in April we had a forecast of warm east winds, I put out my traps, the day was hot 2 ways: Nice warm day & I caught about 25, about half of all I caught that year.

 

[Pilot]

Can't say how many you need per acre. Most of the YJ's we get here come off a Christmas tree farm next door. No matter where I put my traps, the one that catches the most is always the one that's closest to the tree farm. I ususlly put out 2 or 3, but end up with 90% in the one trap.

The pheromone goes out in a cloud the bugs follow back to the trap. Put out too many & they may not find the trap. Just speculation...but I do know for bark beetles, they use pheromones in just that way so they won't be able to home in on weak trees.

 

[LMTC]

I put my 4 traps out last weekend, so far nothing. The only thing we've seen lots of is the darn carpenter bees. So this afternoon, as I am stepping out of the shop, one of the carpenter bees (who aggressively defend the airspace around their drillings) goes into air combat mode with another fairly large critter. I grab my always handy spray and catch them both of them in mid-air (trust me...this was a truly once-in-a-lifetime event) about 10 feet away. The one combatant drops like a rock, the carpenter bee buzzes off. The one that dropped....TA-DA!...a yellow jacket queen by all appearances and size.

For those of you with the RESCUE traps, how often are you refreshing the attractant.

 

[Richard]

I'll be checking later today but mine have been out for a while now and best I can tell (as of day before yesterday) I've not caught a thing. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I was really looking forward to taunting some poor sucker that found it's way into the bag.

 

[ALBALD1]

Are these traps strictly for yellow jackets or do they attract wasp also? If only yj's, any suggestions for wasp?

 

[Pilot]

Just yellow jackets. I have no suggestions for wasps.

For those who have put their traps out with no success, there are 2 things to consider:

The queens don't get active until temps hit about the mid 70's & you won't catch any on rainy days.

Also location is very important. If you get nothing on warm days in one place, move the trap.

 

[Cottonhawk]

I put out two traps about ten days ago and there is nothing in them yet. I think that the best location for the trap is exposure to the morning sun and shade in the afternoon. I renew my trap by sprinkle few drops of water on the cotton ball in the yellow container and it seem to work well.

 

[Richard]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I renew my trap by sprinkle few drops of water on the cotton ball in the yellow container )</font>

/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif cotton ball?

Makes me wonder if I got the right thing. Although I don't recall the brand name, mine was a plastic pouch (bought at Home Depot). I cut a hole in top of pouch so the circular door could open and I could tie a wire from it to a tree.

I then filled the bag to the line with diluted apple juice/water. There was a bag of "attractant" inside the plastic pouch that dissolved when the liquid hit it.

I've not caught one as of 2 days ago, i forgot to check them out yesterday /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Seems there are various types of traps. If anyone is familiar with the various kind, any thoughts as to which ones work better?

 

[LMTC]

Richard, the RESCUE seemed to be popular in earlier discussions here, especially with those who were having success. That is what I bought. I found some on ebay priced quite reasonably.

Pilot (the other Richard in this discussion /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif), we have hit 70, but only twice, barely, and not on consecutive days. It has hovered in the mid 60s a few days and been damp, so perhaps we just haven't gotten warm enough. I know the carpenter bees have BEEN out for some time, started seeing wasps a week ago in some numbers, but the beast I downed the other day as it battled the carpenter bee is the first yellow jacket type thing I have seen.

 

[Cottonhawk]

Richard,
My traps are RESCUE yellow jacket trap bought from Home Depot last year. The cotton ball in the trap is treated with attractant When the cotton ball dries up, a little water will reactivate the effectivity.
Yesterday we hit 70 and I caught three queens.