Yellow jackets--start trapping soon!

Pilot · Apr 13, 2006

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 · Apr 13, 2006

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 · Apr 22, 2006

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 · Apr 23, 2006

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 · Apr 23, 2006

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

Pilot · Apr 23, 2006

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 · Apr 24, 2006

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 · Apr 24, 2006

</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 · Apr 24, 2006

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 · Apr 25, 2006

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.