Here we demonstrate a pesticide-free way, vacuuming, to remove yellowjackets (video) and reduce danger from a nest in a structure.When she was at an Impressionable Age, the BugLady had a teacher who said “Don’t just tell them what it is, tell them ‘What about it’” (because when we know an organism’s name, we don’t know everything about it-knowing the name just allows us to start opening doors). Pesticides can also agitate yellowjackets making them more dangerous. Yellowjacket nests can be hidden and difficult to treat. Note where you find nests so you can make the sites unavailable, if possible, for the following season.Consult an expert if you find an active colony that poses a stinging risk to people and pets.Reduce attractiveness of an area (to scavenging wasps) by minimizing food and food trash when possible.Tape off areas to keep people and pets away if the site is not in a direct path of food traffic.Follow foraging wasps and you might see where they are congregating around an opening or an aerial nest.If yellowjacket activity is high, search for an active colony nearby. Yellow Jacket Trapping to Catch Fall Wasps (youTube).Yellowjacket trapping to reduce stings at public events (pdf).On a weekly basis, monitor buildings and grounds for wasp and bee activity in sunny weather. If needed, use traps baited with fruit punch or orange soda to draw wasps away from sensitive areas such as playgrounds. IPM for wasps help reduce the chance of interaction, protecting both this important insect and us. Wasps can sting repeatedly, while honey bees sting only once, leaving the stinger in the flesh. Many ‘bee-sting’ incidents are actually caused by wasps. ![]() It is important to understand that wasps have a role in the environment and most stinging incidents occur during accidental or ill-advised interaction. They are often overlooked until their activity draws attention or the nest is disturbed. Whether built in voids, in trees or on buildings, yellowjacket nests have the characteristic envelope. Others prefer aerial nests in trees or under the eaves of out-of-the-way buildings. Some yellowjackets prefer nest building in voids such as hollows in trees, structural walls, abandoned animal burrows or rotting tree stumps. ![]() Yellowjackets build multi-tiered nests wrapped and protected by layers of “envelope,” which makes the nest rounded. Some are scavengers for protein and may also feed on animal carcasses and pet and human food, causing problems for people. ![]() Some Vespids are predatory, foraging for other insects throughout the summer to provide protein for the colony. Male wasps are among the last raised in a nest, and only function to mate with the new queens. Only female wasps have stingers because a stinger is a modified ovipositor (egg-layer). Once the queen has raised a few workers, they take over the task of building and feeding, and the queen focuses on egg-laying. Nests vary in size and location, but are started by overwintering mated queens. ![]() Nearly all of the Vespid wasps build nests of paper they create from combining saliva with chewed wood and using the fiber (cellulose) paste to make paper walls and cells for raising each season’s brood.
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