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NFR: Simple, cheap and very effecive yellow jacket trap

2K views 33 replies 21 participants last post by  Topstoy 
#1 ·
There is a bumper crop of YJ's this year and I am on the offensive. I read about many DIY traps on line and built 4 of the more promising looking models. One trumped all the rest. It is a gallon jug such as a milk bottle or water bottle. Two holes about1" to 1 1/2'' are cut in the bottle about half way up, one on each side. Add about 2'' of water to the bottle and a quarter teaspoon of liquid dish detergent to break the surface tension of the water. Then hang the bait inside so it is near the water but not touching it. Set it or hang it outside and stand back-it gets swarmed.

For bait I am using the tips of chicken wings that usually get discarded. Chickens usually come with giblet packs which are also good along with chicken fat-maybe the best of all. I hang the bait inside on a stiff wire, string would work as well. I tested it together with one of those Rescue yellow traps that use the expensive little bait packs that you squirt on a cotton ball in the bottom of the trap. Hanging both on a pergola about 4 feet apart gave me the chance to see which one worked the best. The Rescue trap caught dozens, my homeade trap caught hundreds in the same amount of time.

The therory is that the yellow jackets will feed on the bait and when done will drop down rather than fly up. They hit the water and the detergent insures that they get soaked and drown. It seems to work very well. Some will escape through the large holes but seem to make it back to the nest and bring more back to the trap with them. I have built 4 of these now and have probably killed nearly a thousand in 2 days. Cheap thrills.

Ive
 
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#2 ·
Nice work! I don't like yellow jackets. I kill any of those large nests that get built on my property near my house. I saturate the nest with the entire can of wasp killer, after first aiming at the entrance, so it gets quickly plugged off by the dead yellow jackets. I do it at night, too, when they are all home.:p

On the other hand, I have learned to let the European paper wasps just do their thing. They aren't as aggressive as the native paper wasps (yellow jackets) here in the Pacific NW. They build those smaller open nests, usually with fewer than 100 cells in the open-faced comb. Sometimes they get up to a large as 400 cells, but not often. These don't get enclosed, like yellow jacket nests, which we all know can get huge, and often get built underground.

The European paper wasp looks similar, but has a more slender body, and they eat bugs!!! They are beneficial to the garden. Here on the coast, they are known to control many early season insect pests, so I let 'em be.

Somehow, I don't think they would mingle with the yellow jackets going into Ive's trap.

Before I learned about them, I used to knock their nests down from under my eaves. No more!
 
#5 ·
You can also cut the top out of a water bottle, put a piece of bait in it, then invert the top in the bottom. The yellowjackets fly in, but can't find the hole to get back out. They always try to fly up the side. I used to this when I fought fires when we would be working in an area for an extended amount of time or put a couple on the engine when it was going to be parked.
 
#9 ·
Just be careful messing with bald-faced hornets....they are extremely aggressive. Even professional exterminators soon learn these critters delight in attack....and their stings are delivered with considerable venom.
I'll second that! I once had some of these critters in a orange-sized nest hanging off the branch of a bush in my backyard. I couldn't get within 20 feet of this spot without getting stung and these things shoot out from the nest site like a missile! A bit of late night search-and-destroy cured the problem!
 
#7 ·
I found a large, about the size of a soccer ball, yellow jacket nest in one of my fir trees a few weeks ago. I thought about spraying it but then thought that would not be as much fun as shooting it with a shotgun. 2 rounds of #6 from the 12 guage eliminated the nest. The next day a small amount of the spray eliminated what was left of the bees.
 
#8 ·
I found a large, about the size of a soccer ball, yellow jacket nest in one of my fir trees a few weeks ago. I thought about spraying it but then thought that would not be as much fun as shooting it with a shotgun. 2 rounds of #6 from the 12 guage eliminated the nest. The next day a small amount of the spray eliminated what was left of the bees.
I originally came into this thread to post 'in before Alex MacDonald says he uses a 50 cal to take down yellow jackets' but looks like I had my names mixed up :p
 
#10 ·
You aren't kidding about a bumper crop. I sprayed a nest the size of a football under our eave and was dormant for about 2 weeks. Left for Montana and when we came back the little bass-turds had started rebuilding in the exact same spot. It got doused again last night... never had them do that before. I think your home-made trap sounds like a winner. If they come back for a 3rd round, I will make one.
 
#19 ·
Yup, and it's nice to have one of those electrified tennis rackets from Harbor Freight ($3.99 and they work better than the much more expensive Sears Kenmore version) around to take of the little SOB's that like to visit a summer meal on the deck (no, I'm not referring to my freeloading relatives, though they pretty much fit the description too).
 
#15 ·
You can also cut 2 opposing holes that will accommodate a piece of 3/4" or 1" PVC pipe. Cut a scallop out of the middle & place your bait in the bottom of the slot. Thread a line thru a hole in the cap so you can hang it. When the jug is full & yucky, prepare another, swap the pipe & cap and play again.

Chad, you are correct . . . that's precisely why I have a Leapers Bug-Buster scope on my Beeman R-7. Oh & Suspend SD sprayed on sites where wasps are prone to nest will keep them away for several months. Pet & kid friendly once dried, this stuff works well after you use a knock-down spray to kill the buggers! I bought on-line at Domyownpestcontrol.com.
 
#16 ·
My grandfather in Evansville had one bigger than a beachball. The exterminator put a bag over it at night. Managed to take it down whole. Made the paper and I think it went to a museum or something . Now that I think about it, it was probably a paper wasp hive.
 
#22 ·
Oh yeah, those electronic racquets are a blast. But if you have a critter buzzing around your head, don't accidentally smack yourself on the ear.... :eek:
Wow! I didn't even know about these. I've been missing out on a lot of fun! When I lived on Oahu, I used to use a pea shooter on the big cockroaches that came out of the rock wall along our driveway in the evening. That was a lot of fun, and safe!
 
#24 ·
Just be careful messing with bald-faced hornets....they are extremely aggressive. Even professional exterminators soon learn these critters delight in attack....and their stings are delivered with considerable venom.
Oh christ, you aren't kidding. Those f-----s hurt like hell. My son and I got hit the other summer while fishing a little stream. It was like getting stabbed with a hot poker and swelled up considerably.
 
#25 ·
The "bag over the nest when the critters are dormant" works well. I'm a house painter. Most of the aerosol poisons leave an oily residue that hinders paint adhesion for a week or so. Of course I only find nests when I get onto a job. So I just amble in early the next morning, cover the nests with a container and cut it off with a putty knife, hornets and all. The trouble is that not all the hornets will be in the nest. Some invariably will not have made it back to the nest the night before and just lie dormant somewhere until the sun warms them later in the day. They show up at the nest site and go right to work rebuilding. Tenacious doesn't begin to describe them. It's usually only a couple of bees by then and I've gotten pretty good as swatting them with a putty knife (which makes a very satisfying PING!) or, if I have a brush with paint on it, get even get a dot of paint on them and they go right down where they can be scraped into a paste under your shoe.
 
#26 ·
I'll second that! I once had some of these critters in a orange-sized nest hanging off the branch of a bush in my backyard. I couldn't get within 20 feet of this spot without getting stung and these things shoot out from the nest site like a missile! A bit of late night search-and-destroy cured the problem!
I was sitting in my kayak, on a warm summer day, sipping a cold one, when I spied a small object hurtling directly for me....from about a hundred yards out. I figured it was a small dragonfly...they like to perch on the boat, or my idle flyrod, from time to time.

Then, I thought to myself (as best I could, with my beer-soaked mind) that this thing seemed rather focused and determined...dragonflies flit about even when on an intercept vector.

At about 20 feet out, I had intimations of trouble, which were confirmed when the little SOB stung me in the adam's apple a second later, then circled to my rear and zapped me on the back of the neck.

Apparently I must have incurred the little bastard's wrath by making direct eye contact at some point. I retreated with what little dignity I could muster, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the far end of the lake....while watching the shore with considerable trepidation.
 
#34 ·
There is a bumper crop of YJ's this year and I am on the offensive. I read about many DIY traps on line and built 4 of the more promising looking models. One trumped all the rest. It is a gallon jug such as a milk bottle or water bottle. Two holes about1" to 1 1/2'' are cut in the bottle about half way up, one on each side. Add about 2'' of water to the bottle and a quarter teaspoon of liquid dish detergent to break the surface tension of the water. Then hang the bait inside so it is near the water but not touching it. Set it or hang it outside and stand back-it gets swarmed.

For bait I am using the tips of chicken wings that usually get discarded. Chickens usually come with giblet packs which are also good along with chicken fat-maybe the best of all. I hang the bait inside on a stiff wire, string would work as well. I tested it together with one of those Rescue yellow traps that use the expensive little bait packs that you squirt on a cotton ball in the bottom of the trap. Hanging both on a pergola about 4 feet apart gave me the chance to see which one worked the best. The Rescue trap caught dozens, my homeade trap caught hundreds in the same amount of time.

The therory is that the yellow jackets will feed on the bait and when done will drop down rather than fly up. They hit the water and the detergent insures that they get soaked and drown. It seems to work very well. Some will escape through the large holes but seem to make it back to the nest and bring more back to the trap with them. I have built 4 of these now and have probably killed nearly a thousand in 2 days. Cheap thrills.

Ive
Built a couple of these this evening. They work great! Thanks I've, Ken
 
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