JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM/ SUMMER 2006 • VOL. 26, NO. 2

A lternatives to just let them be.5 Seasonal Behavior Most yellowjackets die with the first Pesticide-free Solutions frost in the fall. The is abandoned and typically not used again. Only the queens find a protected spot to spend to Yellowjacket Prob­­lems the winter. In the spring, the queens build new and begin laying eggs By Caroline Cox which hatch into worker . All summer the number of workers in- creases. By the end of summer there It’s hard to like yellowjackets. They can be thousands of yellowjackets in sting, cause violent allergic reactions in a nest. This is typically when the yel- some people, harass picnickers, and lowjackets are most troublesome.3 have a knack for causing trouble at the wrong time. They seem persistent, clev- Preventing Yellow Jacket er, and difficult to manage. This doesn’t Ken Gray/Oregon State Univ. Problems mean, however, that reaching for a If you’re expecting yellowjacket spray can is a good way to deal with problems, there are some simple steps a yellowjacket problem. Pesticide-free you can take to reduce or eliminate techniques are surprisingly effective. them. If you need convincing that pesti- First, don’t provide these scavengers cides aren’t necessary when coping with pesticide.org/ http://www.pesticide. with food or drink. If you have a meal these feisty wasps, consider what hap- org/BeesWaspsControl.pdf. outside, keep the food and drink cov- pened at the Waterfront Park baseball ered as much as possible. If you feed stadium in New Jersey. One summer Yellowjacket Nests your pets outside, keep the pet food the stadium was infested with hordes All yellowjackets build paper nests covered.4 Keep a tight lid on garbage of yellowjackets; some fans even left that are completely surrounded by a cans.6 Eliminate any standing water.6 games early just to escape them. The paper envelope. Most yellowjackets The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and stadium hired a pest control company to nest underground. They often use bur- Vector Control District calls this kind of deal with the pests in a nonpoisonous rows made by rodents or other natural sanitation “the most effective method of way. Several hundred traps, and some openings as nest sites. The German controlling foraging adults.”6 innovative baits later, the stadium was yellowjacket likes to nest inside walls Next, try to avoid behavior that at- emptied of 70,000 yellowjackets. It took of houses. There are two kinds of yel- tracts yellowjackets. Avoid perfume, just five days to get rid of most of them, lowjackets, the aerial yellowjacket and hair spray, or other scented body care and bring back a comfortable game for the bald-faced , that hang their products. Don’t wear bright red, or- the fans.1 nests from trees or building eaves.3 ange, or yellow clothes. Yellowjackets Most yellowjackets defend their seem to be attracted by these colors.3 What Is a Yellowjacket? nest vigorously, and being near a nest Yellowjackets, sometimes known as means you’re likely to get stung.4,5 , are wasps that are black and Typically, the ground-dwelling yel- yellow or white.2 Common pest species lowjackets are the most aggressive, in the Northwest are the western yel- while those that nest above ground are lowjacket, the common yellowjacket, somewhat less touchy.4 and the German yellowjacket.3 A that is commonly mistaken Yellowjackets are Important for a yellowjacket is the . Yellowjackets feed their young large They are longer and more slender numbers of that might otherwise Ken Gray/Oregon State Univ. than yellowjackets,3 and are usually damage trees or crops. They also feed unaggressive.4 Their nests are a single their young houseflies, lots of them.3 comb, and not surrounded by a paper What this means, according to the envelope.3 For information about paper University of California, is that they wasps, see JPR 22(2):10-11 or www. “should be protected and encouraged to nest in areas of little human or ani- mal activity.”4 If you find yellowjackets in a place where people and pets are Caroline Cox is JPR’s editor. unlikely to get close, it’s a good idea Inside a yellowjacket nest.

NORTHWEST COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES/NCAP  P.O. BOX 1393, EUGENE, OREGON 97440 / (541)344-5044 / www.pesticide.org JOURNAL OF PESTICIDE REFORM/ SUMMER 2006 • VOL. 26, NO.2

Finally, you’ll want to avoid taking several hours. You can also submerge a registration number and identify all action that angers yellowjackets. Stay them in a bucket of soapy water.2 ingredients on the labels of the prod- away from their nests as much as pos- • Traps need to be emptied and refilled ucts.9 sible.4 Don’t swat at yellowjackets that with bait at least weekly.7 approach you since this can provoke • If you’re trapping to reduce yellow- Summary them to sting.4 Don’t let children throw jackets at an event, start trapping at Although they are useful insects, yel- rocks or other items at nests.3 least two weeks before the event.7 lowjackets can also be a painful pest. • Trapping queens in the spring can You can solve your yellowjacket prob- Trapping Yellowjackets reduce the number of nests later in lems without pesticides by reducing Traps can be an effective, pesticide- the season.4 attractive food or drink and trapping free technique for managing yellow- Removing a Nest when necessary. jackets. Trapping experts have some tips for making this technique work Removing a nest is a chore that References well: should be tackled only by profession- 1. Goldstein, M. 1996. Program hits home run. Pest Control (August):44-46. • Traps can either be purchased or als with expertise in working around 2. U.S. EPA. Office of Pesticide Programs, Undated. homemade. Examples of sources for stinging insects and protective cloth- IPM for schools: A How-to manual. Chapter 19. ing.2 Aerial nests can be removed at IPM for yellowjackets and hornets in schools. commercial traps are http://www. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/ipm/schoolipm/ yellowjackettraps.com. http://www. night by enclosing them in a plastic bag chap-19.pdf. 8 rescue.com, and http://saferbrand. and pulling them loose. Other kinds 3. Landolt, P.J. and A.L. Antonelli. 2003. Yellowjack- of nests can be vacuumed out.2 Some ets and paper wasps. Washington State Univ. com. They are widely available at Cooperative Extension Publ. EB0643. http://cru. garden and hardware stores. companies provide this service inex- cahe.wsu.edu/CEPublications/eb0643/eb0643. • Homemade traps are usually made pensively because they sell the wasps pdf. from a five gallon bucket. Fill the as a source of to pharmaceutical 4. Univ. of California. Agriculture and Natural Re- 2 sources. 2001. Yellowjackets and other social bucket with soapy water and hang a companies. wasps. Pest Notes Publ 7450. http://www.ipm. protein bait a couple of inches above ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7450.html. If You Think Pesticides are 5. Oregon State Univ. Extension Service. 1995-2006. the water. You can put a wide mesh Necessary Garden hints: Life’s a picnic for yellow jackets this screen over the bucket and bait so time of year. http://extension.oregonstate.edu/ that pets or other don’t eat NCAP does not recommend the use news/story.php?S_No=124&storyType=garden. 4 6. Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control the bait. The yellowjackets grab a of pesticides. However, we recognize District. Undated. Vector information. Information piece of the bait too heavy to that you may feel that you have no about vectors: Mosquitoes, yellowjackets, wasps, other options. If you feel that yellow- , spiders, rats, etc. Frequently asked ques- with, then fall down, get trapped in tions about yellowjackets. http://www.fightthebite. 3 the water, and drown. jacket pesticides are necessary, consider net/vectors/yellowjackets.php. • Using the right bait in a trap is criti- using one of the products that the U.S. 7. Wegner, Gerry. 2003. Yellowjacket IPM: A baiting Environmental Protection Agency has and trapping strategy works, if you time it right. cal. Protein baits are most effective in http://www.pestcontrolmag.com/pestcontrol/article/ the spring and summer. The foraging classified as minimum risk pesticides.9 articleDetail.jsp?id=61907. yellowjackets need the protein in or- For examples, see http//www.safer- 8. Sugden, E.A. Undated. Managing yellow jackets 7 brand.com, http://www.bioganic.com, in the Puget Sound region. http://courses.washing- der to feed their young. According ton.edu/insects/454Students/Resources?WASPS. to Gerry Wegner, technical director or http://www.ecosmart.com. These htm. for a pest control company, most “minimum risk” products do not have 9. 40 Code of Federal Regulations 152.25. professionals agree that canned white chicken meat is the most successful protein bait, preferred over pet food and fish.7 Lunch meat is also a suc- cessful protein bait.4 • In the late summer and early fall, the yellowjackets prefer sweet baits. Gerry Wagner has found that carbon- ated beverages like root beer, orange soda, and citrus soda are most effec- tive.7 The highly successful trapping program at the Waterfront Park base-

ball stadium used a mixture of beer of Univ. Nebraska-Lincoln Entomology Dept. and diluted Italian soda syrup.1 Com- mercial baits are also available.5 • There are several ways to kill wasps after they’re trapped. You can put traps in the freezer or put them in- A German yellowjacket nest hanging under a Yellowjackets crowding around the entrance to side a plastic bag in the hot sun for roof. their nest.

NORTHWEST COALITION FOR ALTERNATIVES TO PESTICIDES/NCAP P.O. BOX 1393, EUGENE, OREGON 97440 / (541)344-5044 / www.pesticide.org