How to Keep Yellow Jacket Wasps Away
Keep food sources, especially protein, indoors., Don't leave sugar out., Put out sliced cucumbers., Seal your garbage cans tightly., Hang up a crumpled brown paper bag., Seal up the sides of your home and shore up your awnings., Don't do these...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Keep food sources
Yellow jackets feed primarily off of protein, so be sure to keep those turkey sandwiches indoors and enjoy the postprandial glow outside instead of the other way around.
Food sources include your pet's food as well.
Make sure you find an effective way to store your pet food (if you do store it outside) so that any roaming yellow jackets can't make a quick feast out of your furry friend's treat. -
Step 2: especially protein
In the spring and summer, yellow jackets eat primarily protein.
In the fall, yellow jackets begin to incorporate sugars into their diet.
Sugar can increase the lifespan and reproductive function of many predatory wasps, making it a particularly dangerous thing to keep around.If picnicking, try to keep sweets such as sodas and desserts indoors.
Hummingbird feeders, essentially sugar-water dispensers, can be especially problematic.
Investigate ways to kill or remove the entire colony before you put up a lot of sugar-water for them to gorge on. , If you have to put out food (we do not advocate blowing off 4th of July on account of some pesky wasps), one unusual wasp repellent you can try is cucumber.
This vegetable has an acid property that wasps don't like.
Cut up a few slices and leave around your picnic or BBQ area.
They stay away and you can enjoy your outdoor activities without fear of getting stung. , Yellow jackets are primarily hunters, but they can morph into greedy little scavengers if the prize is worth it.
An open or easy-to-access garbage can is just that.
Remember that sugars and proteins are especially pleasing to yellow jackets, so consider isolating those into separate bins to be extra sure.
It's not necessary if you take care to lock up your entire garbage heap, but it may give succor to those fiercely afraid of yellow jackets. , Wasps are territorial so they will not make a nest where one already exist.
To give the illusion of a wasp nest crumple up a small brown grocery bag, attach a string, and hang near your doors.
They cannot tell if it's truly a nest but they seem to trust what they see.
Their instincts will kick in and they will go away. , Awnings and loose siding on your home is a safe, enticing place for yellow jackets to shack up and make a home.
Seal these places properly to prevent a yellow jacket infestation from making its way — quite literally — into your home.
Infestations of yellow jackets into your home will most likely require the expertise of a professional exterminator, and will cost you a pretty penny while you're at it.
If you're the patient type, wait for winter.
Cold enough weather will kill off the entire colony, after which time you can remove the wasp nest and seal up your home properly. , In addition to the advice above, don't do any of the following thing, as they are most likely counterproductive:
Don't wear bright colors.
The yellow jackets could think that you're a flower and be attracted to you.
Don't swat at yellow jackets.
Killing one yellow jacket may be cathartic, but it also causes a pheromone to be released which attracts other wasps.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Don't wear overly aromatic perfumes.
Yellow jackets are attracted to sweet smells. -
Step 3: indoors.
-
Step 4: Don't leave sugar out.
-
Step 5: Put out sliced cucumbers.
-
Step 6: Seal your garbage cans tightly.
-
Step 7: Hang up a crumpled brown paper bag.
-
Step 8: Seal up the sides of your home and shore up your awnings.
-
Step 9: Don't do these things.
Detailed Guide
Yellow jackets feed primarily off of protein, so be sure to keep those turkey sandwiches indoors and enjoy the postprandial glow outside instead of the other way around.
Food sources include your pet's food as well.
Make sure you find an effective way to store your pet food (if you do store it outside) so that any roaming yellow jackets can't make a quick feast out of your furry friend's treat.
In the spring and summer, yellow jackets eat primarily protein.
In the fall, yellow jackets begin to incorporate sugars into their diet.
Sugar can increase the lifespan and reproductive function of many predatory wasps, making it a particularly dangerous thing to keep around.If picnicking, try to keep sweets such as sodas and desserts indoors.
Hummingbird feeders, essentially sugar-water dispensers, can be especially problematic.
Investigate ways to kill or remove the entire colony before you put up a lot of sugar-water for them to gorge on. , If you have to put out food (we do not advocate blowing off 4th of July on account of some pesky wasps), one unusual wasp repellent you can try is cucumber.
This vegetable has an acid property that wasps don't like.
Cut up a few slices and leave around your picnic or BBQ area.
They stay away and you can enjoy your outdoor activities without fear of getting stung. , Yellow jackets are primarily hunters, but they can morph into greedy little scavengers if the prize is worth it.
An open or easy-to-access garbage can is just that.
Remember that sugars and proteins are especially pleasing to yellow jackets, so consider isolating those into separate bins to be extra sure.
It's not necessary if you take care to lock up your entire garbage heap, but it may give succor to those fiercely afraid of yellow jackets. , Wasps are territorial so they will not make a nest where one already exist.
To give the illusion of a wasp nest crumple up a small brown grocery bag, attach a string, and hang near your doors.
They cannot tell if it's truly a nest but they seem to trust what they see.
Their instincts will kick in and they will go away. , Awnings and loose siding on your home is a safe, enticing place for yellow jackets to shack up and make a home.
Seal these places properly to prevent a yellow jacket infestation from making its way — quite literally — into your home.
Infestations of yellow jackets into your home will most likely require the expertise of a professional exterminator, and will cost you a pretty penny while you're at it.
If you're the patient type, wait for winter.
Cold enough weather will kill off the entire colony, after which time you can remove the wasp nest and seal up your home properly. , In addition to the advice above, don't do any of the following thing, as they are most likely counterproductive:
Don't wear bright colors.
The yellow jackets could think that you're a flower and be attracted to you.
Don't swat at yellow jackets.
Killing one yellow jacket may be cathartic, but it also causes a pheromone to be released which attracts other wasps.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Don't wear overly aromatic perfumes.
Yellow jackets are attracted to sweet smells.
About the Author
Susan Thomas
Brings years of experience writing about creative arts and related subjects.
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