RE: Wasps!!

[cam]

 
Hi all.... a very annoying problem is showing up in our area for those of us who love the outdoors.    Out at the local CG s, the wasps (yellow jackets) are coming out in droves.  It s been unusually hot and dry here and their food supply (flowers and fruit) didn t last the usual season. Now they are seeking food and moisture.  If you are outside with vegatables, fruit, sweet drinks, beer, etc, etc, they just swarm around you....20-30 at a time.  They aren t a very patient insect and react with a sting similar to a bee if you try to shoo them away.  
 
 Anybody have any suggestions on how to keep them away?
 
 Thanks

[mike4947]

 cam
Outside of carrying a can of Yard Guard around we usually just leave a couple of almost empty sodas as far from the trailer as possible. We ve thought about wasp traps, but it is just one more thing we need to pack.

[tlhdoc]

 cam
We leave an offering for the bee god away from our camper.[]

[GeneF]

 cam
We haven t had any problems with the yellow jackets camping but plenty in the yard at home.
 
 I have three nests of the nasty little buggers.  Have gotten stung twice.  They just do not like the sound of a lawn mower going over their nests.
 
 A skunk or some other animal tore up one of the nests.  I didn t even know it was there.  
 
 Anyway, I sprayed all three nests and I believe that the problem is solved.
 
 My other neighbors have reported problems with yellow jackets this yearl

[Camperroo]

 cam
We made bee traps and they work great.  Take an empty clear plastic soda bottle, poke a hole through the sides of the top half.  Take a black rubber tube or use a piece of PVC pipe and wrap black tape around it (we tried it with white and the bees didn t fly into the tube for some reason??) in the middle of the tube cut a hole large enough for the bees to drop into the bottle once they climb into the tube.  Insert the tube into the bottle so that both ends are sticking out.  Uncap the bottle and pour in a half of can of soda, put the cap back on tight and then place the bottle off in an area where the bees can go to it but not disturb you.  This worked unbelievably well, ours was full of bees by the end of the weekend and we were left undisturbed or stung!!  The bees fly in and drink the soda but they can t fly back out.  Bye bye bees!![]

[mrsa1113]

 cam
We use a bee trap we bought an Mendards.  It is basically made on the same principle as the soda bottle.  Has holes in the sides and after they fly in they can t get out.  The directions say to pour some kind of juice in it and also to put in a chunk of raw meat.  We have been using this at home and my husband has just been using sugar water and putting in a chunk of raw fish from the freezer.  Apparently they really like this combination!  After a very short time, it is very full of bees, wasps and flies.  I can t believe how effective it s been.  I also saw one of these same traps being used at one of the food booths this weekend at the state fair!
 

[Campaholics]

 cam
Once the trap has wasps in it there is no good way to empty it and reuse it.  So I like Camperroo s homemade version.  Wish this post would have been last week, so I could have made one for our site last week end.
 
 Camperroo, do you use a 2 liter bottle. what size tube, what size hole in the tube.  A photo would be great!  
 
 Things like this are worth the $30 per year.
 
 Thanks from the Campaholics,
 
 

[Campntime]

 cam
Just seemed right for a Campntime to post after a Campoholic...anyway, on wasps.  Watch out for nests under those electric box lids!
 
 Raised the lid at our local park this summer...not realizing there was a nest under the lid.  Three wasps dropped down on the back of my hand and wrist and stuck me before I even knew they were there!  Last sting just healed.
 
 Park hosts later said they had been a problem and he was trying to check the boxes daily.  He could destroy a nest and they would build back in a day or two.
 
 I mean the big black and yellow Wasps...not Yellow Jackets.