THE PESKY YELLOWJACKET -  NOT JUST A SUMMER PROBLEM!

Looking forward to wonderful warm days spent lounging, picnicking or playing in your yard and garden.......Only to be forced inside by pesky, aggressive YELLOW JACKETS?  Get the RESCUE YELLOWJACKET TRAP OUT NOW!   Action in the first warms days and weeks of the spring can help rescue you from this summertime fate.

With the arrival of the first warm days of the season, we see the emergence of the QUEEN YELLOWJACKETS.  The hundreds and even thousands of workers that one single queen may produce can disrupt garden gatherings, picnics and outdoor play later on in the summer and fall.  Use the RESCUE YELLOWJACKET TRAP NOW to catch the queen yellowjackets and help control this warm weather problem.

The Rescue Yellowjacket Trap is one of the best we have tried. It is also helpful in decreasing the yellowjacket population which can become a nuisance around  Hummingbird Feeders.

Catching the queen will not decimate the yellowjacket population, but can decrease the likelihood that they will settle on or near your property.  

The Reusable Yellowjacket Trap can be used with low maintanence throughout the whole yellowjacket season, especially during late summer months when the yellowjacket becomes increasingly aggressive.  

FACTS ABOUT THE YELLOWJACKET:

THE YELLOWJACKET
The yellowjacket is one of the most dangerous insects known to man. These brightly colored wasps possess a fiery sting and bite seemingly out of proportion to their size.

Yellowjackets are a common pest at picnics and other outdoor activities. They scavenge for meat and sweet liquids, which brings them into frequent contact with humans. Yellowjacket attacks can be deadly for people who are allergic to their stings.

Although many people see their yellow and black markings and label them "bees,"  yellowjackets are actually a type of wasp. Yellowjackets, paper wasps and bees are differentiated by several physical characteristics.

What makes them dangerous

Yellowjackets are more aggressive than other stinging insects such as wasps, hornets, mud daubers or bees. Yellowjackets can sting and bite. Since they don't lose their stinger, they can sting numerous times, and will do so unprovoked.

Yellowjackets vigorously defend their nests. Swarm attacks can occur when someone accidentally steps in or hits a nest opening. Attacks from underground nests can also be triggered by ground vibrations, thus, mowing lawns can be hazardous during the late summer season when colonies are large.

Some real-life yellowjacket horror stories shared by our customers illustrate how dangerous yellowjackets can be. We also have a list of yellowjacket DOs and DON'Ts and steps to take if you're stung.

Yellowjacket queens

The queen is the only member of a yellowjacket colony that will survive the winter. Queens will overwinter in sheltered locations such as under loose tree bark or in decaying stumps.

The queen emerges from hibernation during the first warm days of spring, usually in April or May. Once emerging, she establishes a nest location by digging a cavity in the soil or enlarging an existing hole. She uses plant fibers to build a nest and lay eggs in the cells as they are constructed.

After a short period of additional foraging, the queen no longer leaves the nest and her primary function is to lay eggs.

You can lessen your yellowjacket problem by catching queens in the spring.

Yellowjacket workers and nests

Workers start emerging about 30 days after the queen lays eggs in the nest. Yellowjacket colonies vary in size from less than a hundred to several thousand workers. Colony growth is most rapid by midsummer as successive broods of workers emerge.

In late summer or autumn, worker yellowjackets are much more likely to sting and bite, even when away from the nest.

Yellowjacket foraging

Most yellowjacket workers forage for food within 1,000 feet of their nest,  a distance of 3 football fields.

In the middle of the season, usually June or July, yellowjackets are drawn to protein sources, such as hamburgers on the barbecue grill. During the late summer to early fall, they tend to shift their diet to sweets, such as a can of soda.

CATCHING THE QUEEN YELLOWJACKET

The onset of spring's warmer temperatures can bring an unwelcome invader: the queen yellowjacket, searching for a spot to settle and start her colony for the summer.

Yellowjacket queens spend the winter in sheltered locations, such as under loose tree bark or in decaying stumps.

During the first warm days of spring, when the daytime temperatures consistently reach the upper 60s to low 70s, the queen emerges to look for a new site for her nest. The most frequent nest sites are underground, but some yellowjackets have been known to nest in wall voids of a house.

Yellowjacket colonies started by just one queen can grow to include anywhere from 400 to 5,000 workers later in the season.

To prevent some yellowjacket nests from ever being established, you can use the RESCUE? Yellowjacket Trap to catch the queens in early spring.

Every queen caught in the spring means fewer yellowjackets will be around to torment you in the summer.

Catching queens at this time will not decimate the yellowjacket population. But it does decrease the likelihood that yellowjackets will build a nest on or near your property.

Yellowjacket colonies grow exponentially. A colony started by a single queen can produce thousands of workers, hundreds of which are fertilized at the end of the season and become new queens themselves. The original queen dies, but the new queens overwinter and each produces a new colony the following year.

YELLOWJACKET DO'S AND DON'TS

Yellowjackets are most aggressive in late summer. Taking precautions at this time can help you avoid being stung.

DO:

• Look before you sip your drink. Yellowjackets are attracted to sweet foods and drinks like soda and juices.
• Cover trash containers and keep them away from eating areas. Yellowjackets forage in garbage for food scraps and drink containers.
• Wear heavy clothing when walking in wooded areas. Yellowjackets can sting through lightweight fabrics.
• Try to remain calm in the presence of yellowjackets. Move slowly and deliberately and gently brush the yellowjacket away if it lands on you.
• Call a professional pest control operator to remove a yellowjacket nest. This is a dangerous task for an amateur.

DON'T:

• Swat at yellowjackets. They are more likely to attack and sting when aggravated.
• Smash a yellowjacket. When crushed, they give off an alarm pheromone that can cause others in the area to attack.
• Wear perfume, scented hairspray or lotion, or brightly colored clothes if you are going outdoors. Yellowjackets are attracted to these things.
• Let children play in overgrown or wooded areas. These are prime nesting sites for yellowjackets.
• Use gasoline to eliminate yellowjackets. Gasoline should never be poured into underground nest holes.
  
  CUSTOMER COMMENTS ABOUT THE RESCUE YELLOWJACKET TRAP

"I purchased the RESCUE YELLOWJACKET TRAP about two years ago and was immediately impressed with how well it worked. I put the trap out in early June and soon collected over 500 of the critters (I counted 'em). The second year I put the trap out earlier and, as advertised, it collected some of the queens. Our property is adjacent to a wooded area and a creek. The yellowjackets pose a rather serious problem for the children playing in the area. The problem is well on the way to solution thanks to your product. I'll put it out again this year with one of the long-lasting Attractant Cartridges.  In this day of ad hype, it's always a very pleasant surprise when something works as well as, or better than, advertised."   Thomas F. Doran, Colorado Springs, CO

"We live on the outskirts of the Angeles National Forest, and have wrestled with yellowjackets for several years. Last year, in the spring, we used two of your traps. We must've gotten the queen (as you suggest) and had little problem for the rest of the season. We 'forgot' to do so this year and were infested with the darn pests. But yesterday we placed a trap near a nest, and this AM it was already catching the jackets. It works, and we won't forget this coming spring! Thanks."  

                                                                    Rich "Doc" Colley, Tujunga, CA