Yellow jackets are nesting in the ground and hovering around the sugar water in the hummingbird feeders. They're annoying, not the hummingbirds, and irritating. A yellow jacket ground nest was disrupted one night a few weeks ago, probably by a bear, on a path that I walk to the garden. It's the time of year for the yellow jackets to prepare for the winter months. As you know, I'm a DIY person, always researching a way to replicate a formula or find an alternate solution to a problem. I do this because there are so many natural non-toxic ways to solve problems that cost less. My old stand-by is a shallow dish with the sugar/water solution and a drop of detergent to break the water surface so when the yellow jackets approach the sweet nectar they slip and fall into the dish and are unable to escape.
Annoying yellow jacket sipping sugar water from the side of the hummingbird feeder.
BLAH!!! Some days we find a hundred dead in the dish.
Today I researched more ways to capture the little pests because I noticed more hovering and trying to suck the sugar water from the tube feeders. The recipe I made today uses a ripe banana peel, apple cider vinegar, sugar and water in a two liter plastic bottle with a small hole in the top half of the bottle. Theory has it that the ripe fruit peel along with the other ingredients will attract the pesky jackets. We'll see. On another google search, I discovered this pesticide. The "tools" needed: WINE! red not white, a clean soda or water bottle, and dish liquid. You cut the top third or quarter of the bottle. Put about 1/2" of wine in the bottle and two drops of dish liquid. Flip the top over to make a funnel and place it snuggly in the bottle. Place it where it's most needed outdoors. Yellow jackets will seek the wine and not be able to escape.
I truly enjoyed the comment of a reader who tried this recipe. "I selected a somewhat textured Cabernet Sauvignon with hints of leather, cinnamon and pear but a surprising floral finish. They (yellow jackets) seemed to enjoy it......well, until they died tried to struggled out."
Today I researched more ways to capture the little pests because I noticed more hovering and trying to suck the sugar water from the tube feeders. The recipe I made today uses a ripe banana peel, apple cider vinegar, sugar and water in a two liter plastic bottle with a small hole in the top half of the bottle. Theory has it that the ripe fruit peel along with the other ingredients will attract the pesky jackets. We'll see. On another google search, I discovered this pesticide. The "tools" needed: WINE! red not white, a clean soda or water bottle, and dish liquid. You cut the top third or quarter of the bottle. Put about 1/2" of wine in the bottle and two drops of dish liquid. Flip the top over to make a funnel and place it snuggly in the bottle. Place it where it's most needed outdoors. Yellow jackets will seek the wine and not be able to escape.
I truly enjoyed the comment of a reader who tried this recipe. "I selected a somewhat textured Cabernet Sauvignon with hints of leather, cinnamon and pear but a surprising floral finish. They (yellow jackets) seemed to enjoy it......well, until they died tried to struggled out."
Comments