Fighting Off Yellowjackets in My Backyard Safely: A Personal Account of Dealing with Allergies and Advice for Staying Protected
In the heart of summer, Bonnie L. Grant, a professional landscaper and gardening expert, found herself in a familiar yet unwelcome predicament - a yellowjacket infestation. The large poplar tree in her front yard was infested with aphids, secreting honeydew that attracted the wasps.
Bonnie, who has a fear of yellowjackets due to an allergy to their stings, applied a systemic insecticide to kill the aphids. However, the problem didn't end there. The yellowjackets had discovered a nest hidden in the rocks near her home, and her neighbour's plum trees, within spitting distance of Bonnie's deck, were providing a sweet treat for the wasps.
Determined to mitigate the issue, Bonnie planned a neighbourly chat to discuss the plum problem. Her neighbour, it seemed, didn't harvest the fruit from his trees, allowing them to rot and attract the yellowjackets.
Facing the swarming insects, Bonnie wore clothing more appropriate for an Arctic exploration to spray foam around the rock area where the nest was located. However, her initial attempt at a DIY yellowjacket trap only attracted a few wasps, leaving the nest untouched.
Recognising the need for a more effective solution, Bonnie turned to professional pest control services. She later purchased commercial yellowjacket, wasp, and hornet traps, spray foam, and other supplies to deal with the nest.
In her quest to share her experience and provide helpful advice, Bonnie offers the following key points for safe and effective yellowjacket management:
- Timing: Treat the nest at dusk or after dark to reduce aggression since yellowjackets are less active then.
- Chemical control: Use long-range wasp and hornet insecticide sprays designed for yellowjackets. These allow you to spray from a safe distance with minimal risk to humans and pets.
- DIY traps: Homemade traps using sugary bait can capture some worker yellowjackets but are generally ineffective for established nests or removing the queen.
- Professional removal: If you locate a nest, especially inside buildings or in hard-to-reach places, it is safest to call licensed pest control pros who can use specialized techniques such as high-power vacuum removal targeting the queen, which collapses the colony.
- Avoid dangerous methods: Methods like using gasoline and fire to burn nests carry significant safety risks to people, pets, and property and are not recommended.
In addition, Bonnie suggests minimizing harm by keeping children and pets away from treatment areas, following product labels carefully on insecticide use, sealing cracks and entry points in your home to discourage new nests, and using traps placed out of children's and pets’ reach.
Natural insect-repelling sprays, such as garlic spray and neem oil, are helpful for general pest deterrence but have limited effectiveness against yellowjacket nests.
As the summer progressed, Bonnie considered an unexpected solution to the plum problem - harvesting the fruit from her neighbour's trees to make use of the 'Jam Girl Summer' trend. Whether this neighbourly gesture would be reciprocated remains to be seen.
Kathleen Walters, the content editor, shares Bonnie's story to raise awareness about yellowjacket infestations and the importance of safe and effective management strategies. With Bonnie's expertise and experience, we can all learn to coexist with these important yet sometimes problematic creatures in our gardens.
- Bonnie, having a keen interest in health-and-wellness due to her yellowjacket allergy, opted for a systemic insecticide to eliminate the aphids in her garden.
- To complement her lifestyle choices, Bonnie began considering sustainable-living methods, such as harvesting her neighbor's rotting plum fruit for home-and-garden use.
- In promoting her newfound insights on yellowjacket management, Bonnie emphasizes the significance of gardening techniques, like timing treatments at dusk, and utilizing long-range insecticides for chemical control.
- As summer wanes, Bonnie's fascination with outdoor-living led her to explore integrating gardening practices into her home-and-garden space, like the Jam Girl Summer trend she hoped to embrace.
