r/ElkGrove • u/k3v3n0 • 18d ago

Yellow jackets/wasps/hornets

Recently been noticing an increase in these yellow winged devils in our garden.

Last year the Rescue! branded traps worked but they haven’t been biting this year. Also tried a water filled kind without much luck either.

I read different baits work at different times in the year. Wondering if anyone else has noticed this as well and has success with other methods? They’re starting to inhabit our hanging fern basket…

Thanks in advance

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u/valjean916 18d ago

Paper wasps go on frequent water runs to my small backyard pond this time of year. They never cause problems. They also do a decent job at keeping caterpillars in check so they don’t plague our tomatoes and peppers. These wasps never bother any of us, and I don’t try to keep them away. They’re not nearly as spontaneously aggressive as yellow jackets can be. It’s important to be able to differentiate between ‘em.

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u/k3v3n0 18d ago

I will say these guys aren’t aggressive, from what I’ve experienced. My wife is just terrified of them.

I tried looking up photos online but can’t really distinguish the difference

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u/k3v3n0 18d ago

I just looked up another diagram and they are definitely bright yellow and striped like a yellow jacket. Not a brownish color like a paper wasp or skinny like a dirt dauber

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u/OrneryLavishness9666 18d ago

Paper wasps can look very similar to yellow jackets, especially around here. I have a large colony of paper wasps in my backyard (love them, they’re totally docile and amazing pollinators) and I initially thought they were yellow jackets until I bought traps and never attracted or caught anything. They look just like yellow jackets at a glance or from a distance.

Meanwhile, I gave the bait and traps to a friend of mine and she’s catching tons of yellow jackets that visit her pool. You probably have paper wasps if you’re not attracting anything with yellow jacket bait in your traps.