An Easy to Make and Effective Yellow Jacket Trap That Won't Cost Anything to Make

Late summer and early fall picnics can be marred by the menace of stinging insects, for the most part yellow jackets that are attracted to sweet foods placed out on the table. However, the problem can be resolved with the use of low priced store bought or else free homemade yellow jacket traps.
If you are willing to buy a trap, an online consumer website http://www.galttech.com/research/household-DIY-tools/yellow-jacket-traps.php recommends RESCUE Reusable Yellow Jacket Trap. Rescue traps are low priced, ($10.00), and reusable. If you use up the bait you can substitute something sweet like sugar water or mashed fruit or soft drink. A second choice is Raid Disposable Yellow Jacket Trap (81605) - 4 Pack. These traps cost around $35.00. However, the advantage is that they are disposable, and avoid the need to clean and reuse. A third recommendation is Glass Yellow Jacket & Wasp Trap: by Greenfleet . These traps go for around $20.00 they are reusable, decorative and attract wasps as well as yellow jackets.
If you choose, you can {create|build a very effective yellow jacket trap, in a short amount of time at no cost at all. The only equipment you will need are an empty 2 liter soda, some tape or staples, some string and a kitchen knife or hole puncher. Just follow the step by step instructions.
1. Get hold of an empty 2 liter plastic bottle; a mineral water bottle will do just fine.
2. Cut the topoff, just where the diameter has become as wide as the body.
3. The bottle will now be divided into two pieces, an upper piece, narrow at the top and wider at the bottom, and a low piece with is a cylindrical jar shaped piece, with an open top.
4. Now half fill the lower open jar shaped piece with bait.. What can you use for yellow jacket bait?
a. In the spring and early summer, when the yellow jackets are breeding, they prefer protein, so the best bait is meat. You can use either hamburger or lumcheon meat, for example.
b. In the summer or fall use a sweet substance. Possible choices include: honey, cut fruit, jam, root beer, mashed grapes, sugar and water. Additional choices include pieces crushed grapes or banana. Other bait choices include a 1/2 cup of sugar and 1/2 cup of water mixture, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar, I banana peel, then half fill the bottle. Lemonade or even Pepsi/soda work. You can, in fact, use anything that yellow jackets have been attracted to at one of your outdoor picnics.
c. To add to the killing power of the trap, squirt in a couple of tablespoons of dish washing liquid
d. A little bit of yellow food coloring can also be added as the color yellow attracts them.
5. Now invert the top of the plastic bottle, upside down, so that it resembles a funnel, and place it inside the lower half of the bottle, remember to remove the plastic top
6. It should hold in place, depending on the bottle shape
6. Tape and/or staple the top together with the bottom of the bottle. Keep in mind, that if you wish to reuse your trap, you will have to open the two pieces, periodically to clean the insides.
7. Cut two holes in the plastic where the two pieces come together, near the top. Put a string through the holes and use it to hang the bottle.
8. Before you take your trap out to use, apply a slippery substance to the upper, exposed surface of the funnel shaped piece. You can use cooking oil, hot soapy water, dishwashing soap or Vasoline, and be sure to spread it around.This will cause the wasps to lose their footing and fall into the trap. Cooking oil may also be used.
9. Place about 20 feet from the picnic table
10. The traps are most effective at a height of about 4 feet.
11. The traps are most effective at a temperature around 85 degrees Farenheit.
12. The yellow jackets will fly in, attracted to the sweet. When they try and leave, insect logic dictates they should look for the highest point to exit. The yellow jakets will fly around and around, but rarely see the internal opening to the inverted funnel.When they get tired they fall into the soapy liquid. The viscous fluid, then sticks to the yellow jacket body making it impossible for them to breath.
13. When full replace the trap with a new one or empty it regularly making sure the yellow jackets are dead. You can kill them by filling the bottle full of water, or covering it with plastic and placing it in the freezer until they freeze to death.
14. Add additional bait every few days, either by opening the trap or via the mouth of the funnel.
15. DON'T let live yellow jackets escape as they can bring an angry swarm of wasps. DON'T crush yellow jacket bodies as that emits a smell, which might attract other yellow jackets. You can also free the yellow jackets in the wild, however they may return
16. Bury dead yellow jackets or flush them down the toilet as the dead yellow jackets emit a warning odor to living wasps.
Good luck and enjoy your outdoor picnics in safety.

Article Source: http://www.onlinearticlessite.com

This research has been supported by Entymologist Dovis Davis, Director of A #1 Pest Control Exterminator Bed Bugs, Roach, Animal, Fleas Termite Control

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