This set-up brings back ancient memories! My family used this type of trap in the early 1960s: a length of 2x6 with bacon strips thumb-tacked to one face and placed over a galvanized wash bucket with the bacon side down and bucket filled w/ water to within about 1.5" of the bacon strips. No soap, but that's prob. an improvement to reduce surface tension. Drowned hundreds of yellow jackets in an afternoon.
I worked as for a power company (city). yellow jackets love to build nests in meter bases. For some reason, they hate drier sheets. As long as the sheet remains dry, it will keep the yellow jackets out for up to a year
I love your trap. I might try this in a bucket. I have a huge yellow jacket nest extremely high up in a maple tree. The hornets invade the hummingbirds feeders. Now I know why.
That's why I'm watching this. The hummingbirds are scared of theses asshats. They chase them away. I'm going to make one of these traps, the only difference it'd be taller not accessible to small animals or even my dogs. Cheers.
Up here in Toronto Ontario, Canada it's been really bad the last few years. I don't remember them being this prolific in the past. I've had great success using large plastic water bottles (a 2L pop/soda bottle would work fine) with the top 1/3 cut off, inverted, taped to form a tight seal and then filled with a few inches of orange soda. Traps them by the dozens. Good luck!
Clever and effective but not quite a perfect solution, here’s why: other “land” critters (cats, dogs, opossums, rats, squirrels, raccoons, etc.) “could” get into that trap, mess with it, eat your hot dogs and cause mayhem. A way to keep other critters out (including pets) would be to use a storage tub with a lid; cut a hole in the top the size of a soda bottle, then cut the top off a soda bottle and cut small “flanges” around the “cut” edge of the soda bottle top, turn that upside down and place that in the hole of the tub lid. Tape those flanges of the soda bottle to the top of that lid, making sure the soda bottle top sticks down through that hole in the lid. Then put your soap water in the tub and then drop in your hot dogs or cat food, secure the lid to the tub with aluminum tape, and you’re done.
@@Cath5712 this is a legit question. I have had raccoons and other animals get into the trap sometimes but not before I've killed thousands of these yellow jackets first. I suppose you could hang it in a high location but my only concern would be if you would get as many yellow jackets. A lot of yellow jackets build their nests underground in old gopher holes or snake holes and stay close to the surface from what I've seen. For the payoff it's not that much trouble to go out and change or replace the meat when needed. Best of luck.
@@ChuckRobertsonProject Just a thought, maybe you would want to consider taking the meat source in & putting it in the fridge during the night, b/c wasps pretty much go back to their hives at night, but Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks, Foxes, & many other animals may be out & about at night, attracted to meat sources, & needlessly harmed. Only baiting during the day could be a good option. [10.6.2024]
They are meat eaters. They are on the hunt for protein to bring back to the nest. I've never known them to be attracted to sweet before but I guess when protein is scarce they gather what they can.
@@ChuckRobertsonProject The adults mainly drink nectar and a sugary saliva produced by their own larvae, but they also eat fruit, meat and fish. In late summer, wasps often concentrate around ripe fruit and other sweets.
This set-up brings back ancient memories! My family used this type of trap in the early 1960s: a length of 2x6 with bacon strips thumb-tacked to one face and placed over a galvanized wash bucket with the bacon side down and bucket filled w/ water to within about 1.5" of the bacon strips. No soap, but that's prob. an improvement to reduce surface tension. Drowned hundreds of yellow jackets in an afternoon.
I worked as for a power company (city). yellow jackets love to build nests in meter bases. For some reason, they hate drier sheets. As long as the sheet remains dry, it will keep the yellow jackets out for up to a year
I love your trap. I might try this in a bucket. I have a huge yellow jacket nest extremely high up in a maple tree. The hornets invade the hummingbirds feeders. Now I know why.
That's why I'm watching this. The hummingbirds are scared of theses asshats. They chase them away. I'm going to make one of these traps, the only difference it'd be taller not accessible to small animals or even my dogs. Cheers.
Yellow jackets swarm in response to food. They are the gardeners friend.
Break the ground near a nest... then say that !
they are a pain in the ass
I like them, but it's them or me - I'm super allergic and one sting would put me in anaphylactic shock! :(
@@Daffob1nt Epipen! EPIPEN® (epinephrine injection, USP) Auto-Injector
Up here in Toronto Ontario, Canada it's been really bad the last few years. I don't remember them being this prolific in the past.
I've had great success using large plastic water bottles (a 2L pop/soda bottle would work fine) with the top 1/3 cut off, inverted, taped to form a tight seal and then filled with a few inches of orange soda. Traps them by the dozens. Good luck!
Is it bee safe?
@@TheDajoca Yes. Bees are not carnivores. Yellow jackets are.
Clever and effective but not quite a perfect solution, here’s why: other “land” critters (cats, dogs, opossums, rats, squirrels, raccoons, etc.) “could” get into that trap, mess with it, eat your hot dogs and cause mayhem. A way to keep other critters out (including pets) would be to use a storage tub with a lid; cut a hole in the top the size of a soda bottle, then cut the top off a soda bottle and cut small “flanges” around the “cut” edge of the soda bottle top, turn that upside down and place that in the hole of the tub lid. Tape those flanges of the soda bottle to the top of that lid, making sure the soda bottle top sticks down through that hole in the lid. Then put your soap water in the tub and then drop in your hot dogs or cat food, secure the lid to the tub with aluminum tape, and you’re done.
Brilliant!! We shall do this next summer.
Will this attract and kill bees? We don’t want to do that.
@@jayelle1511 No. Bees are not meat eaters.
Nice
As much as I admire that trap, I think I would move.
what about the meat attractingother animals, like raccoons?
You're clueless.
Coons gotta eat!
@@robjones-qj2jj Why is he clueless? That's a legit question. I'd have made the trap much higher, not accessible to other animals.
@@Cath5712 this is a legit question. I have had raccoons and other animals get into the trap sometimes but not before I've killed thousands of these yellow jackets first. I suppose you could hang it in a high location but my only concern would be if you would get as many yellow jackets. A lot of yellow jackets build their nests underground in old gopher holes or snake holes and stay close to the surface from what I've seen.
For the payoff it's not that much trouble to go out and change or replace the meat when needed.
Best of luck.
@@ChuckRobertsonProject Just a thought, maybe you would want to consider taking the meat source in & putting it in the fridge during the night, b/c wasps pretty much go back to their hives at night, but Raccoons, Opossums, Skunks, Foxes, & many other animals may be out & about at night, attracted to meat sources, & needlessly harmed. Only baiting during the day could be a good option.
[10.6.2024]
We did this same thing this year and killed thousands
This time of year yellow jackets are actually attracted to sweet more than meat.
They'll take what they can get - it's last ditch effort to feed the queen and her next wave of females for next spring. They need protein to grow.
They are meat eaters. They are on the hunt for protein to bring back to the nest. I've never known them to be attracted to sweet before but I guess when protein is scarce they gather what they can.
This time of year, I have a friend who soaks the bacon in 100% pure apple cider - no sugar added. Works better than bacon alone.
@@ChuckRobertsonProject The adults mainly drink nectar and a sugary saliva produced by their own larvae, but they also eat fruit, meat and fish. In late summer, wasps often concentrate around ripe fruit and other sweets.