......a post with a sting

Run Farmer Deno, run! Just like in the cartoons of
television......somebody is always running from something. My "something" is Yellow Jackets.There is a wide variety of these buggers......I call them hornets. Smaller in size than the ones you see sucking up mud in your garden.

Yes......it's those pesty things that will fly at sonic speeds once that can of soda is opened......or you have that steak on a plate getting readied for the BBQ to get hot. Within a minute.....there is a flying Army that makes you run into the house.

Smashing these menaces is not advisable.When one crushes a worker, they release a powerful chemical (pheromone) which may incites other workers nearby to attack with fearless tenacity. So whatever you do don't show off your macho image by smashing Yellow Jackets.

So Farmer Deno did his Google research about these hornets.....and came up with some very interesting stuff to share with you. 
 
Begin by setting apple juice traps in March and April to capture queens (I will post... how to make traps... next week).Yellow Jackets seem to be in very low abundance during these months.  However..... every one you see in March is a queen!  For every queen eradicated...... there will be 5000 less workers in August!  Rebait traps every two weeks with fresh apple juice. Continue trapping until May 15.
 
At the height of the worker Yellow Jacket season, August through October, use apple juice traps again. Change juice every week until November.