How to Get Rid of Yellowjackets

No one likes to be stung by a bee or a wasp, but of all the flying, stinging creatures, yellowjackets are perhaps the meanest and most aggressive. Yellowjackets are slightly smaller than honeybees. Unlike other bees, yellowjackets can sting repeatedly. The best way to keep yellowjackets away from your home is to make your home unattractive as a source of food.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. Clean up any spilled food or beverages immediately if you are at a cookout or a picnic. Yellowjackets enjoy the same food and drink as humans. Soda and fruit drinks, as well as cooked meat, are immensely appealing to yellowjackets, and they can smell them from a long way off.

2. Be careful when drinking from a can that has been sitting uncovered; you don't know what might be inside. Keep all beverage sources covered and dispose of empty beverage containers immediately. Cover all standing food when it isn't being served.

3. Be especially cautious around trash containers as these are a banquet for yellowjackets. Keep the area clean, avoid spilling food or beverages near the container, and keep the container covered. Warn children to stay away from the trash containers.

4. Don't wear perfume, cologne, shaving lotion or scented deodorant outside, as these attract yellowjackets and other insects.

5. Look for yellowjacket nests both above and below ground. If you see anything that looks like nest building activity near your home, it is best not to try to remove the nest yourself and incur the wrath of these aggressive creatures. Call a professional pest control company instead.

6. Buy traps. Non-toxic bait traps are available in some garden centers or mail-order catalogs. The traps are filled with a liquid such as sugar water. The yellowjackets fall in and drown. The dead yellowjackets should be removed every day.