They live right under our feet and when we least expect it, they bite and sting repeatedly. It’s only February 2020, but they are already back.
So far this year, the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District has received 11 requests for ground-nesting yellowjacket service. That is more than any of the five previous years, including 2019, and 2019 was a big year for ground-nesting yellowjackets.
Over the last five years, the number of requests the District has received for ground-nesting yellowjacket service has increased steadily, with a record-breaking number of requests in 2019.
According to Sheila Currier, the District supervisor who oversees the District’s ground-nesting yellowjacket program, “Yellowjackets will hunker down over winter and wait for warmer weather before they come out to look for new nest locations. A very cold winter can help reduce the population; however, this winter has been fairly mild. So far, it appears as if the ground-nesting yellowjackets are getting an early start, but it’s too soon to tell if this momentum will continue all year long.”
What can Contra Costa County residents do to reduce the risk of these biting and stinging insects now that they are already on the move? The short answer is–trap them now.
Set Out Traps Now in an Effort To Catch the Queens
By putting out reusable yellowjacket traps now, even as early as Valentine’s Day, you have the best chance to catch the queens before they have a chance to start building a new colony.
- Purchase new reusable traps from a home or garden store, or get out last year’s reusable traps.
- Hang the traps away from where people and pets like to be. The best locations are high in trees at the edge of your property.
- Use fruit juice in the traps for the next couple of weeks because the queens can be attracted to the juice.
- Around St. Patrick’s Day, start using the pheromone insert that is usually sold alongside the reusable traps in home and garden stores. The insert will attract worker yellowjackets to the trap by mimicking their own hormones.
When to Call the District
The Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District provides inspection and treatment of ground-nesting yellowjacket nests only. If you are seeing yellowjackets coming out of a hole in the ground on your property, or out from under a bush or other ground-level vegetation, please mark the nest by placing a tool or other marker as close to the nest as you can safely. Also, draw a simple map of your yard pointing out the location of the nest, and tape the map to your front door or gate. Then call the District at 925-685-9301 or visit the District’s website to request ground-nesting yellowjacket service.
Once you’ve requested the District’s ground-nesting yellowjacket service, be sure to leave the nest alone. The nest must be dry and untreated when the District technician arrives to inspect the nest. The District does not make appointments. A technician will arrive to provide service usually within five business days.
image: courtesy of the Contra Costa Mosquito & Vector Control District
7 comments
Keep your distance, had a nest in back corner of garden last year. One landed on a finger and in a matter of seconds it gnawed a painful half inch cut.
What we did early morning before they emerged, we hung a UV bug zapper 1/2 Acre Flowtron near burrow entrance. Initial knockdown was impressive, in 7 – 10 days it wiped them out. Left it there for another 2 weeks to get any that hatched out.
If they come back this year will try zapper again.
Possibly a stupid question here: why hang the traps up high when they’re ground dwelling?
cause they like to explore their surroundings and feel safe congregating at higher levels. By placing the traps up they can enjoy a friendly pit stop. The ground dwelling is simply home base to them.
Believe traps mimic food sources, perhaps putting them high allows wind to spread attracting smell further.
FYI:
I was cleaning out a couple of my birdhouses (for oak titmouses) last month and while removing the old nest material I discovered about 30 hornets huddled together. I thought they were dead until I detected slight movement. The little buggers were hibernating!
They were really sluggish due to the 50-degree weather so I dumped them out and ended their lives with my right foot.
Interesting eh?
Last year, I caught two of those little monsters in my home, crawling at the bottom of the sliding glass patio door. I tried killing them with hair spray, and it froze their wings. This year I will try the UV Zapper. I don’t like to spray insecticide… so does anyone know of a more natural remedy to repel these suckers. I hate them and I’m afraid of them. Thanks
Yes at the hardware store they sell a natural concentrated flower extract. It is safe around humans but really over powers the insect immediately and they die instantly too. Just be extremely careful if you plan to unleash this. Sometimes it’s best to let someone with experience handle it. I know people that have been stung before and have gone into shock and then needed immediate medical attention with a dose of epinephrine .
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