# Yellow Jacket Bait Stations



## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

Today I resorted to baiting yellow jackets with cat food mixed with Fipronil (Generic Frontline for cats and dogs). Basically the yellow jackets are decimating my hives. As I walked to the bee yard the box with the bait and my arms became covered with yellow jackets. I was wearing full PPE.
The yellow jackets cleaned out the bait stations within 90 minutes. 

If anyone has used Fipronil baiting for yellow jackets, have you found something less expensive then the dog and cat version?


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## hex0rz (Jan 14, 2014)

Tell me about it! Once the dearth hit, my nucs were waging war! I took the lid off one and found the whole thing covered in yjs. They were in bee jail. Once i freed them they proceeded to attack me. 

Soapy water was my retaliation to their homeland!


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

The advantage to baiting is the yjs take the bait back to the nest where it kills the nest. Usually in a couple of days.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Well don't feel persecuted guys. The Yellow jacket hoards of 2016 are not limited to the west. It is the worst year I have seen in decades for yellow jackets.


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## Hogback Honey (Oct 29, 2013)

Well, the one good thing about the bears around here, they DO dig up, and eat, yellow jacket nests. So far this year, I haven't had a yj problem.


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## Hops Brewster (Jun 17, 2014)

When I go hang out with my bees in the evening the past week or so I've been taking a fly swatter and help them fight the YJs. The 'hoard' is usually just picking up the few dead bees outside the hives but I do see one trying to get in an entrance once in awhile. They instantly get balled. I give the YJs within easy reach a slap from the wrist, then when other YJs come to scope out the carnage, I get them, too. fun times :shhhh:


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

MTN-Bees said:


> The advantage to baiting is the yjs take the bait back to the nest where it kills the nest. Usually in a couple of days.


Wondering what your mix ratio is?


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

Well I have to say- the results were unbelievable. Tonight I went out to the yard I placed bait in. The bait I placed out this morning has not removed. And there were hardly any YJs. Overnight from thousands to a few here and their. I will have to monitor and see if the YJs nests were taken out or we just killed a lot of the attackers. I placed one tube of Frontline in one small can of cat food and mixed really well. Time will tell.


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## radial (Aug 1, 2016)

"Frontine" or Frontline?


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## radial (Aug 1, 2016)

radial said:


> "Frontine" or Frontline?


Oops, nevermind. Just re-read your original post.


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

Thanks- I fixed the error.


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## radial (Aug 1, 2016)

Okay, I just purchased 20 oz of Taurus SC with 9.1 % Fipronil. What amount do you figure I should add to a 3 oz can of cat food for controlling yellowjackets, white faced hornets, and European hornets?


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

I added 0.50mL fipronil to a 5.5 oz can of cat food. It's a very small amount. I placed the bait inside small plastic cups about the size of a shot glass. Then placed the cups inside suet feeders to keep the wildlife out of the bait.


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## radial (Aug 1, 2016)

Hey, thanks for the dosing info! I was also wondering how I could keep the other critters away from the cat food. Suet feeder would do the trick.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

Same here, Taurus SC, ½ cc per can, of Friskies Flaked ocean whitefish dinner. 
I place mine in a pop bottle with some 3/8 holes drilled in it (without the cap) and hang them in the yards and have had zero issues since starting this. Best to start in the spring and also I have found that I move the bait location to different corners of the properties for best results.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

MTN-Bees, will you please give us follow-up reports periodically for the next few weeks?
That would be really appreciated!
There is only one approved pesticide in Oregon for yellow jacket bait stations and that is Onslaught.
Several of us have been disappointed with it's efficacy.
It does work. It is just very demanding in presentation.

Minz is right on the money.
The first thing that I learned from Oregon State University is what a small area a yellow jacket colony forages.
They aren't flying 2 miles like honey bees!!!
In fact much of the literature exaggerates their range.
We are talking a range of hundreds of FEET from their nest.
This means that you can wipe them out in the front hay field, but in the back field they are untouched.
So as Minz says, you have to treat your area in zones.

Here's some good news that I and a friend have experienced:
Because their range is so small, if you clear them out, next year you will experience few if any yellow jackets.
Remember, yellow jackets don't swarm!!
The only yellow jackets that start up on your property in the spring are the progeny of overwintered solitary queens.
If the colonies are eliminated in mid season, there will be few or no queens overwintering on your property.
This is the case at our home site. Very few yellow jackets.
However, I have a yard several miles away that is a nightmare.
I started baiting them today.
It will be interesting to see what next year is like there.


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

I went out to yard this afternoon and I only saw two YJs. That was it. So I believe it worked well. The bees seemed to be much calmer also. I would continually have them hitting my veil, even before going through the electric fence. Tonight I only had one land on the veil and walk around for a few minutes. It's like night and day. I never experienced YJs in CO like this. I guess the colonies don't get as big their because there is a winter.

Harry: I looked at Onslaught and the test data from some researchers was not good. And the stuff is pretty expensive for not working. I'm going to look at the Taurus SC and see if it is cheaper.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

HarryVanderpool said:


> There is only one approved pesticide in Oregon for yellow jacket bait stations and that is Onslaught.
> Several of us have been disappointed with it's efficacy.
> It does work. It is just very demanding in presentation.


Sorry to mislead you Harry, I am using my Taurus as termite control!:lookout:


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## Dave Burrup (Jul 22, 2008)

http://store.doyourownpestcontrol.com/alpine-yellow-jacket-bait-station-kit-onslaught

I have not tried this but works on the same principle as this discussion.


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## dudelt (Mar 18, 2013)

Harry, Thanks for the information. It verifies what I am seeing this year. Last year my hives were getting decimated. I finally found one nest when I stepped in it. The other The next day when my grandson noticed them. Both were taken out with Dawn and water in late August. This year I started early with the store bought traps and have caught only 2 all year in 6 traps and I have been putting in new pheromone monthly. Very good info going forward. Now I will know how far to be searching for the devils.


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

minz said:


> Sorry to mislead you Harry, I am using my Taurus as termite control!:lookout:


Those things are still on the road?


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## HarryVanderpool (Apr 11, 2005)

MTN, I hope you will keep an eye on things and report on the population.
If the Yellow jacket pressure returns then it will appear that you just killed most of the foragers.
If the Yellow jacket sightings slow to a stop, BINGO!!!!!
I can't wait to get your results.


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## radial (Aug 1, 2016)

Well, now I'm a little concerned:



> Colony collapse disorder[edit]
> 
> Fipronil is one of the main chemical causes blamed for the spread of colony collapse disorder among bees. It has been found by the Minutes-Association for Technical Coordination Fund in France that even at very low nonlethal doses for bees, the pesticide still impairs their ability to locate their hive, resulting in large numbers of forager bees lost with every pollen-finding expedition.[25] A 2013 report by the European Food Safety Authority identified fipronil as "a high acute risk to honeybees when used as a seed treatment for maize and on July 16, 2013 the EU voted to ban the use of fipronil on corn and sunflowers within the EU. The ban took effect at the end of 2013."[26][27]


Not sure I can reconcile using this stuff on the the hornets and wasps with the risk to the bees I'm trying to protect.


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

You have to consider the totality of the situation. If I had a few YJs annoying the yard, I would live with it. I had thousands decimating this yard. I feel this was my best option to save this yard- and it did with no collateral damage that I have observed. I just came in from this yard and I saw no YJs.


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## MTN-Bees (Jan 27, 2014)

I have been using this technique for several years with great success. I’m switching the Taurus SC this year due to cost. Frontline, even the generic products are expensive. I will be using a 1/2 cc per can of canned cat food- fish based. Hopefully it will work as well as the Frontline. If someone is using a different dosage, please let me know.


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## minz (Jan 15, 2011)

that has been the amount but I do not find I get many takers at that. I am going to drop back just a little. It is some pretty nasty stuff.


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## 1954Lincoln (Jun 20, 2019)

I was fishing on the dock and having a couple of beers with my wife and I left a half full bottle of Heineken out. The ground hornets/YJ would not leave it alone and would crawl in and drown. After a couple of days I came back to the lake and the bottle was full of them. That year they were bad... I never located the nest.


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## AR1 (Feb 5, 2017)

1954Lincoln said:


> I was fishing on the dock and having a couple of beers with my wife and I left a half full bottle of Heineken out. The ground hornets/YJ would not leave it alone and would crawl in and drown. After a couple of days I came back to the lake and the bottle was full of them. That year they were bad... I never located the nest.


That's one way to bait them! I wouldn't want to waste a full bottle of beer. 
By the way, gotta be careful when drinking outdoors when the YJs are bad. A friend was stung on the lip and her whole face swelled up.


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## rsjohnson2u (Apr 23, 2012)

I realize this thread is 3 years old but...Has anyone found that later in summer they need a sweet based lure as opposed to meat based? Now that we're in August, the YJ seem after honey, not bees (protein). Have you found the cat food/canned chicken bait still effective when the YJ are more carbohydrate focused? One wouldn't use honey, obviously, but fruit jelly, rotten fruit, soda, etc.

Thanks


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## JWPalmer (May 1, 2017)

I do not have YJ traps out, but each year hundreds drown in my hive top feeders, (they chew their way in). So yes, I do believe that a sweet based lure would be effective.


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## Gino45 (Apr 6, 2012)

JWPalmer said:


> I do not have YJ traps out, but each year hundreds drown in my hive top feeders, (they chew their way in). So yes, I do believe that a sweet based lure would be effective.


I remember an old 'Tapply's tips' from Field and Stream. It was for camping and of course, fishing. The idea was to hang a dead fish over a pail of water. The yellowjackets would gorge on the fish, fall into the bucket, and drown. Pre pesticide days, I guess. IOW, a long time ago.

I have used an gallon glass wine jug with dilute honey water inside. Jackets go for it and drown; however, I'd keep an eye on it to make sure the bees don't go for it also. It also helps to wipe some honey around inside of the jug's neck.


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## rsjohnson2u (Apr 23, 2012)

That's the concern, using sugar water or honey or cappings wax with honey, and not attracting honey bees.

We're entering post blackberry dearth here. Open a hive, and the YJ are on the open honey, not hunting bees. Dry summer in Washington State, and the YJ are particularly bad this year.

Thanks for responding.


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## Andhors (Dec 7, 2018)

Dredging up an old thread here. What is the opinion of fipronil? Would cheaper insecticides work as well mixed with cat food?


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## Cloverdale (Mar 26, 2012)

I will share this again; last season I used these traps and they WORKED! They caught yellow jackets, wax moth, hornets, flies, and NO HONEY BEES. I got the recipe from Rusty Burlews Honey Bee Suite, an articles on Wasps, not sure of exact title. Use 1 pound of Dominoes DARK BROWN SUGAR and a gallon of water. The sugar dissolves. Use a gallon jug, I used a milk jug, cut a hole above the ½ way mark, and fill it half way. I had 3 of these right on top of my hives last year, and it caught and drowned all the above. Follow recipe exactly. I have 20 hives. Yours supposed to hang these where the yellow jackets congregate, but they were so bad last year I put them right in the apiary.


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## crab414 (Jan 6, 2020)

Last summer I took two liter soda bottles and cut the top off right before the taper starts. Invert the top forming a funnel and fill with about 4" of 2-1 syrup. To this add a chunk of banana to repel the bees. This works well until the killing frost and you start getting bees. Form some kind of roof to keep the rain out and you can sit for a while and watch those little sobs drown nice and slow!


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

I used that soda bottle method a few years back. It worked very well.

Alex


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## grozzie2 (Jun 3, 2011)

Last year my wife put out YJ traps by hanging the commercial traps on the apple trees that are between the hive stands. Sounded like a good plan to me other than those traps are expensive. In late May I had some mating nucs get a little on the crowded side and swarm. One of those swarms thought the wasp trap in the apple tree would be a perfect place to set up shop. note the beginnings of wax on the inside of the trap. Second photo is just before cutting it open to move the little swarm into a proper hive. Does a good job of showing the type and brand of YJ trap to use if you want to catch swarms....


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

Just when you think you've seen it all. 

Alex


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## crab414 (Jan 6, 2020)

So those traps do catch something. Maybe I got half dozen yellow jackets in mine last fall.


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## mgolden (Oct 26, 2011)

Apple juice, a splash of apple cider vinegar and a couple of drops of dish soap. Soap disrupts the surface tension so aids in drowning. Works very well to attract(wasps are attracted to apples) and very little/nil attraction to bees.

Cat food, wieners, and bananas never worked very well for me.


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