(Backyard Gardener - Photo Illustration - MetroCreativeConnection)

Hello Mid-Ohio Valley farmers and gardeners! This week I noticed the sun going down a little after 8:30 p.m. Summer is slowly fading into fall but we still have a couple weeks until Labor Day, the unofficial end of summer.

This week let’s talk about yellowjackets. The yellowjacket is sometimes an unwanted guest at late summer and fall picnics and cookouts. The German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica) is common here in the Valley but you can find several other species around.

Common and eastern yellowjackets nest in the ground, German yellowjackets nest in the wall voids of buildings and aerial yellowjackets build paper nests on shrubs, bushes, houses and sheds.

Yellowjackets are considered beneficial because they feed on many destructive insects. However, they do become aggressive in late summer and fall and are attracted to sugary foods and drinks.

Yellowjacket wasps cause the most stings of all bees and wasps and are capable of inflicting multiple stings. Furthermore, attacking yellowjackets release a pheromone which calls others to defend the nest.

Take caution, working around the yard may also introduce you to a few yellowjackets. Activity around a nest, particularly activity that causes vibration, such as from a lawnmower, weed trimmer, or hedge clipping, can cause angry yellowjackets to swarm from a ground nest and attack.

These wasps are commonly confused with honey bees because of their similar size. A typical yellowjacket worker is about 1/2-inch long with alternating black and yellow bands on the abdomen. Queens are visibly larger, approximately 3/4-inch long.

Workers are often confused with honey bees but one is shiny and one is hairy. Honey bees are covered with dense hair and have flattened, hairy hind legs used to carry pollen. Yellowjackets have hard, shiny, mostly hairless bodies.

Yellowjackets are social wasps, living in annual colonies containing workers, queens, and males (drones). Fertilized queens overwinter in hollow logs, under loose bark of dead trees, soil cavities, and other protected places and emerge during the warm days of spring.

After building a small paper nest, the queen starts laying eggs in brood chambers. Young larvae emerge as worker-daughters in 18 to 20 days. They gather wood fibers (to expand the nest size), forage for food, care for the queen and larvae, and defend the colony. Nests quickly reach a population of approximately 4,000 to 5,000 workers by August and late September.

This is when yellowjackets can cause issues. The result is a very large, hungry population of wasps that are short-tempered and sting with little provocation. All of these wasps need something to eat. If food is scarce, they will begin searching far and wide. They are attracted to sweet food items such as carbonated beverages, juices, candy, fruit, and ice cream.

Unfortunately, nests in close proximity the homes may need removed. Insecticide dusts applied to the nest opening offer the best means of control. The wasps pick the dust up on their bodies and transport it to the nest and spread it to other wasps before dying. Sevinç insect dust can be used in addition to Apicideç. Apply liberally near opening.

Under no circumstance should a nest opening in an outside wall of house be plugged; this will only force the wasps to chew their way into the living area (which could be bad news!)

The nest opening should be caulked shut in the following spring to prevent wasps from returning and building a new nest in this same area. It may be a smart move to contact a professional pest control company to remove yellowjackets from walls inside the house.

Applying insecticide dust directly to the nest opening can control ground-nesting species. Most foraging has ceased by sundown, so it is best to attempt nest removal at early dawn because they are slow and sluggish after enduring the night’s cooler temperatures. Never shine a flashlight at the entrance of any bee or wasp nest, as they will fly toward the source of light.

The use of protective equipment, such as gloves, hat, bee veil, coveralls, etc., will prevent stings from any foraging wasps. Goggles are recommended as the workers are known to squirt venom at animal eyes. Once again, it is highly recommended to hire a professional to kill and remove a yellowjacket nest.

Commercial and homemade traps are not a cure to control yellowjackets, but they can be used to reduce populations. Lure traps are available from many retail stores (and online) that sell pest control supplies.

Lure traps contain a chemical that attracts yellowjackets into the traps. In backyards, place them along the edge of the property line as far away from the patio or other protected area as possible.

A simple way to make a trap is to use a 2-liter soda bottle, cut the top off and turn it upside down, so the neck is inside the body of the bottle as an inverted cone. Add some fruit juice, jelly, syrup, or banana peels to the trap. Fill the bottom with 2 inches of water with a few drops of dish soap to break surface tension.

Foraging workers will fly into the trap in search of the bait. They exhaust themselves trying to find an exit, then drown in the water. Empty the traps every few days for best results.

If you can wait them out, a killing frost will kill yellowjacket workers and males. Yellowjackets and other wasp species do not use the same nest again the following year.

If you are stung, the key to treatment is to act quickly. Put an ice pack on the area for 10-minute increments until the swelling is reduced. An antihistamine can be taken to further reduce swelling and itching and if necessary, aspirin or other common pain relievers can be taken for pain.

If you’ve been stung more than 10 times, or got stung in the mouth or around the eyes, you should seek medical attention immediately.

Systemic or whole body allergic reactions to insect stings affect up to 5% of the population during their lifetime. Some insect stings can cause a potentially life-threatening allergy known as anaphylaxis. This can develop at a rapid pace, with symptoms often appearing within 5 to 10 minutes.

If you have had an allergic reaction to a yellowjacket sting in the past, or you experience difficulty breathing or swallowing, confusion or slurred speech, tightness in the throat and neck, or weakness leading to fainting, call 911 or seek emergency care.

If you have a history of severe reactions to insect stings in the past, work with your physician to prescribe an epinephrine auto-injector (EpiPenç) for emergencies. Contact me at the Wood County WVU Extension office at (304)-424-1960 or at jj.barrett@mail.wvu.edu with your questions. Until next time, Good Luck and Happy Gardening!