North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>]

If we're actually not all talking about the same species, that might explain why many people complain that yellow jackets are very aggressive, while in my experience they are very non-agressive; the only times I've been stung are if I accidentally pinch one, or if I actually disturb a nest. Otherwise I can work right next to a nest and have no problems.

Of course, we may also have different standards as to what aggressive means, and as to how much risk of stinging we're willing to accept. I'm not allergic; and I consider a couple of stings a year (which is probably what I get on average) to be a very minor price to pay for the presence of these primarily beneficial insects. I get less pain in a year from yellowjackets and other wasps (we have lots of them hanging around this place) than I do from blackcap thorns.

When I do have a yellowjacket nest (or another wasp nest) in a place where I really can't leave it, I drown out the nest with water from a hose (unless of course the nest is in a place where the water itself would be more of a problem than the nest). They don't seem to connect the person behind the hose with the water and thus see this as an attack; I suppose they think it's a natural disaster; so they don't attack the person with the hose (plus which, they're too wet to do much). The drenched nest can often be moved to another location, while the wasps are still too soggy to fly. To prevent them from starting up again in the same spot, try a little WD40 after the nest has been removed, if the attachment point is a surface that WD40 can reasonably be applied to.

--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly