permaculture

[<LionKuntz@aol.com>]

In a message dated 98-07-13 19:52:35 EDT, JohnS@STLabs.com writes:

<<      Aloha,
 
        There was some great info about paper wasps a bit ago - can anyone
 provide similar info for yellowjackets?  I appear to have a nest of
 ground-dwelling yellowjackets under a fallen post next to a garden bed.  Are
 they omnivorous pest predators like the paper wasps?  What might make them
 aggressive (they seem mellow enough so far...as long as I don't stomp around
 right near their doorway...)?  Any other pros and cons?
 
        Thanks,
        John Schinnerer >>

    John, I used to have a problem with yellowjackets, but last year I finally
solved it (for me).  I fed them.  Well fed yellowjackets are mellow and seem
appreciative.  Rotted fruit (I mushed fallen apples in a blender) for the
adults and spoiled meat which the adults take back to the hive for the young
to eat.  They especially like to climb all over chickenbones.  If they are too
close to a pathway and overly protective whenever someone passes by, you can
get them to move out, or kill a nest.  They are inactive at night, so after
dark you could put some obnoxious liquid down the hole, like ammonia.
Yellowjackets are carnivores, eating lots of bugs and keeping many other in
hiding from them (thereby less active and less damaging).

    -- Lion