Marin County Yellowjacket Advice & Tips
Late summer is peak yellowjacket season here in Marin County, and calls for help are up considerably according to the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District. I thought I would share some of my tips to minimize the impact of yellowjackets as you enjoy one of the most beautiful times of year to be outdoors here in beautiful Marin County.
Last month, my friend Priya and her husband Raj came up to our home from Los Altos Hills to spend an afternoon catching up in my garden. All was going well until I brought a platter of charcuterie out to complement the wine I was serving. At first we noticed one or two scouts buzzing around the platter. Moments later, it was like a horror movie, with yellow jackets swarming their new-found dinner, and the normally unflappable Priya running for her life back inside our home.
I decided that there’s no way I’m going to cede my backyard to yellowjackets, so I began researching ways I could minimize their impact. After reading more about yellowjackets on the Vector Control website, I realized that living on the edge of heavily-wooded open space, there’s no way I’m going to be able to find the nests, so reduction in population is all I can hope for.
What is a Yellowjacket?
A yellowjacket is a kind of wasp (so all yellowjackets are wasps, but not all wasps are yellowjackets) and they are more likely to cause difficulty because they are attracted to many of the same foods we humans like. Unlike bees and other wasps, they think your hamburger is their hamburger, and they will defend “their” territory with venomous stings when aggravated. And it doesn’t take much to aggravate a yellowjacket!
Thomas’ Tips on Yellowjacket Control:
- If you can locate the yellowjacket nest on your property (early morning and late evening are good times to do this, when they are less active and less likely to chase you), call the Marin/Sonoma Mosquito and Vector Control District to come eradicate the nest for free.
- Yellow jacket traps can be an effective way to lure the pests away from seating areas outdoors. Place them on the perimeter of your property, away from play areas and places people congregate. While it is highly satisfying to kill thousands of the stinging critters, the queen stays in the nest birthing more drones so you’re not killing the nest, but you are lessening the population — albeit temporarily. Note that these traps are specially formulate to only attract yellow jackets. My garden is bee friendly and I made certain that no bees are harmed in the killing of yellowjackets. Save the bees!
- In a pinch — such as my example above where I had no traps on hand — you can put some food the yellow jackets like 20-30 feet away from people. Canned cat food is perfect for this.
- Eliminate items on your property that will attract yellowjackets, such as pet food (see #3 above) and open garbage cans.
- A good friend swears by fabric softener sheets placed on the table to repel yellow jackets, but during a recent dinner at her house they did not seem too concerned about the sheets, and were much more interested in the charcuterie platter!
- Some say to set traps early in the spring. The theory is if you trap the queen you don’t have to deal with the thousands of drones she will produce, but other experts say this is a fruitless task. After the summer we’ve had this year, I plan to set traps next April to see if I can reduce the population in my backyard.
What to Do If You Are Stung
Recently I was walking with my friend Janet and she was stung on her finger by a yellowjacket. It immediately began to swell up. She put some toothpaste on the sting and within one minute she began to feel relief. She said it was miraculous. This is definitely worth a try if you are ever stung.
Note: Those with an allergy to the venom should call 911 immediately and seek appropriate medical care.
We ended up placing about 6 disposable yellow jacket traps (pictured second, above) along the perimeter of our property, and this weekend friends were down in our garden eating without a yellow jacket in site. I also installed one reusable trap (pictured first, above) but found the disposable traps much easier to use.
Please feel free to leave your own suggestions for dealing with yellow jackets in Marin County below in the comments section. Wishing you a pleasant rest of your summer!
The yellow jackets are a bit over zealous in Sonoma this year too. On really hot days they get through the windows and I find a half dozen or so on the inside. FREAK OUT! I am going to try the disposable traps too as they pests are preferring the fresh bbq to the standard trap mechanism. Thanks for the tips and cheers to having friends over for those last days of summer gatherings!
Thanks, Eve, hope this helps you enjoy the rest of your summer!!! Best, Thomas
Bowls of apple cider vinegar repel yellow jackets from tables!! They don’t like the smell, and while it may not be strong to humans, yellow jackets have amazing senses of smell and they don’t come near.
Great tip, Susan! I’ll give that a shot! Thank you!
I’m so glad you made a post about these pests! Late summer is a gorgeous time of year in Marin but the yellow jacket problem is a real one. Glad to hear that the traps seem like an effective method. I’ll be looking into those.
Judy thanks for your comment! See the suggestion from Susan above about apple cider vinegar… also worth trying! The traps aren’t 100% effective but greatly helped manage the situation in our backyard.
The disposable water filled bags are OK if you want something that works quickly and knocks down an existing problem, but they only work for a couple of weeks. I prefer using the plastic ones and just bait them every week or so with cat food or small pieces of lunch meat.
Great point Mark! Have you heard about the theory of trying to capture and kill the queen this time of year in the spring?
Home made trap. Get a disposable aluminum tray, flat stick, string, deli meat, water, and dish soap. Tie meat to flat stick on one side and place across tray with meat face side down. Fill pan with water leaving a 1-2 inch gap between the water and meat. Put some dish soap in the water. They fly in and grab some meat but the weight of the meat has them drop into the water and the soap makes it that they can’t fly.
That is an ingenious and elegant solution! Thank you!