Has anyone ever had a problem with bees (yellow jacket variety) eating/damaging figs? I've never had a problem with them before, but as figs are ripening, small holes are being burrowed into the fig. I have seen the bees on the figs so I'm just wondering if their causing the damage or something else could be doing the damage but then the bees follow it up. The hole isn't deep, maybe an 1/8" to 1/4" deep, but birds usually go deeper than that (don't they). I have hummingbird feeders within 10 to 12 feet of my container trees but I've never seen them near the trees. Could they be the culprits? I have posted picture of one of the damaged figs. Any ideas? Just for info the fig is Sal's EL. Thanks for any help.

John

Haven't seen it myself,  but it makes sense. They really go after pears.

A fig is a flower, inside.  Bees love flowers!  A fig is simply an edible flower!  Other edible flowers I love are roses and nasturtiums. 

Suzi

 yellow jackets will do that. Even more fun is picking a fig w/ a whiteface hornet on the other side.  

Came home yesterday to find just that on one of my trees, yellow jackets eating a fig.
I do not think they wait for the figs to be damaged. The yellow jackets probably dug that hole.
Seems when any fruit is ripe enough the yellow jackets come and start eating.
have the same problem with one of my variety of grapes.
it has happened more than once that I go away for a few days just as the grapes are starting to ripen, come back and find mostly bunches of empty grape skins and loads of yellow jacket buzzing around eating whatever grapes may be left.

John yes yellow jackets attack figs iv'e see it years ago here in my yard and you can have many on 1 fig eating it to almost nothing.

Your hummingbird feeder since there is a sweetness in it will attract the yellow jackets to your trees as well. Ever leave a can of soda outdoors  ?
There are traps one can make or buy that drowns them.

How can you stop this?  Bird netting will not do the trick! 

Suzi

You can make a simple trap to catch yellow jackets out of an empty 2 litre coke bottle.  Just cut the top of the bottle off where it stops tapering. You will end up with a piece that looks like a funnel and and the bottom portion.  Flip the funnel portion upside down and insert into the remaining bottom portion.  Secure it with some duct tape.  This makes a simple funnel trap that the yellow jackets can go in but not back out.

fill the bottom portion with 1 inch of water and bait with a couple of chunks of meat (bologna works good).  Yellow jackets are attracted to the meat and are drowned.

Martin, you are right on with the hummingbird feeder attracting the bees. Even though my feeders are the type that have screens on them, they still hover around trying to enter. As much as I enjoy watching the hummingbirds, the figs come first. I put too much time and effort into them to let them get eaten by anything besides me and my family. Maybe I can relocate them to a further distance away from the trees.
Womack, that simple trap sounds like a good idea. Thanks

I have had many yellow jackets and hornets biting away at the ripe figs especially. Need to be carefull when picking the fruit, you would not want to get stung by this one.    Angelo zone 7A NY

that looks like one mean son of a mother Angelo!! Didn't know keeping figs was this dangerous!! lol, still not enough of a deterrent though!! thanks for the heads up.

Sometimes they are pretty bad, the only way to beat them is to pick a little early. Last year with all of the figs souring with the record rains the wasps were pretty bad. I had a nest of white faced hornets in a Lilac tree right near my inground fig tree, I got rid of them with wasp spray at night  

Last June, just before the figs were ready to ripen, we got a lot of rain and cooler weather.  This caused the figs to swell so fast that they split.  Then the honey bees attacked...as many as 3-6 on each fig.  After getting stung twice..spraying soapy water on them..I gave up and called it a total loss.  I ended up trimming as much off the tree as I could just to get rid of the bees and safety.   I'm afraid we are having the same weather pattern and my tree is loaded.  I do not want to lose this crop to bees again, or get stung.  Any ideas?  I'm thinking about using a sun-shade screen..(white) to cover the tree, since a bird net is useless against little honey bees.  I'm not sure is the shade screen will totally block all the sunlight.   Help!!!!  I'm desparate!   I tried the bee traps.. they totally ignored them and stuck with the figs.  I don't blame them.. they are really sweet figs.

What about using organza bags to prevent bee/wasp damage (as well as bird damage)?

Yes, check the bees harvesting schedule and just pick the night before  :rolleyes:

Bees really dislike the smell cukecumber skins,
maybe hang some in stockings or mesh bags on the tree.

My figs are not as good if harvested before they are ripe.  The bees seem to know that too.  They strike just at the right moment.  The birds around here also know when to strike. ( I check everyday for that first fig to ripen..I found one today..on the ground, half eaten)  I like the organza idea.  I can just glue or tape it to the bird net.  Yes.. a lot of work but these figs are worth it.  I have about 3-5 days to get them covered.  Once the first few figs ripen.. That tree will go crazy.  One day I picked 8 - 1 gallon bags, and it's crazy for about 4 weeks and slows down mid-Aug.   I have lots of happy neighbors and relatives not to mention all the canning I do.  I have no idea what kind of fig tree it is.. It's ancestor came from Sicily in the early 1900s.   My best hope is the weather doesn't cause them to suddenly swell and split and that the bees have moved far away and forgot how to get back to my yard!.   Thank you for the advice.

Sounds like a really nice fig variety, any pics Rita? :)

woohoo, we got a winer! Damn, that's got to be italian something something...LOL

So, you don't know the variety name?

here is last year attack.  

hey,,, do you blame them...really.

you think it could be Peter's Honey?

I sent off  some pictures of the leaves and figs to somebody.. but they couldn't identify it.  All I know is that it came from the "old" Poggioreale in Sicily, about 50 miles from Palermo.  By "Old" I mean the town was destroyed by an earthquake in 68 and was rebuilt on another hill.  I visited there twice but had no luck locating another fig tree like mine.  It is very stubborn trying to root from cuttings.  I just scrape some bark off a limb in late July, cover the area with dirt, tie a baggie around it and in 3 weeks, I got roots.  Cut off the branch with roots and plant it in a pot.  ...And then give them away to whoever wants one.    This tree grows fast, really fast, and will produce many figs in the 3rd year.

I'm thinking it's some kind of honey.  It does produce a drop in the eye.  The leaves are a little different.

Ask Jon, the curator of the Forum.. he is very knowledgable, so are few others...like Harvey C, George or Francisco...