As I pack up my fig paraphernalia, I see certain things that may be of interest to other members.
My house sits on top of a property that has a significant slope. I have a wasp problem because they do what's called "hill topping" meaning they like to build their nests on hill tops or at least structures that are higher then the surrounding area.
I have a wasp problem. I get paper wasps and brown wasps as well as hornets, bees, yellow jackets, etc.
Wasps are generally considered by me to be beneficial insects as they are predatory and eat a lot of other insects.
My problem arrises when the brown wasps decide to take ownership of my figs.
They are not as bad as the European Hornets but they come in a close second.
Yak yak yak - sorry - it is taking me a long time to get to the point.

OK'
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000PWA1PC/ref=asc_df_B000PWA1PC3209511?smid=A1IZO4JEQPPA7E&tag=nextagmp-20&linkCode=df0&creative=395105&creativeASIN=B000PWA1PC&ascsubtag=-8285886624195207632 

This did help me so I'm passing it along.

Michael

The wasps really take a hike when they see this?

I had a bad yellowjacket problem this year, but I am not on a hill. They cannot penetrate organza bags though.

That looks too easy and too good to be true.  I might have to try that next summer.

I also had two nests of yellow jackets to deal with for the first time this year.  I became educated about yellow jackets after being stung 3 times while mowing the yard.  Both nests were in the ground so I'm not sure this type of device would work for them but if I ever start having problems with wasps that make above-ground nests I'll kee p this in mind.

It did seem to help me here.
Steve - a shot gas full of gasoline at night poured down their entrance hole and then lit works extremely well for yellow jackets.

I throw all my yard waste in a small 4x8 trailer.  Once the trailer is full, I haul it to the dump so it can be recycled into mulch.  This year it took a good 2.5 months to fill the trailer.  When I got to the dump and began pulling out the sticks and such, an army of yellow jackets that made a nest in the trailer came out to greet me.  I got stung once, but it was in the meat of my ear.  You'd think that wouldn't be so painful, but man, my ear swelled up like I was a college wrestler.  I spent two hours at the dump that day trying to pull everything out of the trailer while dodging dive bombing yellow jackets...

Lots of fun.

That being said, I also have problems with the European hornet.  From reading the reviews, the knock on this product is:

1. The fabric material doesn't hold up well over the course of a season
2.  The wasps eventually figure out that the nest is bogus and may even decide to move in if it isn't moved around every couple of weeks.


Another option is to get a soda bottle, spray is with foam and then spray paint with coats of grey, brown and yellow.  This should give you a weatherproof version of the waspinator that you can hang each year. 
 

Malcom,
Mine held up fine. It would be easy to make your own. The important thing here imho is that you can reduce wasp populations using fake nests.
Too bad this doesn't help with the other little nasties, but I guess I'll try the soda bottle traps again next year. 

Malcolm you really made me laugh hard with your story. Your writing is excellent.

Michael, Thanks for sharing that info. I've had a very bad wasp/yellow jacket problem in years passed. Last year every time a fig was almost ripe I would go to check on it and those d@m things would have eaten the fig I was going to pick. On my Hardy Chicago tree I know that I lost at least half to them. This is something that I will definitely look into to help save what little fig crop I get.

"Your writing is excellent"

I agree and have a new-found appreciation for good writing (punctuation, capitalization, etc) on the forum given recent events!  (Edit: on the other hand, I am totally happy to give members who do not have English as a 1st language some slack on this.)

Michael, I probably would have used the gasoline trick but both times the nest was at or near compost piles.  I have so many edibles in my yard that I'm very cautious about what I put in the ground.  I ended up using wasp spray on one and hot, soapy water on the other and attacked the nest at dusk when activity was low.

Btw yellowjacket traps from the garden store worked fairly well, dozens of wasps found their end inside those tall cups with no exit and sweet juice at the bottom. Flies also seemed to be attracted as well.