I have been having problems with wasps attacking my figs lately so I picked up a wasp trap and it works very well . Just put some diluted maple syrup in .



After 5 days caught atleast 30-50 wasps and tons of ants too. Its a great distraction from the figs .

John

Good idea John!

Thanks for posting. I will try this method.

We were trying to figure out why the wasps population was dwindling.

Hi John, when i had my pussy willow tree it attracted them glad winter storm took it down.
Anyway i had bought some at the time but found they would fill up fast as they were not big enough.
I found out and made some out of gallon milk jugs real easy. I cut about 3 to 4 inch slot with knife then on 2 sides i would cut just a tad bit down and push slot  inwards. Did this on 2 sides and then put soda pop in there and smeard just a little bit of jam on slots to entice them. I duck taped the bottom part of jug so when they went in Bam in darkness swimming for the most part till they got tired.
Easy to empty also with the sides not cut and out the top then i put cap back on.

Was not prettiest sight though hanging in tree , glad tree is gone.

pretty sure those aren't wasps, they're yellowjackets.

Hey Jason ,

Yellowjackets are a type of wasp , as far as I know .

John

I usually use this method to attract the flying/stinging pests:  http://www.ehow.com/how_5553731_make-trap-out-pop-bottle.html
 
I did not know that wasps, yellow jackets and hornets were in the same family, so I googled them.  The social wasps of the family Vespidae include paper wasps, yellowjackets, and hornets; they are also referred to as Vespid wasps.

John, you are correct. A dirt dauber is a wasp also, but we call it a dirt dauber ;). I just find that yellowjackets tend to be much more aggressive than your average wasp, hornets are technically even worse yet. They both give wasps a bad name. I guess for me it's like.... Do you call a mass murderer a human? Sure, they are human, but... Man, they really don't seem to fit the typical behavior.....

Jason ,

I see them all as FIG murderers and they deserve their fate if they come near my trees.

Indeed!

I have had 6 yellow jacket nests in my yard this year! Ran into one when I was cutting the grass last month and was stung 6 times, one followed me all the way into my house. I have tried 2 differnt kinds of sprays ( have not had good luck with gas in the past) and last night tried a powder recommended by my farm co-op. They are still everywhere when I go outside...

Wow Susan sorry to hear that .

Paper-nest wasps (~0.75" long -yellow/black - European?)  are welcome on

 All are genericly wasps. But, they are different.
 Paper wasps , usually under your eaves, will sting if bothered.
 Yellow jackets, nest in ground, and will come looking for you!
Very aggressive in Fall, needing protein (worms, grasshoppers)
and sugar to store for winter.
 Bald-faced hornets/White face, The large, football paper nests in trees. Fairly aggressive. I've watched them stalk and kill Yellow jackets for food, while the Yellow jacket was stalking a fly.  Just my observations.