Are you troubled by wasps in your backyard? These insects tend to build their nests in trees, roof edges, garages, sheds, window shutters, even inside houses.
Plenty of homeowners have found salvation in wasp traps, which attract such insects without using any harmful chemicals or pesticides.
The information you’ll find below will help you figure out whether you need one.
Should you purchase one?
Most people are unsure whether they need a wasp trap in their backyard. If only a few of these insects fly around your yard, you should not be getting one, as their job is to pollinate flowers. They might be far away from their nest and pose no threat to your family. Check out some helpful tips for preventing these insects from nesting.
Nevertheless, if you notice multiple wasps flying around an area to find the perfect spot for a nest, you’ll most likely need a trap. Over time, these nests become larger, and the number of insets keeps on increasing. Consequently, they start defending their nest by becoming territorial. Unless you approach their nests, wasps have no intention of hurting humans. Their defensive behavior originates from the fact they need to provide protection for their home.
As mentioned before, most wasps have no plan of doing harm to humans or even have an interaction with them. Nevertheless, when having a colony of these insects on your property, you should identify the types to assess the level of danger.
For instance, paper wasps are not interested in bothering humans, which is why they build their nests relatively high. There is no need to purchase a trap to hurt them, as the insects will do their best to ignore you. Some homeowners even find them helpful since they kill various pests, which ruin their gardens.
In contrast, ground wasps represent a more serious issue, given their nests are built on the ground. As a result, humans are at greater risk of coming near them. Digger wasps build vast colonies that accommodate thousands of insects. They consider humans as a threat, which increases the level of danger.
Nevertheless, lures are indispensable if hornets or yellowjackets start building nests in your yard. They are infamous for acting in a hostile manner towards people. For example, yellowjackets show their anger and viciousness whenever a person approaches their nests. Also, these insects have a tendency to come near humans while sitting at tables if the tables are full of sugary foods, meat, or drinks.
Hornets are even more vicious than yellowjackets because of their venomous stings. The allergic reactions these insects cause in people can be life-threatening. Therefore, if noticing signs of a hornet colony in your backyard, you should immediately get traps to handle the issue. Hornets protect their nests by stinging any people and animals that approach them. See this site, https://www.healthline.com/health/hornet-sting#symptoms, to learn about the symptoms and reactions of a hornet sting.
Types of wasp traps
If your situation leaves you no other alternative but to purchase a trap, you should select the correct type. These traps come in a variety of designs, and each one of them is created to address different circumstances. For instance, reusable models are among the most commonly used ones because of the ability to use them multiple times. They feature a tube that comes with a funnel, through which wasps make their entrance. After going through the funnel, they fall inside the tube and die.
When using reusable traps, you should empty them once they fill up, as well as replace the bait. Keep in mind that you should be using different lures for catching various wasp species. Conversely, disposable traps work almost in an exact way as the reusable ones by luring insects into the tube via a funnel. Anyhow, once these traps become full of insects, they should be thrown away, not emptied, and used once again.
The largest number of disposable traps are produced from plastic bags, which have been recycled. You can throw them away without even opening the bag. Sticky traps, as their name explains, rely on sticky paper to catch insects that come close to them. However, most homeowners tend to avoid these models due to their inability to discriminate between different wasp species, as well as other bugs, flies, and insects.
Moreover, some of the reusable models are equipped with UV lights to increase the chances of attracting insects. Nevertheless, these lights are more useful to homeowners to help them find the traps at night. Wasps, however, aren’t attracted to UV light as much as homeowners hope. Also, their activity levels are high during the day, as they sleep at night.
How to set one up?
Homeowners should get familiar with some basic rules before setting up a wasp trap in their yards. If you are eager to learn more about wasp traps, there is plenty of information to find online. In case you wish to set up a sticky model, you should be aware that these variants don’t function when the weather is rainy.
Furthermore, since these insects are the most active in spring and summer, homeowners are suggested to set up traps at the start of spring to prevent nesting. This practice aids the elimination of the queens, which are searching for the best place to build a nest.
Regarding the location, the lures should be placed in the areas where these insects are the most active, if possible, close to the nest. In the event of ground nests, the trap should be set up above it.
The bottom line
These narrow-waisted insects can be a real problem if not handled on time.
Why use pesticides when there is a simpler solution?