Wasp control

I’m one of those live-and-let-live kind of folks. I love animals and I do my best to embrace both the good and bad critters because I know they all play an important role in our environment.

However, there are some critters that cross the line with me. One that immediately comes to mind is the paper wasp.

I have a small greenhouse that I primarily use for growing and hardening-off the veggies and flowers that I grow from seed each year. Unfortunately, during the course of the summer, wasps build nests under the two planting benches. In early spring — and throughout the summer — they love to terrorize me while I’m in the confined spaces of this small greenhouse. It’s not fun, let me tell you!

Now it looks like the Rescue! folks — who are famous for those yellow jacket traps — have, well, come to the rescue for me. As a member of the Garden Writers Association, I occasionally receive new products to test.

I just received a new TrapStik for dealing with wasps. According to the literature, they have been designed to “catch queen wasps in spring before they have time to build nests, and works from summer through fall to catch aggressive worker wasps.” Sounds good so far.

What I like is that it doesn’t contain any pesticides and there aren’t any nasty odors. It is designed using their “VisiLure” technology, which involves colors and patterns that the Rescue! research team has discovered will lure wasps to it. It has a sticky surface, which is how the wasps meet their end.

Moving right along… I decided to hang the TrapStik from the peak of my greenhouse for a few weeks to see if I will get some relief from my wasp problem. I hung it late in the day yesterday. This morning, low and behold, there was a wasp stuck to it. Halleluia! (click on the above photo to view a larger image)

Update: As of Friday afternoon, the trap has caught 3 wasps and 1 fly. This is great!

If you would like to know more, here is information about the TrapStik on their website.

I intend to post again on how it’s working for me but I wanted to let you know that these traps will be available in garden centers this spring so keep an eye out for them. And let me know how they work for you, too, OK? Thanks.