Summer is just around the corner, and now is the time to prepare for the yellow jackets. If you live in the Auburn, Grass Valley, Colfax area or anywhere in the foothill’s you need to start thinking about summer!
This bug season is going to be especially buggy since we have had a minimal amount of moisture and no late freezing. When we do not get late cold snaps during the spring, it allows the queens to survive and produce large colonies. Also, the lack of water drives the insects towards homes during the hotter times of summer. The most important thing that can be done right now is to set up Yellow Jacket traps.
These traps should be hung 20-30 feet away from your house. You can use the bait that they come with, hot dogs, any type of meat product. They are protein eaters so most meat products will work.
The key to putting them out now is the first hatching in the spring is queens. They will search for a protein source before they start their nest. So if you catch these queens now, you will prevent the issues during the summer months. The traps only need to be left out until mid summer. After that point, the queen has already nested and you will just catch workers. So you can clean them out and put them away until next spring. If there are live Yellow Jackets in the trap and you want to clean them out, put the trap in the freezer over night.
If you have any questions on dealing with Yellow Jackets give use a call and we can help you out.
Gold Miner Pest Control