There are very few things in this world that I would go so far as to say that I hate. Having said that, I HATE Yellow Jackets. I haven’t been stung for a long time (I was stung by a wasp within the first couple weeks of moving to Lethbridge over 3 years ago) but my hatred for this pest runs deep.

Here is a brilliant, cheap, and non-toxic way to deal with wasps and their cousin the yellow-jacket from the AOJ Outdoors Tip Site: Grandpa Kipp’s Sure-Fire Yellow Jacket Trap.


How It Works:

The yellow jackets love fish and will begin to cut off small pieces to take back to the nest. In their “excitement” of buzzing around the bait a few will occasionally hit the water. The soap in the water breaks the surface tension of the waterproof coating on the yellow jacket and it instantly sinks in the water and drowns in a few seconds. Some yellow jackets will successfully haul a piece of meat back to the nest and tell all the other gatherers in the nest where this great food source is. Soon all the wasps from the nest will be working on this fish and over a period of time, all will eventually make mistakes and either fall off the fish and into the water or bump other wasps flying around and knock themselves in the drink, then its curtains for them too. It only takes a day or two to wipe out nearly every yellow jacket in your area.

I’m going camping for the long weekend, and I’ll keep this little contraption in mind should any wasps try and disturb our Victoria Day celebrations.