Tag Archives: wasps

Pests and pupils don’t mix

Year in and out, outreach to schools has our community IPM staff going back to school. Literally. We work with maintenance staff, nurses, groundskeepers, teachers, and parents. We provide the insight and know-how it takes to keep kids safe from pests and pesticides both. But schools are tricky to manage because—well, think of them as a village. You’ve got your cafeterias, laboratories, auditoriums, theaters, classrooms, athletic fields, playgrounds. Add in vacation and after-hours use for public meetings, community sports teams, summer schools and camps. Plus, New York’s laws restrict when, where and how pesticides can be used at school.

Which means you’ve got work. Because chances are, you’ve got pests.

Worried about ticks? By rights you should be. The hazards can hardly be overstated. We help teachers, school nurses, and entire communities learn how to stay tick-free regardless the season—and warn them that old-time remedies could increase the likelihood of disease.

Next up—unsafe playing fields. Is there goose poo on athletic fields and playgrounds? It’s not just unsanitary—it makes for slick footing and falls. And take it from us: weedy, compacted soil is a “slick footing and falls” risk too. How to manage turf, pesticide-free? We teach repetitive overseeding as a thoughtful alternative to repetitive herbicides. We’ll get to that in another post.

And then you’ve got your ants, bed bugs, cockroaches, drain flies, drugstore beetles, fleas, grubs, lice, mice, mosquitoes, pigeons, rats, termites and wasps. Did we say we get calls? Each year we field several hundred. Then, of course, there’s the workshops we lead, the conferences we speak at, the media interviews we give. Work, yes, but also deeply rewarding.

 

Inspect for Wasps to Avoid the Sting

Yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets and paper wasps are stinging insects that nest on or near structures. While colony sizes start small, the population of stinging insects in nests grows over time and can result in hundreds to thousands of individuals in the case of yellowjackets. Whereas management of large nests requires the assistance of a professional, starter nests can be easily knocked down, repeatedly if necessary, to discourage future nesting. Here are some steps to inspecting for wasps to avoid the sting!

JUNE IS THE TIME OF YEAR TO SCOUT FOR WASP NESTS ON BUILDINGS – Tweet This

1. Inspection: starting in early June, weekly walks around the perimeter of your property or facility can be used to identify the start of stinging insect nests. This might include paper wasps, which create an open-comb nest, or yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets that create nests wrapped in a papery envelope.

inspecting for nests

A pole can be use to probe difficult to see areas for nests

removing nest

A super soaker with enough force can dislodge a nest.

          

2. Removal: early nests may only contain a few individuals. These can be knocked down with a pole or by spraying with a hose (or powerful water gun) from a safe distance. It is advised that you wear thick clothing, and conduct work at night using indirect light (do not shine a beam of light directly at the nest). Red filtered light will not be detected by wasps.

3. Extermination: Once nests are on the ground, stomp on them to kill any adults or larvae that are inside.

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 4. Repeat: if queens escape, they may return to rebuild the nest somewhere nearby. However, repeated removal of the nest will ultimately discourage wasps from nesting there.

Note: some yellowjacket species will nest in wall voids, and you will see wasps flying in and out of the space during your inspection. A vacuum can be used to reduce the number of wasps that nest in wall voids, as shown in this video.

Staples White Plains (2)

School IPM: Queens Without a Castle

Many of us recently enjoyed Memorial Day weekend’s warm, dry weather.  In particular, buzzing “bees”. While spring turns a young male’s thoughts to romance, in the wasp, bee, and ant world, spring means queens looking for a place to establish new colonies. Should you be concerned?  Only if they settle next to doorways, on or in building walls, or in ground nests where human activity is common such as some walkways, playgrounds, flower and vegetable gardens. Remember – wasps, bees and ants are beneficial while in their role. Problems occur when we try to occupy the same space.

IPM suggestion: Don’t use the generic term BEES. We want to help you learn to identify what buzzes by. It’s not difficult, and knowing the difference between a bald-faced hornet and a carpenter bee may prove very healthy knowledge.

When a paper wasp starts her umbrella nest with a few eggs, it is the perfect time to knock it down with a hard blast from a water hose, or with a broom. Try it while she’s out shopping, or resting on the nest in the late evening. When she is forced to start over a few times, she is likely to move on to another site. If the nest is knocked down on the ground, you may be able to stomp on it and walk quickly away. Return later to discard it.  I swear they like to build near doorways to watch us come and go.

Paper wasp on new nest

Paper wasp on new nest (Bugwood -Whitney Cranshaw)

Large ground bees, bumblebees and carpenter bees are rarely a menace, though painful stings can occur if a bumble bee nest is disturbed. Ground bees and carpenter bees are solitary and care for only a few young. Stings from solitary bees are rare.

Bumble bee (larger) and honeybee forage together. Notice the fuzz? It's another way to differentiate them from wasps which are smooth.

Bumble bee (larger) and honeybee forage together. Notice the fuzz? It’s another way to differentiate them from wasps which are smooth.                                      (Bugwood- Whitney Cranshaw)

Ground nests of yellow jackets are a source of the most significant stinging events.  I wish we all had the time to watch and follow these queens to their chosen site–frequently these are small, abandoned rodent holes, soil areas where a wooden post has rotted out, piles of soft soil or compost, (almost always in areas that are not mowed on a regular basis) or cavities in old trees or gaps under siding. Nobody likes these kinds of surprises!

Although yellow jackets and a common paper wasp are similar in color and striping, their body shape differs significantly. Yellow jackets are 'sturdy'; paper wasps are thin-waisted and look delicate

Yellow Jacket.  Although yellow jackets and  common paper wasps are similar in color and striping, their body shape differs significantly. Yellow jackets are ‘sturdy’; paper wasps are thin-waisted and look delicate  (Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann)

Keep this all in mind over the next few weeks as queens establish their colonies. They are looking for areas they believe will be undisturbed.  Early detection and removal NOW is key, and might prevent a swarm of stingers in August when someone decides to use a weed trimmer in an out-of-the-way area.  Most wasp sting incidents occur when a human accidentally disturbs a nest or comes in contact with a wasp while both are minding their own business. We’ll chat more on this throughout the season.

Be prepared. Know who to contact to remove stinging insect nests, and how to watch for and treat an allergic reaction to their stings. Always consider the possibility of ground nesting wasps in hollows of trees, wall voids and particularly in soft soil near fences and gardens.

IPM Suggestion: This is the time to walk the perimeter of structures on your property. Look up along rooflines, under eaves, and in trees.  Aerial nests of yellow jackets or bald-faced hornets seem to just show up one day in late summer—because you weren’t looking for them! IPM for stinging insects in spring is simply correct ID, monitoring of favored sites, and nest exclusion.  Take note. Next fall you’ll want to caulk entry way holes in buildings and fill in the holes in the soil.

Please consider purchasing our excellent resource on Wasp and Bee Management by NYS IPM’s Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann, Wasp and Bee Management: A Common Sense Approach.

Photos by Jody Gangloff-Kaufmann and, where noted, courtesy of Bugwood and Whitney Cranshaw.