By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Even though he’s not allergic to bee and hornet stings, our friend Bunkey wants no part of them. That’s why he threw a fit when he noticed a wasp nest being built in a tree a few feet from his deck.  Yellowjackets make a paper mâché type nest made of chewed up wood. These combs can be arranged on top of each other in a series of tiers and covered by a papery envelope. Nests are small at the beginning, about the size of a softball but can get as large as a basketball. Treat them as soon as you see them as they continue to grow all summer.  if the nest is high in a tree or in an area that people usually don’t go to, leave it alone. Our winters will take care of them.  

They can be in an exposed area, hanging under the eaves or in the limbs of trees or shrubs like the one Bunkey discovered in his tree. They can nest in the ground. For instance, in old rodent burrows. The only way you can discover these nests is noticing them flying in and out of the ground. Or you can accidentally run over the exit hole with the lawnmower. (He did that last year). They can take advantage of cavities in buildings, like wall voids or the spaces in cinderblocks.

If the nest is near human activity, you need to get rid of it. If it is in the open wait till dark, then spray wasp killer directly into the hole in the bottom of the paper nest. If it is the ground, squirt it into the hole. You may have to do a little detective work to find an underground nest. Look for the stinkers flying in and out. Never treat a nest in the daytime as you will not only not get them all but the few that are in the nest will come boiling out and chase you. Dusts work better in ground nesters but are more difficult to apply. Once you are sure all the Yellowjackets in the ground nest are dead, fill up the hole.

If the nest is in the walls of your house, it’s time to call the professionals. Don’t spray aerosols into a crack hoping to kill them. They will just retreat into the walls and most probably show up inside the house.

Now is the season for picnic beetles. They are little oval shaped beetles. Black with 4 orange spots. They show up anywhere there is over ripe or rotting fruit. They are most often found on corn, tomatoes and melons. Although they can’t eat through a melon rind, if it gets a crack in it, not only will the picnic beetles enter, so will the yellow jackets. A quick way to get the yellow jackets to depart is to thump the melon until you don’t see any more of them flying out. The inside will still be crawling with the beetles, but you can flush them out and still eat the melon. Much worse is to bite into a raspberry and hear a crunch and taste a beetle, It’s really yukky.    

Pick vegetables and fruit as soon as it gets ripe, or with tomatoes about a day before.  Bag rotted fruit or veggies and remove from the garden as soon as you see them. It will at least slow the beetle population down.

We leave Bunkey looking for a ladder. He is bound-determined to remove that nest in his tree. There may be unfortunate results as the whole area is lit at night by his yard light.