Catch the Queen to Control Wasps, Hornets, Yellowjackets This Summer

This winter’s Polar Vortexes, feet of snow and inches of ice have homeowners itching to get outside. Something else is itching to emerge from winter’s grasp, too—a population of awakening paper wasps, hornets and yellowjackets.
“In early spring, the queen paper wasps, hornets and yellowjackets emerge from overwintering to look for new nest sites,” explains Rod Schneidmiller, president of Sterling International, a developer of environmentally friendly pest control products, RESCUE!®.“The best time to capture the queen is before they begin constructing new nests.”

Schneidmiller says for the states east of the Rocky Mountains, April is the time to take action against the emerging queens.
“For each queen caught at the start of spring, one nest filled with hundreds of dangerous, stinging insects is prevented from being constructed,” Schneidmiller emphasizes. Pest control experts recommend takingaction when the weather warms up to the 60s in order to catch these queens asthey emerge from their winter homes. The RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap for Wasps, Hornets & Yellowjackets is ideally suited to entice and trap these queens and their offspring.
“What lures the wasps, hornets and yellowjackets to the RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap is a specially formulated attractant that will only lurethese three categories of insects,” says Dr. Qing-He Zhang, SterlingInternational’s lead scientist and director of research.
“The W•H•Y® Trap uses a three-pronged approach to attract queens and workers of the wasp, hornet and yellowjacket colonies. This approach employs unique formulations—two liquid andone gel—that attract only paper wasps, hornets and yellowjackets, posing nothreat to beneficial pollinators such as honeybees,” ensures Dr. Zhang.

How theRESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap Works
The W•H•Y® Trap’s specially formulated attractant is just the first jab in a one-two punch to capture and control five species of paper wasps, bald-faced and European hornets and twelve species of yellowjackets. The next swing is in the Trap’s double-chambered design where the insects get trapped for good.
Proper Placement for Best ImpactPositioning the RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap in the right place and at the right time are key to capturing the queen.
The general rule of thumb,Schneidmiller says, is to place the trap near a structure, such as a house or shed, for areas troubled with paper wasps, and near a garden or tree line for areas troubled with hornets and yellowjackets. Multiple traps positioned around the perimeter of a yard or open space will go a long way in controlling these pests, making the great outdoors much more pleasant.

“You may not catch huge numbers of queens in spring, but every catch is significant,” says Schneidmiller. “Asingle queen can build a nest of several hundred to more than a thousandworkers. Capturing the queens can significantly cut down the populations in summer.”
The durable materials of the RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap ensures it will last multiple seasons and will work for weeks with little to no maintenance. The trap comes with a two-week attractant kit, and can be easily rebaited with attractant refills throughout the summer and fall for continued wasp, hornet and yellowjacket control. No additional food bait is required.