Yellow jackets can be a problem in this area. They are ground dwellers, and if you aren't careful, they will nest right where you walk.
That, however isn't my problem. This batch 'o bugs decided to nest in one of my raised beds. I realized that whenever I would go by the raised beds with the hay bales, I would see lots of yellow jackets. Now, I was seeing lots of bees, and other insects, too, but lots of yellow jackets.
They don't, as far as I know, pollinate any flowers. Hmm. I looked, and finally sat on my new brick patio, (Thank you, Husband!), and just watched that bed. Zip, out comes a 'jacket. And again. Zing, a 'jacket whizzes right past the pumpkin vine into the hay.
Urk.
I mentioned this to Husband, and said I would get rid of the things. He trots out with some cleaner.
What are you doing?
I am going to get rid of the bugs for you...
NO,YOU ARE NOT. That is in my garden, I do NOT want poisons in there!
After a bit of back and forth, we decided to use water to flush them out. We have put the hose, running full blast, for long enough that the water is seeping between the boards of the raised bed, and forming a puddle by the patio.
And yet. And yet, they still are there. Not as many, but I still see 'jackets when I go by. This worries me, because they are docile now. When it gets late fall, they get mean, and guess when I need to cut apart the bales? But, there is only one bale I 'have' to cut, and they don't seem to be there. So I shall continue to see if I can encourage them to go elsewhere, and keep an eye on if I will have neighbors with a bad attitude, come fall.
Wish me luck!
2 comments:
They can be mean, they've gotten me before. Hope they move out soon!
Yes, I had an incident where I was stung several times, ran in the house, to realize there were several in my HAIR! Not good times... The drenching seems to have slowed them down, will continue, and see what happens. Plants don't seem to mind!
Cat
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