The long hot summer and bumper crop of bugs

If you've been batting flies and ducking from yellowjackets, hornets and wasps invading your outdoor activities, help is on the way!

This year's unusually hot and dry weather throughout the nation is creating a bumper crop of stinging wasps, hornets and yellowjackets. These aggressive insects are busy building colonies, searching for sugary sodas and bombarding backyard barbecues- including mine!

We spoke with some experts who say now is the time to capture the workers before their numbers explode and they become more than just a nuisance.

Rather than spraying hazardous chemicals there's an environmental safe way to handle these bugs.

Scientists and developers at Sterling International, have come up with the RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap, that lures and traps these stinging pests to their doom.

It's the only trap that captures multiple species of wasps and hornets including Paper Wasps, Bald-faced Hornets and European Hornets, as well as twelve species of yellowjackets.

Rod Schneidmiller, president of Sterling International Inc., makers of RESCUE! products explains it this way: “Generally we think of late August and early September as the key problem time when large nests are found, but with the hot weather the problem has escalated and needs to be addressed now.” 

This accelerated timeline presents a serious danger for people doing everyday activities such as barbecuing, gardening and mowing their lawns, and for children playing outside. These pests inflict a painful sting without being provoked. And for some people, multiple stings can be fatal.

Yellowjacket nests are particularly dangerous because their entrance is often hidden underground, and because of their sheer size. A yellowjacket colony started by just one queen can grow to include anywhere from 500 to 5,000 workers in late summer to early fall.

And it's reassuring that the specially formulated attractant only lures wasps, hornets and yellowjackets and will not lure pollinators like beneficial honeybees.

The trap “delivers a one-two punch”, explains Schneidmiller. “Its unique double-chamber design works with three attractants that lure and trap the queens and workers inside, where they either drown or dehydrate.”

RESCUE! recommends placing the W•H•Y® Trap a minimum of 20 feet from outdoor activity areas like patios or decks to lure the insects away, rather than directly over the picnic table or by the front door. It should also be placed at least 20 feet from a known nest location. For maximum effectiveness, place multiple traps around the perimeter of a yard or area where insects are entering.

To keep ahead of the problem, keep the trap baited throughout summer and fall to trap workers when they’re busy foraging for food.

Best of all, the trap lasts for multiple seasons without daily maintenance, comes with a two-week attractant kit, and can be re-baited with W•H•Y® attractant refills.

You can find the RESCUE!® W•H•Y® Trap and other safe and eco-friendly  pest control products at home improvement centers, hardware stores and lawn & garden retailers throughout the U.S.

And take back your barbecue from these annoying and dangerous pests!
Enjoy your summer,
Lynne
Garden Media Group