tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983023448572566504.post9081624319595149711..comments2016-08-18T13:31:18.005-05:00Comments on Our Debt-Free Homesteading Journey: Never thought I'd care so much about septic...ForHisGloryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07630188021876419996noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983023448572566504.post-14030139119861813032010-11-12T22:10:12.706-06:002010-11-12T22:10:12.706-06:00OK, Gale, you WERE right! I looked it up, and alt...OK, Gale, you WERE right! I looked it up, and although they look VERY similar, the yellow jacket has a thicker abdomen than the paper wasp. When you were saying paper wasp, I was thinking of those blue/black dirt daubers. All the wasps I'd seen around here were red, so I had no idea there were black and yellow wasps. Anyway, that is GOOD news! It said they have trouble flying in temps below 50 degrees, which explains why they have been so sluggish, and although we'd killed probably a hundred of them in our trailer in the past couple weeks, no one has been stung.ForHisGloryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630188021876419996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983023448572566504.post-86777720585241014242010-11-11T11:02:53.073-06:002010-11-11T11:02:53.073-06:00Well, I THINK they are yellow jackets. Their abdo...Well, I THINK they are yellow jackets. Their abdomen is black and yellow striped, I've seen them in the ground where it's muddy (you know, like after a rain), and their legs are yellowish, I think. Jeremy said that lately they've been mostly sluggish and just hanging out on the walls, and he was wondering if it was because it's winter (or maybe they are drunk on the paint fumes!). We just spray them down with wasp spray when they are indoors, and we have a "trap" hanging on a tree that draws them in with a sugar-type solution or something, then traps them in. We have hundreds of them inside the trap!ForHisGloryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07630188021876419996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2983023448572566504.post-26607437128460239152010-11-10T23:59:16.439-06:002010-11-10T23:59:16.439-06:00Are they really yellow jackets or are they paper w...Are they really yellow jackets or are they paper wasps? Identification is important. Paper wasps build the open-holed "paper" nests on the sides of structures. Yellow jackets tend to build football style closed nests in the ground. Yellow jackets are dangerous and aggressive. Paper wasps are annoying (but can sting of course). Getting rid of paper wasps is a lot simpler but you want to keep a few around as they are somewhat beneficial. Too many, however, will draw yellow jackets as they like to eat them.Gale McCownnoreply@blogger.com