You know what’s worse than having yellow jackets around your home or business? Having drunk ones. It’s a real thing, and it’s not just yellow jackets – wasps can get drunk too when fall is getting near. What is this phenomenon and why does it happen? We have the answers!
Why Do Yellow Jackets Get Drunk?
There are two main reasons yellow jackets get drunk during the late summer/early fall:
- Lack of food
- Fallen fermented fruit
During the end of the summer, the queen stops laying eggs. That’s just a smart part of nature since the weather will soon be too cold for the little ones to survive. Earlier in the summer, larvae produce sweet secretions that the yellow jacket workers feed on. When larval numbers taper off in the late summer that food source is no longer available., So the workers need to look elsewhere for sustenance. Since they feed on sugar, they are forced to feed on fruit that has fallen and started to ferment. Because wasps and yellow jackets are so small, it only takes a small sip of that fermented fruit to intoxicate them. And they aren’t happy drunks. They get uncoordinated and aggressive. As if yellow jackets aren’t belligerent enough! Our Entomologist, Phil Seymour, called this, “completely predictable yellow jacket behavior in the late summer.” We call it kind of scary!
How Can I Prevent Yellow Jackets from becoming a nuisance?
Phil noted that the perfect time to have yellow jacket baits placed around your home or business is in the springtime before the nests have reached their maximum size. He said the circumstances in spring make the baits very successful from the standpoint of colony reduction. He said, “When we deploy the bait stations, the low numbers of yellow jackets active at that time are seeking protein food sources – which they find in the bait in the stations. Then, those foragers take the bait back to the newly forming colony, feed it to the earliest-hatched larvae and eliminate them before the numbers multiply.” He also said to keep garbage tightly sealed, cover sweet drinks or food when eating outdoors, and be sure to clean up spills from beer, wine, fruit juices, etc. In addition, clean up any fruit that has fallen instead of letting it rot and ferment. Those sweet scraps and spills can be very inviting especially when the yellow jackets are extra hungry late in the summer.
What if I Have Yellow Jackets?
Should you already have a yellow jacket nest and the added ingredient of fruit trees that have dropped their fruit, there are two things you should remember:
- Don’t swat: As hard as it will be to hold back, try to avoid swinging or swatting at stinging pests at all – let alone if they look drunk. It will only provoke an attack from an already agitated insect.
- Leave nests alone: If you find a nest around your business or home, contact the professionals at Waltham Pest Services rather than trying to remove it yourself. Even if you don’t have an allergy, a hundred yellow jacket stings can cause a reaction and be very painful.
If you haven’t already brought in Waltham to place yellow jacket baits, seeing a nest is definitely the time to call. This is not the time for DIY pest control. The technicians at Waltham are trained and have the proper safety equipment and protective suits to take on aggressive stinging pests while you watch safely from inside!
Yellow jackets are dangerous pests to have around whether someone in your family has an allergy or not. And taking care of them should definitely be left to the professionals. But you have to admit, drunk ones sound like an interesting party. Just not one you want around you, your employees, your family, your pets… anyone you care about! Stay safe from stinging pests this year. Bring in the pros.