yellow jackets moving in on my bees

[beeblessed]

i recently noticed yellow jackets  going in and out of my hives . i did not notice any yellow jackets  til after i had started feeding some nucs and hives . i have been using top bottle feeders on nucs and board feeders on brood boxes . i thought after it got cold the yellow jackets would go home , but instead they are out and about when it warms up during the day. any suggestions would be appreciated, thanks.

[jayj200]

yes cat food front line one to two drops and a small cage.

cage is to protect the cats

[labradorfarms]

I have heard that frontline would work, but my first thought is a robber screen frontline is not cheap...... You can slap one together yourself with min tools and min damage you your wallet....

[jayj200]

do you treat your dogs or cats
if so use one drop

[GDRankin]

yes cat food front line one to two drops and a small cage.

cage is to protect the cats

Huh??? Can someone explain this please? Or were you kidding Jay?

[jayj200]

kills fleas and ticks

[GDRankin]

Yeah, I know what Frontline products are, I use them on my dogs. What condused me was the "cat food" and "cage" part of the statement.

"yes cat food front line one to two drops and a small cage."

[Barry]

Yellow jackets are a issue only to weak colonies, oh sure they pick off the occasional worker, but that is no problem to a strong colony. A weak colony yellow jackets can decimate rather quickly.

[Richard M]

Yeah, I know what Frontline products are, I use them on my dogs. What condused me was the "cat food" and "cage" part of the statement.

"yes cat food front line one to two drops and a small cage."

Wasps are carnivores, they'll go for cooked meat such as tinned catfood and take it back to feed the rest of the colony.

[GDRankin]

Cool, thanks Richard for clearing that one up.

[Barry]

Yellow jackets are opportunistic feeders, adults consume only carbohydrates like nectar, honey your soda. But adults will accept any protein source like meat, preferring raw meats but collecting any meat to feed to their brood. They are primarily insectivores. That is a biological fact. Wish they would collect small hive beetles, maybe they do but on a exceedingly small scale.

[jayj200]

stack them like pez candies (hive Beatles) that is should not forget the feeding ramp.

that is kidding and yes I do a lot

the cage keeps the friendlies (cats dogs) out of the wasp bait
cat food is the cheapest meat I know of
one or two drops frontline is the poison

[Richard M]

Cool, thanks Richard for clearing that one up.

Glad to be of assistance.