Lorna, why did you take your hummer feeder down, because of the ants? You could have just purchased an ant moat to go on top of it or purchase a feeder that has an ant moat. Is there a problem with killing ants too, are they beneficial, cause here at my home I have millions that invade my yards and land and even my home every single year. I was told I have several colonies. I think sometimes they live in my walls. As far as wasps go, they like to build around my back door, they do not bother my hummer feeders, like the ants used to. But......they do get into my house a lot since they build right next to the back door. And there is nothing like having flying wasps in your home, along with ants. I do nothing about either, except kill them when they are in my home.....and use an ant moat for my feeders. Now if I was getting wasps on my feeders, I would probably do something about that. Whenever my daughter tries to weed eat, she get hoarded by bees and gets stung sometimes. I suppose it is the kind that burrow in the ground. She is 16 and scared to death of bees, but still does it. What do we do about this situation? I think in certain situations, you have to do something, whatever that might be, good or bad. Do you get JB's? What do you do about them?? I am at a loss because I think I am going to lose a large tree because of them.

A friend just stopped by moments ago to tell me that my suggestion of providing an alternative sugar water bowl for the yellow jackets worked wonders at drawing them away from his hummingbird feeders. He said he had hundreds of yellow jackets, and they swarmed around the feeders and prevented the birds from feeding. I suggested bowls of sugar water some feet away from the feeders, and sure enough they went to those instead, and bonus!, they landed up drowning in the bowls! The birds are back to enjoying the feeders and his yellow jacket problem has gone away. Okay, okay I don't want to hear about the poor yellow jackets...they're backyard terrorists! Step in a nest once and you'll agree. They also terrorize bees (yellow jackets are not bees) while trying to steal their honey. There's a reason for the term "mean as a hornet". Believe me, I try not to purposely kill anything unless it becomes an overwhelming pest like fire ants and yellow jackets. I love the birds, squirells, butterflies and bees, but yellow jackets gotta go, and it appears this technique really works well.

Thank you for the link Kimmsr, Here in Texas, Yellow Jackets nest in fruit trees (I got stung 26 times once when climbing a mulberry tree over in Fort Worth,by yellow jackets nesting in the tree!) and, indeed, in sheds. Yellow Jacket Wasps sting whenever they get a chance. They do not allow you to walk right up to them and NOT sting you. Bees, on the other hand, don't sting unless somebody is sending out scared vibes or picking on them. Yellow Jackets look different than bees. Do Yellow Jackets dance,have a lot of hair, and have black butts? The tiny flying fuzzy butts I am seeing are dancing and wiggling and seeming to communicate just like bees.

Sound more like ground-nesting bees. If so, they typically don't sting. You would have to catch, and harass, one in order to be stung. Beyond that, they are considered beneficial insects. So the *remedy* would be to work around them rather than kill them. You could make it an educational moment for your canoers.