Wasps and yellow jackets on yard long beans?? Problem??

12 years ago

Hello all,

I did read somewhere (??) that wasps and yellow jackets frequent the blooms of yardlong beans. Do the wasps become 'drunk' from the flowers?? I need to harvest these plants and the wasps are quite numerous. I've grown these same yardlongs before and never had the wasps until this year. I thought I'd wait until late evening but when I went out at 8PM the wasp numbers were still pretty high.

What do you guys suggest?? :-))

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Comments (13)

cindy_eatonton
12 years ago
I had a problem with this last year - the ants and aphids and yellow jackets were all over my red noodle beans. I watered which helped chase off some of the yellow jackets - but it was still hard to pick due to ants. Good luck!

Cindy
happyday
12 years ago
Last year I hung a pop bottle full of fruit juice (rotten watermelon) and dish soap on the trellis. Within a few days many of the wasps were inside the trap. If you don't want to kill them, try putting out a plate of jelly or honey or sugar water nearby, they may flock to that instead and let you pick beans in peace.
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In my opinion - because I am allergic! - the only good wasp, is a dead wasp. My weapon of choice is the 27 foot shooting range can of Raid. Plus, all the wasps seem to select home construction in places that don't work for me. Such as, over the front door, garage door, under my chaise, hanging flower pots, under the leaves of my roses (nice treat when you sniff the flowers!), in the bird house (surprise...). They are so aggressive that it doesn't matter 'where' they are located, if you come within a few feet, the Sentry-Guards will chase you away. I just hate them!
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The wasps that make those "paper" nests are very beneficial and seldom are aggressive. They like to build nests in my yard tool shed and I have not been bthered by them at all, even though I'm in and out of there several times every day. The yellow Jackets, however, are just mean and ornery, but that may be simply because they like the same stuff we do, sugary drinks in the spring and early summer, and protein later. If you find a Yellow Jacket nest you can put a large glass jar over the entrance at night and those leaving the nest will get trapped in the morning as they try to leave heading toward the light, but that does not eliminate the nest dwellers and the queen will simply lay more eggs to produce more workers. Yellow Jackets probably do have a place in our environment, but like most people "not in my backyard". The single most effective means of control is to place some Sevin around the entrance to the nest so those returning have to walk through it and then will take it into the nest eventually killing all the workers there and the queen.
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Hello, I recently moved into a rental that has a big, wonderful deck with stairs down to the garden. This is how my dog goes outside. We had plenty of wasps and bees around through the spring, and we all ignored them, and they ignored us. Then a couple of weeks ago, my dog and daughter were both stung, so I went under the deck with spray and destroyed 3 nests. Thinking we were in the clear, life went back to normal. But the survivors kept circling around, and I had to spray again, as they seemed to be rebuilding under the stairs. The dog and I were stung one day for no reason (except being on the stairs.) Now, it seems that every other day there are wasps going in & out between the boards on the steps. I will spray as often as I have to, but I'd really love to figure out how to keep them out of the stairs. I have been stung 3 times so far, and each time I was minding my own business. As someone who gardened peacefully for 20 years without being stung by anything, I deeply resent this! The house is old, so everything is holey and crumbly. And I dont' want to spend too much money on this, as I hope to move out this winter. But I don't want the wasps to ruin the rest of our summer! Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!! Ann in Virginia
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Yeah that's almost definitely them.. A part I left out is the reddish color I see from their wings. I can't tell if they do have 2 sets of wings, but I can see how the shape of them would lead me to believe they have 2 sets.. I'll take a closer look next time I see them, and if they fit it'll put me at ease.. I usually see them while mowing the yard, they seem to like to hover directly over the freshly cut grass which puts me in very close proximity to them. Honey bees don't really bother me, their stings don't even phase me.. But Yellow Jackets, Red wasps and the like do, and that fear only grows as their size does.. As you can imagine, I've been quite nervous while mowing the yard, it seems to draw 5-10 of these things in.
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zeedman Zone 5 Wisconsin
12 years ago
Whatever the wasps consume from the vines (mostly from the extra-floral nectaries, the bumps below the flowers), it seems to pacify them. Their behavior is far less aggressive than I have come to expect, especially given the large numbers which frequent the vines in late Summer. Must be some good wasp happy juice... wish I could synthesize it & feed it to the wasps around my house. ;-)

I've only been stung once, and that was when I actually grabbed a wasp that was on the back side of a pod I was picking. Even then, the wasp didn't appear to be angry. Chances are, if you move carefully, the wasps will be no problem. Just avoid grabbing the tops of the pods, and snip the stems with a scissors (this avoids most of the ants too).

Ants are also attracted to the nectaries. They defend the vines vigorously, and there seems to be one on every flower stalk. Usually they are black ants, which are just annoying; but several years I had carpenter ants in the vines, and they bite. Some ants will also farm aphids on the vines.

The wasps are beneficial, they will feed on the aphids as well... about the only thing that will fight through the ants which defend them.
happyday
12 years ago
Another way that wasps are beneficial is that they will take caterpillars and grubs from your plants during the summer to feed to their larvae. They eat sugar late in the year to live over the winter on.
dancinglemons
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks cindy-eatonton, happyday and zeedman!

I was able to harvest some beans tonight! DH and I went out a little after 9PM when it was completely dark -- the wasps and yellow jackets were completely gone!! We looked carefully with flashlights just to be sure. The neighbors already think we are nutty when we water our EarthBoxes in the rain. They will have no doubt when they see us harvesting beans by flashlight and auto headlights....

zeedman,
I have observed the wasps when they frequent these yardlong beans and they indeed are docile. Normally when there are wasps around our yard they are quite belligerent. The nectar from the yardlongs would be nice to have in spray form.

Thanks again,
DL
cindy_eatonton
12 years ago
I can attest to the benefits of the wasps in the garden - I was able to grow broccoli this year without needing to use a single dose of BT - the cabbage worms and loopers never had a chance - the wasps were out starting late March, patroling. :-)
john_p_wi
12 years ago
Be careful, my Chinese wife got nailed by a yellow jacket while tending to her long beans yesterday... They seem fairly aggressive already this year (the yellow jackets that is....)
tedposey
12 years ago
Zeedsman says," Must be some kind of wasp happy juice....Wish I could synthesize it to feed the wasps around my house."
I'd like to collect it or synthesize it to feed to the wife IN my house. Lol.
jimster
12 years ago
Zeedman's explanation fits my observations exactly. I get loads of wasps around my cowpeas but they never sting or even threaten me. I can work in the midst of them and they ignore me.

Jim
happyday
12 years ago
John, there may be a nest nearby. Yellow jackets will get aggressive to protect the nest. Look for short rising flights. If they get excited and bob up and down in the air over a certain place, there is a nest there.
john_p_wi
12 years ago
Thanks Happyday. I have looked... but my eyes are not what they used to be....

Our Asian cucumbers share the opposite side of the bean trellis, so we have spent a lot of time in the area. Hmmm?

My neighbor complained of the number of yellow jackets too, which makes me think this fall will be crazy with them.

Take care.
happyday
12 years ago
John, there are wasp and yellow jacket traps for sale at Menards and other places, and if you or your neighbors find the nest, then you can do something about it. If your neighbors or wife have sharper eyes, get them to help find the nest.

Here is a link that might be useful: How to find a yellow jacket nest
john_p_wi
12 years ago
Thank you again for your help Happyday. Finally some rain over here, hopefully it will help push the garden along....

John

Wasps and yellow jackets on yard long beans?? Problem??

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cindy_eatonton

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Wasps and yellow jackets on yard long beans?? Problem??

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