I consider Yellow Jackets as friends. they eat other insects. I have them all around and they never bother me. People are so full of irrational fears. Let go of the fears and nothing will happen. I picked up a lot of pears this summer off the ground that were covered in yellow jackets with them flying all around me. nothing happened. They are my friends. I would pick up the pear and shake off the yellow jackets. no gloves. bear hands. no fear. I read here on GW that they eat a lot of flies and will clear the area of flies. If you must kill some then try insect repellent. the deet will kill them and I hope it is not such a bad poison for the environment. However pyrethrem is probably even better. But most people have some insect repellent in the house. The smallest amount on the bug will kill it. for a paper wasp nest I believe water will kill the nest. no need for poison. Deet works on a nest also. Once the nest gets wet it is doomed. The adults should leave the dead nest. have patience give it some time. They should all be gone next day. Give them time to leave.

The beetle traps for the past decade works wonder. This year I don't bother to set the trap since I caught so few last year (like 10 beetles per trap, not worth it). But back in 2012 when I first set the trap, I got thousands in each bag and fed them to the birds. The birds have been hunting down the beetles ever since. I set the traps FAR AWAY from my rose garden, see excerpt from below link: "Research that was conducted at the University of Kentucky indicated that the Japanese beetle traps attract several more beetles than are caught in the traps. Thus, the rose bushes and plants along the flight path of the beetles and in the same area of the traps placement are likely to incur much more damage than if no traps are used." Japanese Beetle control This year with no traps, and beetles leave Bolero alone, I also planted a red geranium next to Bolero so the strong scent of geranium distracted the beetles. Pic. taken this year, Bolero barely survived my zone 5a winter so it's so short. I credit the strong scented geranium for deterring both rabbits and beetles from eating super-short Bolero. The plastic is to guard the rabbits, but I will take it off since rabbits haven't eaten Bolero as of August 4, 2022. Many and tightly packed petals of Austin roses are harder for Beetles to nest inside, so they devour fewer petals like Pink Peace, Betty White, and Knock-outs. Agree with others' observation that roses in partial shade have less damage than roses in full sun. My garden is very shady, with most roses getting 4 to 6 hours of sun max. Agree that beetles are less attracted to red and many petals' roses. For the past 12 years, very fragrant W.S. 2000 is never eaten, same with The Dark Lady, and many petals and red roses like Barcelona, Munstead Wood and the Squire. The thickness of mulch prevents beetles' eggs from hatching into grubs and preventing grubs from burrowing deep into the soil. Six of my decades old trees died after the past two harsh zone 5a winters, so I asked the tree company to grind them into mulch for me. One adult beetle can lay up to 60 eggs, but their eggs get dried out on top of dry mulch. Below info. is from the web: "Adult beetles are present for about 6 weeks every summer. The adult beetles begin to emerge from the ground in late June and new adults continue to appear throughout July. Each beetle lives from 30 to 45 days." In early spring I work my soil, and the only place where I find grubs burrowing deep in my dense & heavy clay is near the rainspout where there's no mulch, or soil is made fluffy by acidic rain. But I can't find any grubs in my vegetable beds where I heaped leaves up to 1 foot through the winter. Early this morning 8/5/22 at 7 am I went out to hunt for Japanese Beetles and I can't find any. The birds got them beforehand. The year with the LEAST beetles is when I piled up the most mulch, like recent 2 years of six trees converted into mulch. Or back in 2016 when I collected 90 bags of leaves from neighbors as mulch. I have all the plants that attract beetles: 150+ varieties of roses for the past decade, a crabapple tree, and a cherry tree.

I can't tell for certain what she might be by the image, but the description fits that of one of the solitary wasps, perhaps the Cicada Killer wasp judging by how large you say it is. There are several species of solitary wasps, and many of them dig holes in the ground for nests. She will defend her territory vigorously, and can sting. Can't help you with the beetle without a picture, or a very good description.

It looks like something from the stink bug family, maybe a Spined Soldier Bug. Their range is throughout the United States. It is possible they could have been in the wood you had delivered. We get them here in Colorado and I have found them in our house after we have brought in a load of wood. They eat other bugs, caterpillars, and larvae. I just toss them back outside.:-)