Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang
I thought I'd light a citronella oil lantern because some say that it might help keep wasps away. I don't think that it made any difference at all.
Those bag things with the attractant, on the other hand - those things work.
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I haven't had success with citronella oil lanterns/torches for bugs for the last few years, especially if there's even a remotely gentle breeze. It also sucks because they're not allowed in stage 4 water restrictions right now.
I've been using a bubble machine instead. I can say that it does seem like wasps don't really like the bubbles, but only within a few inches of the thing. I took a bubble machine and started blowing bubbles onto them to see how they react. Online says maybe to add some scent to it and they'll dislike it more, but I'm not going to put essential oils into bubble mix. They'll definitely change flight path and avoid colliding with bubbles, but if they're already locked in on some sugar or food or something, it won't be effective unless you're somehow bathing in bubbles.
I haven't gotten to the point of a yellow jacket trap yet (home made or purchased the cheat code one). The cheat code one catches and kills way better than home made by a huge margin. I've been doing the home made ones for years and I know it's not even close.
The other weekend we went for ice cream. I probably spent 10-20 minutes smacking the concrete with my flip flop to kill about half a dozen wasps. I've been telling people to do slow but intentional movements to get the wasps to go away. Quick movements and high pitched sounds will increase the chances they'll probably bite you, although I've been surprised at how often they wasps have been trying to land on relatively calm people this year. That's kinda weird behaviour I haven't seemed to notice before.