Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught - Questions & Answers

Onslaught contains the active ingredient Esfenvalerate. Like most other insecticides Onslaught will kill honey bees if they come in contact with the product. If you use protein based food baits such as chicken, cat food or tuna you will greatly reduce the chance that honey bees will be attracted to the bait stations and contact the Onslaught.

The nutritional needs of yellow jackets change periodically. During the early part of the season yellow jackets are mainly looking for proteins such as fish or chicken. They will usually forage for proteins first, while they are feeding their developing yellow jackets back at the nest, and this is the best time to bait for them. Using protein baits will also help deter honey bees from entering the bait stations (honey bees are on the decline and it is best avoid harming them whenever possible). During other parts of the season yellow jackets are looking for carbohydrate or sugary foods like soda, beer or fruit juice to help maintain energy levels. We recommend that you put out a couple of different protein baits (fish, chicken) and a couple of different carbohydrate baits (cola, fruit juice) without adding the Onslaught. Leave the bait out for a day or two and see which bait the yellow jackets are attracted to. Once you see which bait they like, then you can add the Onslaught to the mix and put out the bait stations. Be sure to use the recommended usage rate of 1/4 teaspoon of Onslaught per 12 oz. of bait to avoid making the bait repellent to the yellow jackets. 

It does not take much Onslaught for it to work.  You can take a small paint brush and paint it on the meat and then discard the paint brush or any other similar method.  You can mix the onslaught with water as well.  That should still get the job done and does make it a little easier to apply to all the meat.

When the yellow jackets take the bait that has been mixed with the Onslaught, they take the bait back and feed others in the colony including the queen, killing the entire colony. We recommend trying several different baits such as jelly, water packed tuna, wet cat food, raw chicken, fresh fish or cola. This will help you determine what the yellow jackets are foraging for and then following the directions included with the Yellow Jacket Kit, you can add the Onslaught to the bait.

 

The Onslaught that comes in this kit will kill just about any type of wasp if they make contact with the product. The idea behind this kit is that you mix the Onslaught with a food item and wasps take the food item back to their nest and share it with the other wasps, killing the colony. If you have a type of wasp that does not take bait, then the kit would not be very effective. You can set out a few different food items to see if the wasps are attracted to them. If the wasps are attracted then you can use the kit successfully. If the wasps are not attracted to the food, then you should consider just spraying an insecticide such as Onslaught topically to areas where there has been wasp activity. Here are a few recommended baits: raw chicken pieces, raw fish, canned tuna, cat food, or fruit juice. Raw chicken pieces or tuna tend to work the best.

The Onslaught itself will stay effective for several weeks but the yellow jackets may ignore old bait that is spoiled or moldy. Yellow jackets tend to go for fresh bait. We recommend changing out old, spoiled or moldy bait for best results.

According to the manufacturer you will need to use a minimum of 8 Alpine bait stations per acre for a total of 24 bait stations for your 2.5 acre vineyard. It is helpful to start baiting before the yellow jackets get very active and the fruit gets too ripe.

As per the instructions that came with the kit you will need to mix 1/4 tsp of Onslaught per 12 oz of bait. Be careful not to use more than the recommended amount of Onslaught as this can lead to bait avoidance. In case you lost your instructions or didn't find them in the box you can still read them on the Alpine Yellow Jacket Kit product page on our website (scroll towards the bottom of the page)

Each kit contains four reusable bait stations with hanging strings and one pint of Onslaught insecticide concentrate. The information was listed on the product page under the product description, but it did not stand out from the rest of the paragraph. We have now made the information bold to make it easier for our customers to find.

You should only use disposable spoons and containers to mix the product with meat. Any measuring spoon used should be clearly labeled for insecticide use only and should be rinsed off outside and placed in a  zip top bag for future use. Old meat can be placed in a plastic bag and tossed in the trash.

If honeybees enter the station and consume the bait they could potentially carry it back to the colony. To avoid having this happen you can try to bait using protein based baits only. Honeybees are usually only interested in carbohydrate or sweet items and usually will avoid protein based baits or meat baits. Yellow jackets do change their nutritional needs and sometimes will only feed on protein based baits and at other times will only feed on carbohydrate based baits. You can put out a couple of plates containing food items (raw fish or chicken, cat food, juice, jelly, beer) and see which items they forage on to determine what kind of baits would be acceptable at this time.

Yellow jackets are not known to build resistance to insecticides. Also, they really would not be able to catch on to what is happening because those yellow jackets that have already vistited the stations would be killed as would their nest mates. New yellow jackets in the area would visit as their foraging behaviors dictate. There are several species of yellow jackets that are not scavengers and would not be attracted to the stations.

The Onslaught Inseciticide that you have in the Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught will kill hornets. Baiting usually works the best for yellow jackets (most stinging insects do not bait well). They will be eradicated if they land on the treated surfaces.

How to use the stations :

STEP 1. We recommend testing a few types of bait before using the stations. Recommended food baits incude raw chicken pieces, raw fish, canned tuna, or cat food.  Raw chicken pieces or tuna tend to work the best.

STEP 2. Mix your choice of bait with Onslaught. You only need a very small amount of Onslaught for the bait to be effective. We recommend mixing 1/4 teaspoon of Onslaught per 12 oz. of bait.

STEP 3. Place a few ounces of bait in each station and hang the stations outside around your home 5-6 feet off the ground and about 50 feet apart. For example, you could hang the trap from a tree limb. Keep the stations out of reach of children, but in areas where the yellow jackets can enter the stations.

You are most likely dealing with multiple yellow jacket colonies on or close to your property. Therefore, you may see multiple resurgence and/or decrease in activity. Normally, it will only take a few days to elimninate an entire yellow jacket colony using the Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught. We recommend you keep up the baiting until the yellow jacket activity ceases for 7 days or more and resume use if activity returns.

Our Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught would do that if the species you have takes a bait.  We recommend trying several different baits such as jelly, water packed tuna, wet cat food, raw chicken, fresh fish or cola. This will help you determine what the yellow jackets are foraging for and then following the directions included with the Yellow Jacket Kit, you can add the Onslaught to the bait. When the yellow jackets take the bait that has been mixed with the Onslaught, they take the bait back and feed others in the colony including the queen, killing the entire colony.

The nutritional needs of yellow jackets change periodically. During the early part of the season yellow jackets are mainly looking for proteins such as fish or chicken. They will usually forage for proteins first, while they are feeding their developing yellow jackets back at the nest, and this is the best time to bait for them. Using protein baits will also help deter honey bees from entering the bait stations (honey bees are on the decline and it is best avoid harming them whenever possible). During other parts of the season yellow jackets are looking for carbohydrate or sugary foods like soda, beer or fruit juice to help maintain energy levels. We recommend that you put out a couple of different protein baits (fish, chicken) and a couple of different carbohydrate baits (cola, fruit juice) without adding the Onslaught. Leave the bait out for a day or two and see which bait the yellow jackets are attracted to. Once you see which bait they like, then you can add the Onslaught to the mix and put out the bait stations. Be sure to use the recommended usage rate of Onslaught per 12 oz. of bait to avoid making the bait repellent to the yellow jackets.

Typically, when Yellow jackets are inside of a building they are either nesting inside of a wall void or coming inside through cracks, open windows, or doors. When treating for Yellow Jackets it is always best to perform a direct treatment to the nest to ensure a quick and complete kill of the nest, and this application is best done at night when those Yellow Jackets are less aggressive. You can try to locate the nest by watching and observing their habits. If a direct nest treatment is not a possibility, then you can try baiting those Yellow Jackets. This can be done with our Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught. Each kit contains four reusable bait stations with hanging strings and one pint of Onslaught insecticide concentrate, the only insecticide labeled for Yellow Jacket baiting. Mix your choice of bait with Onslaught, we recommend chicken or tuna. You only need a very small amount of Onslaught for the bait to be effective. We recommend mixing 1/4 teaspoon of Onslaught per 12 oz. of bait. Place a few ounces of bait in each station and hang the stations 5-6 feet off the ground and about 50 feet apart. Keep the stations out of reach of children or heavy traffic areas, but in areas where the yellow jackets can enter the stations. Light traps are a great way to control a variety of flying insects indoors, but  they do do not work as well for yellow jackets and should not be used as the sole method to eradicate a yellow jackets problem.

When using the Alpine Yellow Jacket Bait Station Kit with Onslaught, you would use 1/4th teaspoon of undiluted Onslaught mixed into 12 ounces of bait.  You can view the video on the product page for helpful information on using the stations.

Freezing the bait mixture that contains the Onslaught would cause the insecticide to be ineffective.  For best results use the bait mixture immediately after mixing with the Onslaught.