Wasp Damage

Hey all, the yellow jackets are wrecking my grapes. They sting the berries at the top of the clusters and then the other flys eat the berries. Can I add some insecticide like sevin to the mix, I mean will it help??

the grapes are ripe. adding sevin next to harvest maybe a problem.

It will help but I'd not use a toxin within 4 weeks of harvest. You can try traps, meat in a mason jar works, or if you are a couple weeks from harvest a gardeners soap or oil spray. I've never had it on more than a few vines so traps worked for me. Good luck and let us know if something works.

good morninng, as my very first post on this forum, I've been fighting this very thing for three years. Last year, virtually no harvest, they wiped out my crop. Looking for a way to dear with it too. It is worst in the hottest weather, but always have to pick before the brix gets where it needs to be.....help!

I would go to lowes or home depot and find a spray that will kill them and not kill you or leave a bad taste on the grapes. A lot of people will say not to spray before harvest, but if you are going to lose the crop anyway, i would spray and try to kill the bast**ds. Also do some research and try to find a poison that the bees will take back to there nests and wipe them all out, have read that onslaught may work like that.

Vineyard hygiene is the best way to deal with them. Remove any damaged or broken open grapes. If you can find their nests, take those out. I would not spray anything on the grapes as I don't think it will help. Remove any fruit that is broken open and attracting them.

Those damn wasps! I have a problem now, they are all over my beehive...

need to trap earlier in the year to help lower numbers. remove nests. Need to find them before they find you

It's been my experience in my vineyard that the wasp, bees, and flies show up after the grapes have been damaged by birds, raccoons, or over watering. If the grape is intact, no holes or nicks to let the juice flow, it won't attract the insects. What usually happens is birds come pecking when the grapes are close to harvest time, an indication that the fruit is almost ready to pick. Control the birds and animals and you control the insects. Too much rain or watering can make the berries swell and split as well. One last issue is black rot. Many have a tendency of suspending their captan applications close to harvest and with rain comes the rot. A few berries at first and this will bring the insects and flies like crazy. Once the grapes start veraison they still may need to hang for another 2-4 weeks before picking. You can use captan up to 7 days before harvest. I learned the hard way on as I've had all the issues described here. Take great notes each year with pictures of every stage in the vineyard. I use a blog so I can record and search anything from stages of the grapes to application times, plus it helps others to not repeat your mistakes. Hope this helps.

GreginND said:

Vineyard hygiene is the best way to deal with them. Remove any damaged or broken open grapes. If you can find their nests, take those out. I would not spray anything on the grapes as I don't think it will help. Remove any fruit that is broken open and attracting them.

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I don't think that will help in my vines! The reason I say that, is the wasps (all three varitys we have here) are biting the berrys and open them up. Then the flies move in and all that is left in a matter of hours is seeds and skins!

I've searched and killed out all nest I can find, but there are always some you can't find. I hate the idea of using sprays for them, but will see if I can find some thing that will work! Thanks for the replies!

they are tearing me up this year. ive taken out one next and they dissappeared for a week or so. but it seems like they are back.

Well I finially have a solution for the wasp eating us out of house and home. Use a 12.5 ounce can of Swanson's white chicken breast meat, and 1/2 teaspoon of Taures SC insectiside. I would love to post the vidio, but not techy enough! The idea is to get the wasps to carry the poison back to their nests, thereby eliminating the whole colony. Use a cage when putting out, so you don't poison the birds, and local wildlife, something that lets the wasps in but keeps your cats and dogs out as well. It works better that anything else that I've used, with no spraying poison on your grapes. Wish I had known of this years ago, it'll put a hurtin on the wasp population.

I had been spraying Malithion on my grapes, and while it did the job, it washes off with every rain, and has to be reapplied. Plus you have to wash your grapes when you pick, which is another pain in the pooper!

Onslaught !! Try it NEXT year. You're probably late but put out pans of water. The bees head to water when it gets dry. After they are coming to it, or other bait if that works, put Onslaught in it. It will wipe out virtually 90+% of near by colonies.

I had a wasp problem and 2 years ago I started baiting. It wiped out the majority. Onslaught and Tempo have worked for me. Read up on Onslaught, I think you'll like it. Tempo is a contact killer but they seem to take it home also.

Tempo is NOT labeled for plant spraying. It is a fairly safe material and IS labeled for use inside food plants so it can't be to toxic to humans. Side note, I had a horrible mass invasion of grass hoppers one year in my orchard. They were virtually eating every leaf on my trees. I sprayed with Tempo (no fruit, late season) and the next day there were NO hoppers to be found!! One day and wiped out.