Protecting against Hornets/Wasps

[Bonsai Nut]

FWIW some wasps eat aphids. I had a tree this year that had a light infestation and as I was getting ready to spray, I kept noticing wasps flying around the tree. I stood and watched and they would fly up and hunt around until they got one of the buggers, and then they would fly away with it.

 

[rockm]

FWIW some hornets eat aphids. I had a tree this year that had a light infestation and as I was getting ready to spray, I kept noticing wasps flying around the tree. I stood and watched and they would fly up and hunt around until they got one of the buggers, and then they would fly away with it.

I've seen the same. I welcome wasps flying around my trees. They're hunting stuff down. Unless its a cicada killer wasp, then I go back inside and wait for it to get lost--

Not the ‘Murder Hornet’: Cicada Killer Wasps Termed Gentle Giants

NEW HAVEN — According to the state Agricultural Experiment Station, Connecticut is currently experiencing higher than normal activity of the large native solitary wasp called the Cicada Killer, Sphecius speciosus.

www.primepublishers.com

 

[AcerAddict]

Your pictures with the cuts on the leaves look to me like they're from pruning shears. In the 2nd photo, look closely at the leaf I circled in red. It has the end completely cut off, but then a partial cut that goes about one-fifth of the way through the leaf, potentially where you ended a snip with your shears. I don't know of any insect that would make a straight cut like that into the "side" of a leaf, so to speak. I also have never seen any insect that cuts leaves in perfectly straight lines like that either. Leaf cutter ants make arc-shaped cuts, not straight.

I have to agree w/the folks who said you may have wasps on your trees because they're eating some other bug, or they're getting moisture/sap from it.

From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp#Diet

Adult solitary wasps mainly feed on nectar, but the majority of their time is taken up by foraging for food for their carnivorous young, mostly insects or spiders.

 

[sorce]

Have we not learned lately that anything is possible.

Perhaps bro bit a pango know what I'm saying....

Maybe WE should be eating Ficus leaves.

I found a wicked trail cam that takes time lapse photos too...

Google Search

Some videos on it. Thinking bout getting one.

Sorce

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

Carpenter bees chop leaves.
Some wasps do use foliage to make that pulp they build their nests from, but usually they loudly scrape wood with their teeth over here.

 

[Cajunrider]

Earlier this year I had wasps and ants all over my guava trees. I sprayed the trees with insecticides but they keep coming back. The trees were looking sick and started to have mildew. Upon close examination I found aphids. I treated the trees with neem oil and detergent solution. The aphids went away and no more wasps & ants. I then wash all the mildew off. The trees are once again healthy.

 

[Forsoothe!]

How do you wash the mildew off?

 

[Cajunrider]

How do you wash the mildew off?

I use Wet & Forget concentrate solution to wet the trees. After a few rainy days, I used my garden hose to wash off what’s left.

 

[hinmo24t]

How do you wash the mildew off?

bleach works wonders for mildew. not sure about tree application though


i wonder if hydrogen peroxide works for mildew...it is a good solution for trees by the way

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

bleach works wonders for mildew. not sure about tree application though


i wonder if hydrogen peroxide works for mildew...it is a good solution for trees by the way

It does, but the patches affected by the mildew can turn brown and die off. Not sure what's better or worse..
At 1.5% concentration it does less damage, but doesn't kill all the mildew.