My little orchard gets attacked by wasps, just as the apples are ripening, wasps bore into the tender skin and flesh. Since I want to stop surround by the first week of August I cant rely on that to ward them off. Spinosads? Neem Oil? Insecticidal soap?

As with any discussion of a "pest species" we need to evaluate its potential usefulness in the orchard. I won't argue that wasps are not a pain in the neck, but they often serve a purpose. First we should identify the wasp in question, but in a NY State orchard I'll make the assumption that it is a yellow jacket. This species, which supposedly accounts for half the stings of all insects is very fond of ripening (or especially overripe) fruit. During apple tastings I've done their numbers become, um, alarming. On the good side, they do a bit of pollinating. I have watched them drinking nectar from my blueberry flowers for instance. However, wasps have a very smooth exoskeleton which makes it harder, but not impossible to pick up pollen. They are not attracted to pollen as they do not consume it, but to the sugary nectars. Apple blossoms may be visited by them, but at this time of year their numbers are low. Wasps begin new colonies each year which means the spring contains only overwintered queens and first progeny. More important is their appetite for true pest insects, especially caterpillars of various persuasions. Sadly, many wasps also banquet on our beloved honeybee as well. I must mention too that wasps engaged in harvesting rarely sting. While blackberry picking each year I constantly pick them up accidentally and have never been stung. Danger comes from invading their nest site, which could mean attack from nearly 1000 individuals. If you feel you still need to reduce their presence you can either distract them or get rid of them. I would advocate for distraction first, by baiting them with exactly what they want. Try taking your drops or thinnings and pile them at a safe distance. Anyone who has ever pressed cider on a summer day knows they will find it. Eradicating is trickier. Most of our nests are eventually dug up and destroyed by skunks who adore the wasps and larvae. One trick is to invert a large clear bowl over the nest hole, which will cause the little guys to continually bash into it thinking it is the sky. Apparently they will not excavate a new hole to escape and the colony will die. Finding the hole means tracking wasps from the food source (finding the "bee line"). Any methods aimed at eradicating them with spray options will also wreak havoc with other beneficials. Aerial nests of paper wasps can be removed by hand at night, especially earlier in the year when colony numbers are low. This is also a good time to pull down hornet nests, whos members- especially the bald-faced hornet-which can be very dangerous, especially near a pick your own operation.

We have had a huge problem with wasps for both pears and apples. We have used yellow jacket traps. There are disposable and reusable ones available by Rescue. They are a bit expensive. The rescue reusable trap cost about $12 plus refills for the lure (10 week supply is ~$6). The disposable ones are about $5 each. We tried them last year. I would put them out on a tree approximately 2 weeks before I expected the fruit to start ripening. I found that filling them with apple juice worked as well as the lures. I did not buy enough to really cover the orchard, so I was moving them around as different varieties ripened. Overall it helped reduce the damage. The advantage of the commercially available traps is they trap wasps, but not bees. So it may be possible to make homemade traps, But I will invest in some additional reusable traps for this year. It does require time to make sure the traps are full of juice and moving them around, but if your orchard is small enough it might help. I am still trying to figure out the best way to deal with the wasps. so I would love to hear other ideas.