Keeping This Spicy Condiment On Hand Will Have Yellowjackets Buzzing Away From Your Yard

The popularity of spicy foods, seasonings, and sauces is rapidly rising across the United States at an astronomical rate. Newsweek has even referred to the 2020s as the "Spicy Foods Era." But, the rise of the red pepper hasn't caught on in every population segment in America. In fact, peppers remain particularly unpopular among the yellowjacket wasp population. That means those who enjoy spicing up their food a bit may already have everything then need to push yellowjackets away from their outdoor living space.

While wasps may be among the insects you shouldn't kill in a garden, you probably don't want yellowjackets buzzing around your backyard barbecue. Why? Well, although they can be of benefit to the health of your garden since they tend to attack destructive garden pests such as caterpillars, yellowjackets are also one of the most aggressive and dangerous types of wasps. So, beyond just avoiding mistakes that attract wasps to your yard, in order to keep your next backyard gathering wasp-free, you should get in on the spice trend because keeping this spicy condiment on hand will have yellowjackets buzzing away from your yard.

Tabasco is not just a particular type of red pepper, it is also one of the most popular pepper sauces available in the United States. Additionally, tabasco is one of the main ingredients in a very effective DIY yellowjacket repellent. So how could something that so many people love be such a turn off to yellowjackets? The answer is simple — capsaicin. This is the element which gives the pepper its spicy heat. While it may make your mouth burn and your eyes water — or even make you sweat a bit — its effects on yellowjackets are much more devastating. Capsaicin wreaks havoc on the metabolic and nervous systems of insects, including yellowjackets. The end result for an insect that encounters capsaicin is often death, so it is easy to understand why they turn away when they sense it.

Making and using a Tabasco insect repellent is easy enough. All you need to do is mix some Tabasco and water in a spray bottle. Typically, six to eight tablespoons of Tabasco per cup of water does the trick. Then, simply spray the concoction around the perimeter of your outdoor living space and any area wasps may tend to congregate. Be careful not to get any of the spray in your eyes. To that end, it's usually a good idea to wear glasses when spraying this mixture, especially if there is a breeze.

While using Tabasco as a yellowjacket repellent has garnered the most attention, other peppers repel yellowjackets also. Most hot sauces will work as long as they have a heavy dose of some sort of pepper that contains capsaicin. The higher the capsaicin, the hotter the pepper. So, it is easy to tell which peppers will be the most effective by consulting the Scoville Scale. To that end, Tabasco may not even be the most effective, as it ranks a middling sixth in the top 10, topped by peppers such as the Carolina reaper, ghost pepper, habanero, Thai pepper, and cayenne. With that in mind, you can make repellent sprays that are equally or even more effective with sauces made from these peppers in the same manner used to make the Tabasco repellent spray.

If you find yourself using a substantial amount of these repellent sprays, you may find it beneficial to use the peppers themselves. Either fresh or dried versions will work. To make a repellent spray with peppers or pepper flakes, follow these steps. Mix either three tablespoons of pepper flakes or 10 chopped peppers with a gallon of water in a large pot. Bring this mix to a boil, then cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Allow the mixture to cool and then sit for 24 to 48 hours. Next, strain to remove the peppers and/or pepper flakes. Add two teaspoons of dish soap and pour into a spray bottle.