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Why Yellow Jackets Swarm Your Japanese Maple

The Real Attraction

Yellow jackets and wasps aren't nesting in the tree—they're feeding on honeydew, a sugary excretion from sap-sucking insects like aphids or scales. The dense foliage hides these pests.

Solution: Eliminate the Honeydew Source

Apply Bayer Advanced Tree & Shrub Insect Control (imidacloprid) as a soil drench around the tree. The systemic action moves the insecticide to leaves and twigs, killing the sucking insects. Once honeydew production stops, the wasps will leave.

Product Note

Available at local nurseries; follow label directions for dosage based on trunk diameter.

Trees: Wasps and Yellow Jackets Entering Homes: Nest Location and Treatment; 'Inaba Shidare' Japanese Maple: Identification and Container Growing Guide; Transplanting Japanese Maple in NC: Plant Now, Not Spring; Waterfall Japanese Maple Snapped to a Stump: Will It Regrow?; Bees Swarming Japanese Maple: They’re After Aphid Honeydew; Spider Mite Damage on Japanese Maple; Fertilizing Japanese Maple: Skip Spikes, Use Granular; Japanese Maple Root Exposure During Septic Work: Partial Recovery Likely; Japanese Maple Freeze Damage: Spring and Fall Fertilizing; Yellow Fungus on Japanese Maple Branches: Likely Wood Rot, Not Surface Fungus

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