I never had wasps on the rotting bananas I put out, but I did have ants, flies, and the local possum would eat them overnight. I don't mind really. Possums are good for eating grubs and slugs. To give them a banana wasn't too much of a sacrifice for me.

I think they have wasp guardes for some hummingbird feeders. I have some for mine. I took them off because the hummers weren't getting to the nectar. I may have to put them back on if the wasps locate the feeder. The guards look like little round kids' versions of french fry baskets. Mine are yellow. They just snap on over the nectar tubes on the feeder. You might want to check into them.

I don't have as many wasps this year because I now cut the flowers off my fennel, which attracted them in droves. I see one here and there, but generally speaking, very few and far between.

Susan

Thanks Susan, I guess the mixture of fruit and juices was the problem attracting the wasps-plus I already attracted them with the hummer feeders. I know I have possums and raccoons and don't mind feeding them I just wanted the butterfly food to be only for butterflies. I get the flies as well. Do many people feed with this stuff and is it worth it or am I doing something wrong? I haven't read much at all about it.

In my yard when I put out rotten fruit, everyone shares it. I'll have BFs, wasps, beetles, flies, etc all partaking. I don't know if that's a problem, because they all seem to manage. The other day I had green beetles, bees, wasps, QMs, and Hackberries all on the bananas. Overripe mangoes and papayas are the favs.

You can try to divert the wasps by making a feeder just for them. Cut off the top of a 2 liter pop bottle and put a couple of inches of fermented fruit mix in the bottom part of the bottle. Invert the top of the pop bottle and fit it inside the bottom. Place it near their favorite plants. The wasps and flies can get in but have a hard time escaping.

I make my own fruit mash using 1 12 ounce can mango juice, a mashed overripe banana (or other fruit), 2 T. molasses, and 1 teaspoon of yeast. Cover lightly (some people use cheesecloth) and let ferment for about a week, adding about a tablespoon of sugar daily and stirring down. At the end of the week, it's ready. You can keep it indefinitely as long as you continue to feed it with sugar. You can also add more fruit. I like to spread a little of this on the tree bark.

OKSandy

Yep, I have the same problems except I get hornets and yellowjackets along with all the other pests. However, I don't get the oppossums or coons.
I did have a goatweed butterfly feeding on it the other day. Now that is one that I rarely see around here.
Here's my solution to the animals, we have a porch on our house that I put my bowl of fruit elixir on. I set it up on the rail and they can't get to it. I know it's not very attractive to guests, but where I live no one comes to visit much anyway.
sandy, thanks for expanding on the recipe. i've never stirred mine down nor have I ever added sugar. sounds like a good idea that i will incorporate next time.
-Butterflutter-

Why does the Fennel make them come around I wonder? I really liked the flowers on top but, I just cut them off. After I read Susan's post about that I got rid of them all. All the wasp's are outside now, flying around going what the..? Where did they go?-HA!

Aggie

You could also try to use a small dish and pour a small amount of butterfly brew into it and then set one of those plastic scrubbies into it. The butterfly's long proboscis can reach the bottom of the dish but a wasp and bee can't reach it.

Or just put out a shallow tray filled with sugar water in a sweeter concentration out in the far corner of your yard. If you can put it in a yellow colored dish it seems to attract them faster. I've read bees and wasps are attracted to the color yellow and once they get a taste of it they should congregate on that.

~ Cat

I hang my mix from a six foot shepard's hook. That keeps the four legged critters away. Where it goes in the ground , I put tanglefoot to keep the ants off. Cat has the best answer for the bees. I just cover mine for a day till the bees leave.

turtledon, does the tanglefoot really keep ants away? Fire ants? I just placed Amdro around several fire ant hills. I am making the wasps/yellow jackets a new feeder all their own with the soda bottle. Can't wait till they transfer to it. They have invaded 5 of my hummer feeders as well.