Well, we all have preferences. I like wasps for eating caterpilars. I plant vegetables for myself not the insects.
They can go ahead and it other things I don't mind it. I have seen caterpillars eating blackberry leaves, passiflora leaves and many others.

But I do not like wasps (yellow jackets I mean)in general. They are annoying when you are eating, drinking. An more importantly, if you step on their nests by accident in the wooded area, they will swarm you and sting you mercilessy. I have been stung by yellow jackets many times. Luckiliy I am not allergic to their sting.
Among the bees, honey bees are truly admirable.They have a class. Bumble bees are Ok too. They are workers and earn their living without causing any trouble to humans.

Cyrus, I agree with you about planting the veggies for myself. :) Normally I'm not excited about caterpillars chomping in my garden but when I found they were going to be swallowtail butterflies I was happy since I haven't seen a single butterfly in my yard so far this year. Last year by this time we had dozens of them.

I like honey bees and bumble bees, I've never found them to be aggressive. The wasps on the other hand are another story. Growing up they would dive bomb us for no reason. I've had many painful stings.

Thanks for any advice on how to get rid of them and have a great holiday,
Franny

You won't be able to get rid of all wasps, there are too many types which live under too many conditions - in the ground, trees, mud nests, etc. Good news is wasps also eat insects you don't want like widow spiders. Some birds eat wasps - but birds will also eat your caterpillars. A lot of things will eat caterpillars. Cocoons are also eaten by ants, wasps, bugs of all sorts. Swallowtails lay a lot of eggs to make sure some survive.

Your best bet for getting swallowtail butterflies is to plant an area with fennel and parsley where the butterflies can lay eggs. It will look like heck so not "front of the border" material. Caterpillars are eating machines so be sure to supply a few plants, not just one or two. If you add some passion vine, which grows wild in GA, you'll have Gulf Fritillary also. Just leave the area be and it will happen. Some larvae will be eaten but many will survive. Last year I grew passion vine through a large butterfly bush with fennel tucked around the base and had a lot of fritillary and swallowtails. Passion vine will not smother a food source shrub like butterfly bush. Very little effort, great results.

I used to raise butterflies in huge screen boxes, but that's probably a bit much for most people. Fortunately I spend enough time alone that I don't have people around me to clarify exactly how strange I can be.

LOL strange is good around here laylaa. I think that's interesting you used to raise butterflies. We've had masses of them all spring so far. I'll have to remember that about the parsley and fennel. I get funny looks when I tell people I breed daylilies lol.

I'm friends with bumble bees and honey bees. I like the fact wasps kill spiders (I hate spiders...yes I know I probably shouldn't and they also kill other bugs but I can't stand finding those giant thick 4 or 5 inch wide creepy crawlers in my house or when I'm gardening, let alone black widows which we have tons of). And spider killers or not, if I find wasps setting up nests under my porch or pumphouse eaves they've got to go. I've been stung one too many times trying to fix or hang something up near the eaves and gotten quite a jolt in the arm or hand.

Danielle

Wasps are also pollinators so there's another benefit for you. I agree that they are a bit scary, but they do help the world go round. And they won't eat all the caterpillars.

Wasps pollinators?
I have not seen one yellow jacket in mylife time (i.e. sofar , Grin) sit on a flower. They like flesh, cold cuts, hamburgers,cocacola ... That is why you can see a lot of them by the trash cans, especially at mcDonalds. haha

You can learn more about pollinators via the presentation below.

While yellow jackets don't do as much pollination as others, they are only one type of the insect people commonly call "wasps".

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants and Their Pollinators: The Relationship That Feeds the World