INITIAL SIGHTINGS: While you may spot a wasp or two as spring unfolds, the trap is not as useful during this season. At this time, wasps are focused on laying eggs and building their nests. They'll be centered on a protein-focused diet for their offspring, like caterpillars, cicadas and grubs.

PEAK: As summer rolls around, the trap enters its most effective window from June – October. While the paper wasp population is usually highest in early summer, the bald-faced hornet and yellowjacket populations experience their peak in mid-to-late summer and early fall. At this time, all three species are indulging in a sugar-focused diet, attracting them to nectar sources.

END: Fall creeps in, and the wasp population declines. While all three species still have a sugar-focused diet, nectar sources become unavailable. Due to low food availability, bald-faced hornets and yellowjackets may see an elevated capture rate.

Paper wasps have legs that dangle when they fly and tend to be around one inch long. They can appear in multiple color combinations. Some are yellow and black, while others are brown and orange/reddish. While this diversity in coloration can make them hard to distinguish, their exaggerated thin tapered waist and unique nest help to identify them.

Their upside-down, umbrella-shaped nests have a paper texture, with a single layer of cells exposed. Paper wasps usually craft these relatively small nests on the eaves of houses.

Yellowjackets are medium-sized black and yellow wasps. While their coloration can lead people to mistake them for paper wasps, their size sets them apart. Yellowjackets have more compact, stockier bodies and a smaller overall size, with workers typically measuring around ½ inch long. They also have much larger colonies.

Yellowjacket nests are gray in color and have a paper texture. They tend to nest underground in abandoned rodent holes, but can nest above ground in trees, wall voids and sheds. Regardless, these nests are often secluded and hard to spot unless accidentally exposed.