Yellow Jacket Queens are out!
Last Saturday, at my house in Camino, I noticed a familiar spring sight, A Yellow Jacket Queen. The Yellow Jacket queen looks like a regular Yellow Jacket only she is about twice as big. Now is the time to put out your traps and try to catch the queen!
Yellow Jackets have a very unique life cycle. The queen emerges in early spring, finds a place to nest (usually in the ground), and lays 4-6 eggs. For the first 30 days or so, the queen services the nest. 
She flies in and out searching for food and pulp to get the nest started. During this time the queen is very vulnerable to predators and severe weather. It is also an excellent time to trap the queens. After the eggs hatch, the queen retires into the nest and by summertime, can produce over 5000 worker wasps. The height of their activity is around Labor Day where they can be a real nuisance around the BBQ. After Labor Day, the nest starts to die off and about a dozen or so new queens are created. When that first cold spell hits in late October or November, the queens leave the old nest and find a protected area to winter over. In springtime, the cycle starts again.
What I recommend are the yellow cylindrical traps but there are several others that are also effective. If you are reusing traps from last year, they should be cleaned before reuse. A stinky trap can actually repel Yellow Jackets. The liquid attractant can be purchased at most hardware stores and should be used in conjunction with lean meat such as turkey ham. The meat should be replaced every few days or before it spoils. So get your traps out now, every queen you catch you eliminate a potential 5000 Yellow Jackets.
Mike Kobus
Owner; Koby Pest Control
"Koby Kicks Ants"™ Pest Control Services
Every year Insects cause billions of dollars of damage to Realestate in the United States. The most devastating part of this damage is that homeowners insurance doesn't cover it. Don't wait until it's too late, protect your investment with our residential pest control services. 
If your house has been invaded, it's time to take action. Some people opt to use pest strips, glue strips which bugs will stick to and die. Be careful of using these strips if you have pets or children. They are extremely sticky and are painful to pull off if someone accidentally gets stuck. The downside to pest strips is having to replace them fairly frequently. Unless you don't mind having a strip loaded with dead bugs on it, you will have to put out a new one on a regular basis. That's why the Trained pest control technicians at Koby Pest Control perform a thorough home inspection and suggest the most effective way to control your infestation while keeping your pets and loved ones safe.
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When the Itsy Bitsy Spider comes to the House!
The itsy-bitsy spider went up the waterspout, down came the rain and washed the spider out out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and the itsy-bitsy spider went up the spout again. In El Dorado County, spiders are a common occurrence. Although they are more plentiful in the late summer and early fall, they can also be a problem in winter. During the cold winter months, spiders will huddle up next to the house for warmth and protection from the weather. They prefer to live outside but occasionally will come inside.
How Do Insects Get into My Home
One method of transportation of spiders inside is hitchhiking on firewood. Spiders love to nest in your woodpile. It provides lots of shelter and each piece of wood can have numerous hiding places. When it ‘s cold, the spiders may not be very active and thus, hard to spot. But when that piece of wood is brought in and set next to the firebox, it warms up and out pops the spider. It is recommended that you inspect each piece of wood, while wearing gloves, for the presence of spiders before bringing it into the house. Spiders are not insects, although they are Arthropods. Spiders have two body segments (cephalothorax, and abdomen), eight legs and six or eight eyes. Insects have three body segments (head, thorax, and abdomen), six legs and two compound eyes. Two of the most common spiders in El Dorado County are the wolf and black widow spider. Wolf spiders are normally dark brown and have a hairy, stout body. They look mean, have rapid movements, and can run swiftly. They are not associated with webs but will leave draglines or safety lines. The female wolf spider carries an egg sac on her rear. When the spider lings hatch, they climb on their mothers back and ride around before gradually dispersing.
Poisonous Insect Infestation
Wolf spiders have strong, piercing mouthparts that will inject venom, but it is less painful than a bee sting. Wolf spiders are not poisonous to people, although their bites may cause a reaction in certain individuals. The black widow is another spider that is common to our area and is easily identified. The females are glossy black and have a red hourglass marking on the underside of the abdomen. They are very shy and will usually retreat to a corner of their webs when disturbed. However, they will be more aggressive if they are protecting an egg sac. Their webs are irregularly shaped, sticky and extremely strong. When bitten, a neurotoxin is released that can cause dull pain and cramping in muscles that can be accompanied by sweating and vomiting. Fortunately, less than 1% of black widow bites are fatal. First aid for a black widow bite can include the following: use an ice pack or alcohol to reduce swelling in affected area; clean the area with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol to minimize infection; attempt to collect spider for proper identification; and seek medical attention at an emergency room.
