Outdoor entertaining during the warmer months is always a blast, but how do you ensure your guests stay happy and safe? Learn how to make an easy DIY Yellow Jacket Trap and other vital outdoor party tips today!
How to make a DIY Bee Trap with a Mason Jar
To fend off uninvited flying guests, try this DIY Mason Jar Bee Trap. Create a few of these bee traps to place around your dining and entertaining area. Make sure they’re close enough to entice bees away from food. Make your own mason jar bee trap with just a few materials.
Materials Needed:
- Approximately 12″ of standard width tin foil
- Scissors
- Large mason jar with ring
- Sugar water, lemonade, or fruit juice
To Make the DIY Bee Trap:
- Begin by folding your aluminum foil in half and half again.
- Next, cut the ‘loose ends’ (not the folds) into a half circle (see photo below).
- Now, unfold your aluminum foil and cut away 1/4 of the oval.
- Connect the edges of your foil into a funnel and snip off the bottom to make a hole large enough for a bee to fly through.
- Place your funnel into the top of your mason jar.
- Make 5 cuts into the top of the funnel in order to fold the excess foil over the jar. You will have a few inches of excess foil.
- Next, screw the mason jar ring onto the top and pull off the excess foil with your fingers or use your scissors to cut them off.
- Now fill your jar with fruit juice or other sugary liquid to entice the bees to your trap. They’ll fly in and won’t be able to fly out to bother you.
More Warm Weather Entertaining Tips and Tricks
1. Use serving trays
Limit your trips from your patio or deck to the kitchen when you use trays to transport food, beverages, and serving supplies.
2. Stay warm on cool nights
No matter the region, beat off cool nights and keep guests warm when you place a basket of throw blankets and wraps next to outdoor furniture. Dry beach towels work too!
3. Drink in the Sunshine
Use pitchers for beverages. Mix up a signature punch for adults and one for kids that you place at your beverage station.
Don’t add too much ice to pitcher drinks at once to avoid over diluting your specialty cocktail. Add ice as needed.
Stock your beverage station with bottled and canned drinks in galvanized metal drink tubs filled with ice. To avoid a trip to the refrigerator, stock an iced cooler below your drinks table with back-up beverages.
Mark drinks! Go beyond a sharpie and a plastic cup when you add a little washi tape flag to a paper straw and finish with a sparkle pen to mark drinks with flair.
4. Sun Safety this Party Season
For hot weather entertaining, create a sun safety station complete with SPF-face and body, sunglasses, fans, ball caps, water, and other welcome touches to beat the heat.
5. Fresh and Fun Food Tips
For easy summer entertaining, cook food closest to its natural state: watermelon wedges, grilled corn on the cob, easy fish filets, hot dogs or brats, stuffed avocado salad, and more.
Always serve lots of in-season, precut fruit to satisfy kids and offer a healthy sweet for dessert.
Mix up a fun and tasty dessert for every age when you create a s’mores kit placed next to the fire pit. No cooking necessary.
Above all, enjoy time in the sunshine with friends and family!
We hope you find these outdoor entertaining tips from Jennifer at Satsuma Designs useful during the warm weather entertaining months. If you enjoyed this article and you’re looking for more ways to help with your summer parties, check out our other hacks and tips. For daily recipe inspiration, subscribe to our newsletter, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Pinterest. Enjoy!
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