Hi all
I still think that the chief action of smoke is narcotic, it clouds the insect's awareness and immobilizes them. It has nothing to do with honey gorging or the intention to flee.


Wasp pupae are popular as food in the mountainous regions of Japan. Yellow jackets Vespula spp., in particular, are eaten in many areas. Wasp-eating in Japan illustrates how people enjoy both collecting and eating yellow jacket wasps as part of their culture. Yellow jacket nests are found below ground in fields and mountains, making it rather difficult to locate them. Locals have devised a uniquely ingenious way to locate the nests.

Bait is used to attract the worker wasps. The wasps are then given small pieces of meat with tiny ribbons attached to carry back to the nest. The ribbons make it easier to subsequently follow the wasps and locate the nest. Following the workers back to the nest requires teamwork: someone is needed to set the bait, someone to follow the wasps and someone to dig out the nest and sedate the wasps inside with smoke.

Source: 
Feasting on insects
Entomological Research
Volume 39, Issue 5, pages 304–312, September 2009

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