Saw your post, then saw the pic. Wasps can be a good thing. They eat insecrs. Yellow jackets you have, whole other story. look up yellow jacket traps. They can be made frm soda bottles. Likely the soda would be a good lure to put in the trap too.
Ever tried a systemic isecticide, like imidan. Stuff is nasty to work with though. They have some version of this chemical you pour around the root system. Do you recall when they started bothering your apples? If so, put a reminder on your phone for a week or two before for next year. Certain isecticides have very little residual.
When I had more mature apples trees, I picked a battle with 2 or 3 trees. That seemd to work well for me. About 3 years ago, I torn down my mature trees and only have 2 or 3 left. Got plenty of little guys to replace them now.
Aphids chew on the leaves leaving juice called honeydew. Both wasp and ants go after the honeydew. While the wasps are attacking the fruit, killing aphids can help cut down the interest in the trees to begin with.
Not sue if later maturing apples are a better bet to protect than others. Pretty sure the yellow jackets like apples that are close to ripe.
IF trying the traps, I suggest you put a trap near a water source. The yellow jackets always find a water source. OR eliminating a water source nearby can make the situation better, it that is possible. At home, the yellow jackets love filled watering cans and the cat's water bowl.
