The flying around kind. Specifically, the little black aggressive ones. We looked at a can of wasp killer, but almost every warning on it is a deal breaker.
It says it isn’t safe around domestic pets. We have an outdoor cat.
It says it will deface old wood. Our house is a hundred years old.
It says it will harm evergreens. We have dwarf spruces and junipers exactly where the wasps fly around.
It says to spray the nest. We have no idea where they nest.
They swarm around the eave of our front porch, sometimes four or five at a time. We do have hanging baskets, alternating annuals and ivy. We like to sit on the front porch in our rockers, but the wasps are intimidating. Any advice?
I was going to make a bad joke about white Anglo-Saxon Protestants but decided not to…
We used to have a store-bought wasp trap. What you did was fill it up with…(I think?) apple juice; the wasps would crawl in, not be able to get out because of the mechanism, and drown in a sweet, apple-y death. Mmm, apples…
So yeah, definitely ask around at home-and-garden supply places and see if they’ve ever heard of wasp traps. I’m not sure if those are commonly in use anymore, though.
You have *got * to find the nest. And even then, if you spray the nest repeatedly, the fucking little bastards will still come back. I hope that’s not anathema to say here, because that’s what they are.
We have two places where they try to next near our apartment. One is our mailbox, right by the door. It took us two years to make them go away. Now we have the holes blocked up by a piece of newspaper.
The other is a window in the back room. This took three summers to convince them it wasn’t their home.
Also, if you can spray the wasps on the wing they fall down dead, dead. But yes, I wouldn’t use it anywhere near the cats.
Find the nest! And BE CAREFUL! Those little buggers don’t quit, they’ll just keep stinging. (So says the person who’s never been stung).
Try the trap, by all means. If you can find the next, you can put the trap near it, but I have a feeling the nest is up in a tree somewheres.
And for Og’s sake, be careful with your cat. I’m not going to lecture you on the perils of having an outdoor cat, but cats climb trees. I don’t know what a whole bunch of stinging wasps would do to her, but I’m sure you wouldn’t want that.
I’ve used some stuff called ‘Hornet Freeze’. I think it came from a feed supply type store. It is used in industry for getting rid of nests in electrical equipment and such. Get one that doesn’t contain a residual insecticide and it shouldn’t stain your wood.
I can’t freakin’ stand the little bastards, myself. Whenever I see wasps flying around I’ve got to find the nest and KILL THEM ALL!!!
If you can’t find or get at the nest you might consider calling a professional, even if it’s just to get a quote.
The traps that use fruit juice and such are phenomenally effective. I had one that killed probably a dozen wasps a DAY.
That said, if you actually have wasp nests in your house, under the shingles and stuff, they must be destroyed. You have to find them. We had this problem. Use the wasp killer designed for direct application to the nest; they’re extremely deadly and can be fired from a good distance. Put the cat in a kennel for a couple of days if it makes you more comfortable but if you do this properly the cat won’t be exposed.
I also question how much wood damage you could possibly do if you sprayed the nest directly, which is how you attack them. Just hose it down afterwards and you won’t hurt anything.
However, try the traps first. Put out at least three or four. You may find they slay enough wasps that they’re not as much of a problem anymore.
Yes, finding the nest and getting rid of it is the best ultimate solution (a professional exterminator would be the best equipped for such a feat). And I’d certainly try the fruit juice traps, as well. But if you encounter one here or there, buzzing around your head and refusing to go into the trap, and you want to kill it without spraying poison, try aerosol hairspray. Get the strongest hold available and spray it directly on the wasp (or housefly or any other flying creature you want to rid yourself of), then, when it dries, the insect can’t fly anymore and is easily squashed and disposed of.
One of the little bastards nailed me on the back of the neck in the loft of the barn.
Grabbing them and throwing them just as hard as you can against the wall works pretty well, allthough he hit me three more times on the back of my thumb.
I hadn’t even thought of a professional. We use them for termites outside and pest control inside, so I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to call them for wasps. I have no idea how to find the nest(s). We have 1-1/2 acres, including an old tobacco barn. They could be nested in there. Or they could be nested at a neighbor’s for all I know. But finding the nest sounds like something a pro should be able to do.
Since it’s been raised, I think I should address the issue of our outdoor cat. I understand the controversy about this.
Pretty Black Girl came with the house when we bought it in October last year. She was born at the house, and was there when it was delapidated and rented by an elderly woman who drew water from a well on the property and cooked on a wood stove. She was around when the old woman died, and the property owner moved the house back from the road, installed a basement, and rennovated it from top to bottom. She’s gone through a couple of owners. We met her when we came to look at the house. She came down the sidewalk and greeted us with a quiet meow. We fell in love with her. We adore her. During the winter, we made her a place in the basement, where she enjoyed getting out of the cold. But during the day, she couldn’t wait to get back outside. She’s very old, very savvy, and very capable. She’s smarter than all the dogs in the neighborhood put together. Yes, she does climb trees, but she recognizes the wasps and avoids them. She won’t go within thirty feet of the road. She’s led a good full life, and I hope she’s around for a long time to come.
Not to nitpick, but what one person calls a wasp is what the next guy calls a hornet, and someone else calls a yellow jacket. (Perhaps driven by local dialect?)
Wasps to me come in two varieties-the paper nest type that are kinda brown colored, and the iridescent purple ones who make mud nests-other locals call them dirt daubers.
Hornets make big paper nests in and on tree trunks and branches-football size and bigger. They look more bee-like, and are a little smaller than wasps.
Yellow jackets are the annoying little stinkers that hang around trash barrels at picnic grounds and fast food stores. They nest within wall cavities and underground. These are smaller than a honey, bumble, or carpenter bee, but larger than a sweat bee.
I can’t stand cats personally, but neither do I want someone’s beloved pet run over or stung to death by wasps. I would hate to have something like that happen to her, and I’d hate to have you lose your loved kitty.
Ya know, some of us like wasps. I know. I’m disturbed.
With all the factors, you should probably go pro to kill them and get the nest. If you really want to do it yourself, the only thing that I can add to the growing list of advice is do it early in the a.m. (right about when the farm report comes on if you can tear yourself away). The colder it is, the more lethargic the wasps are.
You have my full support in the extermination of all wasps everywhere.
For some reason, I may get red and swell a little when stung by other flying critters (yellow jackets, honey bees) But Wasps Will Kill Me! The last time I was stung by one was on the wrist and my arm swelled like a sausage to the shoulder. Only quick application of antihistamines kept me able to breath. Now I keep an epi-pen close when I might be outside.
Ah… On preview, I think I’ll delete the paragraph I just typed. <snip> We’re in IMHO, not the Pit.
