Apparently some wasps (or hornets, I’m not so sure) have holed up in the corner of a bedroom in my house. My mother got rid of the nest, but for some reason they keep coming back. The bedroom that contains the nest is rented out to a student so we can’t really monitor how often he leaves his windows open nor can we command him to shut his windows in the middle of summer. We would like to find a method that won’t disturb our tenant too much or cost us loads and loads of money.
What’s the most efficient way of getting rid of them other than calling an exterminator?
Bleach!!! I cannot stand bug spray. The smell of any kind makes me vomit. Bleach and a water combination will kill the bugs and sterilie the area. (there was supposed to be a ee, as in ebra in there, but my ee on my keyboard doesn’t work at the moment.)
My experience may not be all that relevant to the particulars of your situation, but I’m posting it here because it still might help someone else.
I used to have a recurring (as in annual) problem with paper wasps building stalagtite nests in a vacant gap space inside the framing of an openable skylight. I was afraid to open it, because there were often wasps around, often re-building a nest I’d sprayed and removed earlier in the year.
A year ago I did something a bit different to prevent them from returning, and so far it’s worked. First, though, I had to kill the wasps and remove their nests (there were two). I had some extra window screening sitting around so I taped that up all around the skylight, letting it hang loose and saggy (so that the skylight would have room to open inwards without tearing it off), and leaving a small hole in the screening for a cord to pass through (and tying the cord to the skylight handle first). Wasp-killer can in hand, it was showtime! I pulled on the cord, the skylight opened partway, and two wasps flew in a beeline right at me, only to be stopped by the screen. The insecticide finished off the colonies and I closed the skylight. A day or two (or three) later, I screwed up the courage to remove the nests. It was disgusting, but all the wasps were satisfactorily dead.
Then came the piece de resistance: a nice, gooey coating of Vaseline on all the surfaces of the gap space! If the wasps can’t grab hold of the wood or metal without getting their feet all greasy (if they could hold on at all, that is), then they probably wouldn’t feel comfortable there again or be able to anchor a holdfast to the wood for nest-building. There’s also the bonus protective effect the Vaseline apparently has in protecting the wood and keeping it safe from moisture. So far, so good…
I would just like to point out that I have used an exterminator for a wasp/hornet problem and was very happy. They were reasonably priced, offered a guarantee against continued problems with free retreatment if needed, and took several stings for the team.
