# Quick - how do I get rid of a WASP!?!? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 2, 2003, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222 "2003-09-02T22:19:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/21 "2003-09-03T07:23:15Z")
Just be bloody careful if you try to destroy a wasp nest on your own - I tried it once and after using insecticide, the nest appeared dead(the next day or so), I went to clear it up and it broke open, releasing many live, angry wasps and I was badly stung. Multiple wasp stings can be life-threatening even to a person who is not sensitively allergic. ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/22 "2003-09-03T11:00:16Z")
WD-40 will kill wasps. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/23 "2003-09-03T11:56:01Z")
Wasps are only on the lookout for food - they aren’t looking to go and sting people. I have a bad allergic reaction to stings but I won’t kill anything just for the sake of it. Apart from anything, you can’t kill them all - and why would you want to? Here (at work) we put sugared water out on some waste ground. Within a day all the local wasps know that the food is there and don’t bother us anymore. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/24 "2003-09-03T12:12:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Martiju \* > **Apart from anything, you can’t kill them all - and why would you want to?** 'Coz they’re little bastards and they don’t even make honey. ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/25 "2003-09-03T12:46:56Z")
…and they always seem pissed off ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/26 "2003-09-03T13:03:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by green\_bladder \* > \*\*…and they always seem pissed off \*\* So would I be if everywhere I went everyone was trying to kill me…! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/27 "2003-09-03T14:35:34Z")
> [@](#): > > But there isn’t ever just one. While your techique for dealing with the nest is correct, this statement needs to be clarified. It is quite possible to have “just one.” They tend to move around a lot while foraging and if one finds a single wasp in one’s house, it is more likely to have come in the door with the groceries than to have emerged from a nest in the house. Thus, a catch and release policy for a single wasp trying desperately to find its way through a glass window is quite safe. (Technically, there are also a number of solitary wasps that do not build communal nests, but they are not directly related to this discussion.) ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/28 "2003-09-03T15:17:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Martiju \* > \*\*So would I be if everywhere I went everyone was trying to kill me…! 🙂 \*\* Well I’m not surprised everyone’s trying to kill you if you keep running around in a silly jacket, stabbing people with a poisoned skewer sticking out of your arse! ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/29 "2003-09-03T16:35:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tomndebb \* > **a catch and release policy for a single wasp** Well, except that it’s such a hassle getting the bait on those tiny little barbless hooks. ---
**Author:** ![OxyMoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e9a140/32.png) [@OxyMoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OxyMoron)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/30 "2003-09-03T19:24:17Z")
Send them into [combat](http://afftc.edwards.af.mil/articles98/docs_html/splash/feb98/cover/wasp.html). ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222/31 "2003-09-03T19:32:29Z")
like \*\* j. c. \*\* said, I think any liquid would work, but windex is handy since my wasps tend to hang around the windows anyway. Cats are another story. I seem to have a mild wasp infestation in my attic. I’ve spoken with my cats. While they are fascinated with the wasps, they haven’t yet shown any interest in killing them. -Lil [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quick-how-do-i-get-rid-of-a-wasp/199222.md?page=1)