Hello all,
I’ve discovered this morning a wasp building a nest inside my mailbox, presumably the queen (after which i cursed and swore for quite a while). Every time I opened the mailbox for the last few days a wasp flew out at me, which drove me crazy looking for the source. Well, I finally found it, on the inside wall of my mailbox. Argh!!
Since there appears to be only one wasp at the moment, and even if there are only a few it’s certainly better to deal with it early, is there a way to get rid of the problem before it gets out of hand? Or is it best to call my landlord and ask them to deal with it? I don’t want to make a mountain out of a molehill, but I don’t want to get stung, either.
Thanks.
FTR, there is an “upstairs” mailbox right next to it and no one living upstairs, so I taped my own mailbox shut and put a note to use the other box so my mailman doesn’t get stung.
Wasp spray. There are some that leave a residue so will kill any that are not at home when you do the first spraying.
So what’s the problem? You either kill the wasp and/or remove the nest after he’s dead or gone. There are several sprays available on the market that you can buy. Some of which have little or no noxious fumes, some that are fragrant and even very low toxicity to humans. Heck a can of hair spray will knock it down and then just step on it. Take out the nest and that should do it.
Me, I’d probably just swat it with my hat and step on it. Then remove the nest w/ my hand.
Get yer tookus down to the local store for a can of Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer, or any of the stream type competitors. I do not recommend the types that shoot foam, because they don’t work nearly as fast or as far.
Wait until well after dark, because wasps are dormant at night. Open the door, shine in with a flashlight, and hose down anything that looks like a wasp or nest. That’s it. Check it the next morning to see if anything survived, and repeat if necessary.
You could always nuke it from orbit just to be sure.
Okay, okay, I sucked it up, did what had to be done, removed the nest and squished it what is hopefully death. Problem solved, the problem being mainly that I was too scared of being stung. Thanks all.
Just a suggestion for the future, don’t squish these things. If a wasp is squished it releases a sting pheromone that indicated to others it’s OK, and actually a good thing, to sting your ass. Those nests usually contain larva, which might contain that pheromone. Much better to toss it into your neighbor’s yard.