Why is it that warm weather always is heralded by wasps? Ugh. In the last 2-3 days without me noticing (‘duh, shoulda looked!) they have made 20+ nests under the eaves. I should probably tell you that my husband loves the idea of enclosing the eaves and I’ve been reluctant..except for the relief it gives me from having to spray, kill, and remove the nests.
One from last year is bigger than my fist and took me a week to kill them all. And because we don’t have a ladder that reaches this one high section at the ridgepole – pieces of the nest are still up there!
Sure I’d like to try non poisonous methods but honestly? I want them gone before we get stung. Plus, they get in the house – die and someone finds them. With the stinger. Ouch. My husband doesn’t care if they are there or not, they don’t bother him a bit and he won’t do anything without a million days worth of whining from me.
Here are a few tips to repel them from your home…
Keep your eaves and doorways (any kinds of wood) painted and clean. They like undisturbed, dirty, wood. My eaves are dirty and peeling.
Use a natural attractant to kill them off…use a milk jug and hang it in a tree. Add some meat bait, like liver, but any kind of meat will do, close to the top and fill the bottom with soapy water. They eat their fill and while resting, fall asleep or something and fall in; drowning. Caution – you will attract other things, like honey bees by accident, but those should be very few.
I’ve heard of the use of a paper wasp “waspinator” you hang that will “scare” competitors away, wasps are territorial and won’t usurp someone else’s spot. Haven’t seen it, but I don’t think my neighbors would appreciate a dozen or more wasp decorations since my paper wasps don’t freakin’ care that there is one on the next eave to it.
I’ve been told that you can hang chimes and that the movement will keep them from making nests. Sounds like the owl and birds theory to me or like how the trainees worked with their shields and hammers in How to Train Your Dragon movie. I like chimes, so I’m moving some to the doorways.
Do you any any ideas that have worked? I’ll be squeaking around the outsides of my house in the next couple days.
Related articles
- Wasp Nests (pattersmatters.wordpress.com)
- Can Wasps Be Securely Removed? (mydecorarticles.com)
- Wasps – In February? (haveboatwillsail.wordpress.com)
The nesting activity of the wasps we have are not territorial – they camped 2 next to one another under one eave. I concluded that spraying and killing them is the best action I can take. It’s done but they are so prolific, each day I find a new nest. They even have 2 in the window screen sills.