Anyone know of a way to keep Wasps away???

[BERIGAN]

No, don't mean Protestants(Insert your own joke if you feel the need though)

Them buzzin' things! We have been quite warm the last week, and they are everywhere! by the Garage, one was in a car the other day. So....anyone know of some swell natural way to dissuade them from hanging around? Or a nice harsh chemical if there is no farmers almanac way to send them packing. Thanks!

[mgraham333]

This site may help.

The bag of water trick which works on flies might also work on wasps - I see mixed info on this on the web.

[Dave James]

You probably have a nest someplace. Wasps tend to build them in shaded areas, under eaves, around the ceiling in the corners of garages. Sometimes they find a hole in a truss or and outside support beam and burrow into those to set up shop. Unless you can figure out where the nest is and how to destroy it, you're going to continue to have trouble. Also, and I'm sure you already know this, these are not very happy little campers to begin with. Point being, you don't want to piss them off. I'd be doubly concerned if you have kids. If this continues, I'd suggest getting an exterminator. You just have to remember that they know what they're doing and you don't.

Up over and out.

[Jim Alfredson]

The thing with wasps is if you don't bother them, they won't bother you. Of course, if they build their nests right in a high-traffic area, that ain't good.

We used to douse the buggers' nests with kerosine and light 'em up! When I was a kid, I also concocted a mixture that would stop them in mid-flight. Seriously, it would kill them in mid-air... just one spray. I don't remember what was in it and frankly it probably was not very safe around humans either (ah, the things we kids do when the parents aren't looking!)

[catesta]

You can find this stuff at your local do-it-yourself pest control store or probably most hardware stores.

It shoots the crap about 15 ft in a nice stream.

My suggestion though is to call a professional.

[BERIGAN]

Thanks for the suggestions! Something should work.

[Shawn]

If you stand outside and watch them for a little while, you can usually spot where the nest is. Once you find it, there are a few methods I've used.

*Note* - Always wait until night to mess with bees nests

1. Get spray can like the one mentioned in the thread above, spray...then run like hell.

2. If nest is hanging somewhere within reach, you knock the nest off the house onto the ground...then run like hell. Wait 30 minutes or so, when coast is clear enough throw a window screen over the nest lying on the ground..pour on gasoline/kerosene and roast...and run like hell just in case.

3. This is my favorite method...GET SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT FOR ME WHILE I WATCH FROM INSIDE THE HOUSE!

My family was always dirt poor, couldn't afford exterminators...so we had to "improvise". WVI: West Virginia Ingenuity

[AllenLowe]

I find philacteries work well -

Edited March 14, 2006 by AllenLowe

[Big Al]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

[Jim Alfredson]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

Wasps don't inhabit old nests. They always build new.

[couw]

[Noj]

Sure glad the tarantula hawks are solitary and don't build nests! Pepsis Wasps.

[Big Al]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

Wasps don't inhabit old nests. They always build new.

I know; but I figure if they see an old nest, and the smell of the hornet killer is still there, maybe they'll figure they oughta build elsewhere.

Hardly scientific, I know; but it does the trick!

[Jim Alfredson]

Sure glad the tarantula hawks are solitary and don't build nests! Pepsis Wasps.

Man, that gives me the heebeegeebees. <shudder>

[Jim R]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

Wasps don't inhabit old nests. They always build new.

I know; but I figure if they see an old nest, and the smell of the hornet killer is still there, maybe they'll figure they oughta build elsewhere.

Hardly scientific, I know; but it does the trick!

What we (me & Al, at least) really need is some anti-bird spray for the garage!

[Big Al]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

Wasps don't inhabit old nests. They always build new.

I know; but I figure if they see an old nest, and the smell of the hornet killer is still there, maybe they'll figure they oughta build elsewhere.

Hardly scientific, I know; but it does the trick!

What we (me & Al, at least) really need is some anti-bird spray for the garage!

Oh man, you know it!!! Had another one in the garage this weekend; my heart has FINALLY stopped hyperventilating!

Edited March 14, 2006 by Big Al

[chris olivarez]

Wasps aren't nearly as belligerent as the bees they refer to as "meat bees". I'm generally not bothered by them but when I'm at the radio station I have to get a newspaper or magazine and go after them.

[Quincy]

As it's in the garage I'm guessing you have either paper wasps or mud daubers. The wasps are "wasp waisted" right? Paper wasps have nests that hang from the ceiling. As said earlier, either knock 'em down at night or use a spray at night. Run like hell after either. Mud daubers are interesting critters in that they will paralyze spiders with their sting and drop them down the mud tube nest (look on the garage walls for the nest tubes) as fresh food for their young when they hatch. If they killed their prey with the sting the corpse would rot. Instead the victim stays fresh & alive and is eaten alive. If only they'd evolve to invent little refrigerators!

Yellow jackets or meat bees will go for the bottle trap shown earlier. Coke works greats for these sorts of traps. Everything likes Coke, and Coke kills everything. Yellow jackets usually nest in the ground though so I'm guessing they probably aren't your problem. There are also hornets and wood drilling stinging creatures. If you see a neatly drilled hole in a board that the flying stinging insect enters & exits, this is most definitely a spray and run like hell situation. I've had cases where the hornet kamikazied just a few inches from my feet out of it's drilled home.

Be careful with fire, especially in your garage! I'd avoid that option if I were you.

[Ron S]

I find philacteries work well -

Allen, this is a VERY inside joke.

[AllenLowe]

it does seem to have gone past everybody - maybe I should have said tfillin -

[Hot Ptah]

RAID Wasp & Hornet Killer. Works every time. I even leave the nests hanging as warnings to other wasps. Seems to do the trick!

Yes, this Raid stuff, in the black can, works great. It shoots out a big stream of poison for a really long distance, so you can stand far away from the nest, like halfway inside your front door, and hit the nest with a big wallop of poison. Then you can duck inside fast if a bunch of angry wasps come out.

The next day I knock down the nest with a long stick and smash it all up into powder on the ground. I haven't been stung yet.

Once a woodpecker came right up to one of the nests and snatched it away in its beak and flew away with the entire nest. But that was too good to be true more than once. We have a lot of woodpeckers around but it never happened again.

[BruceH]

If all else fails, there's always the nuclear option...

[Hot Ptah]

If all else fails, there's always the nuclear option...

The black can of Raid feels like a nuclear option as you are holding it and neutralizing your target.

[couw]

spray glue, they only last a couple of seconds after treatment. Maybe longer, but they don't show it.