15
votes
How to get rid of wasps?
I have wasps building hives under the eves on my house. I'm looking for a way to kill them without Raid or other harsh chemicals. Right now there seems to be about 10 hornets starting on this hive. I see a number of other places they've made hives around the house that were removed before we moved in. My current options that I've found so far are spraying with dawn soap/water/garden sprayer or peppermint. It seems a little too high to get a garbage bag around them easily before pissing them off. Any other good ideas?
I use a super soaker filled with water and a few drops of dish detergent. Kills the wasps immediately. I do it in the early morning or evening for safety, since they're less active then. If you spray it hard enough the nest should break up and fall down as well. Sometimes it's faster just to knock it down with a pole after you've soaked it though.
Depending on exact locations and such, smoking them out can be an option too.
Nothing like a bit of oxygen deprivation and carcinogens to ease the aggro.
I wish I knew about the dish detergent! Last time I smoked them, covered myself with long sleeves and pants, gloves, a mask, hat, and proceeded to burn the nest in a controlled fashion. Definitely messier and more dangerous.
It did work though. It was larger than a basketball.
I think I'll give the super soaker a try first. Thank you and everyone else for all of the ideas.
The super soaker and dawn worked great. Thanks!
Wow! I never knew this was a strategy to get rid of them. I thought that, short of knocking them down with a stick or using Raid, you had no other options. I also don't understand how dish detergent kills them.
One thing I'd point out is that wasps and hornets are pretty different. At least in my area (mid-Atlantic USA), wasps will sting you but aren't really all that aggressive. Hornets, on the other hand, are straight-up dangerous.
In either case, however, I'd use Raid to get rid of them, especially if you have kids. If you're really worried about exposure, wear nitrile gloves and a respirator, put on long sleeves, and wash your clothes immediately after. Also, hose down any accessible drips after your poison application, and don't let pets or kids into the area until it's dried.
You could try the other guy's "dish soap super soaker" idea, sounds like it might work. But, I know Raid works - I've knocked down dozens of nests over the years with it and never been stung in the process.
In any case, be careful and good luck!
I've been in this situation. Called a (local) pest control company and got on a quarterly plan, best "insurance" purchase I've made.
They use "harsh chemicals" but have been very clear about how long to avoid an area, etc. They sprayed the hives and knocked them down. More wasps returned about a month later, they came back and did it again at no extra cost. They spray the exterior of the house and the yard quarterly, and will come take care of any other issues (we had ants once) at no additional charge.
If it's too high up to do yourselves then maybe professional services are in order.
I had small tiny starter nests (<10-20 guys per nest) in very accessible areas, and my strategy worked only because of those two factors. They
sleepare much less active at night. Go in at night and knock the nest down..... optionally squish the sleepy adults now on the floor or run awaycowardlysafely. Basically just make the area not home-building friendly and "encourage" them to build somewhere else.If the nests were huge though they might decide to fight. Or if super high up you might fall off a ladder if you get stung. Best to get professionals in those cases imho
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So we've had a few small nests starting up in the house in renting. Except it's all inaccessable (2nd story, 20+ feet up). Right now I've been trying to use long range spray and spraying it in the evening from a ladder, but that's still not always the best solution either. Still noticing a bunch.
Might have to bite the bullet on a professional service...
Can you get a pressure washer? Just hose them down at night, then make sure the windows are closed and hide/retreat?
You could also try those bottle sprayers that have little air pumps to build pressure, but you might need to get a fairly robust model to get 20+ feet. A pressure washer can deliver enough force at that range (and if you just add some dish soap it won't harm anything except the insects)
We do have a pressure washer, not sure if it reaches because it spreads out a lot after a fairly short distance but I'll need to see which nozzle attachments I have. If one can reach that might work.
FWIW, the cost may not be that bad. My routine pest guy covers this in his standard service cost, for me. I pay him $75/quarter, he comes out and treats the house, and will come back as often as needed in those 3 months if standard other issues pop up. He's taken out a couple of wasp nests for me, as a part of my regular service.
I live in a high cost of living area, I know we looked at it once a few years ago and it was like over $150 just for one visit. Can't imagine pricing improved since then...
May need to call around for quotes if anything.
$75 a quarter is crazy cheap. In Toronto contractors won't even return your call or even dignify it with a quote for anything under $150ish per visit
Yeah, he's a solid guy running a solid company. One thing I really appreciate about him is that he doesn't sell me stuff unnecessarily. I used him prior to buying the house we live in now, when we bought the house, I asked him about changing the termite bond on the house to his company. He told me that he could, it would cost some money because they use a different system that he would have to install, and that his system does work a bit better, but the system I already had was just fine and to save the money and just keep my termite bond through the other company. Stuff like that is why he's earned my business for as long as I can give it to him.
If you're renting, it might be the landlord's responsibility to ameliorate the nests. We had a hive of some sort under our front stairs, and they fixed it for us for free (albeit taking far longer than if we hired a pro ourselves).
Lease specifically states it is tenant responsibility unfortunately, but did check that first.
I would suggest checking relevant laws at city/county/state level, too, as often leases can have illegal clauses.
Strangely enough I saw this about 15 mins ago on the other site:
https://old.reddit.com/r/TikTokCringe/comments/14sbvk3/how_to_get_rid_of_wasps/
If they're not too high up, seems a more straight forward way of dealing with them.
Spray alcohol shot in a stream is rather effective at making them drop but not in making them immediately die, so you'd need to crush them with a brick or with your shoe after they're on the ground.
Are they bothering you? Many wasp species are pollinators and good for the environment. If they're not bothering you, please let them live and leave them be. We need all the insects we can get these days.
I'm all for insects that pollinate, but wasps and hornets are a special case. I have no issues with normal bees, precisely because they're great pollinators and generally leave you alone if you leave them alone. But wasps and hornets WILL sting you if you even come within a certain range of their nest. Hence why I would show no mercy to them.