Wasp Problem

[A-37]

Yellow Jackets in the upstairs bathroom. Occasionally I'd see one or two on the window. No entry points for the wasps that I could see around the room except the floor register, ceiling exhaust fan, or the panel that covers the tub/shower plumbing.

Finally, I saw two come out from under the panel. I sprayed into the area and around the perimeter of the panel. This isn't a permanent fix. I could run some foam tape where the panel contacts the wall but the wasps will find another way out.

I haven't seen any bug bombs on-line that kill wasps. I saw a powder.

Any recommendations?

Twenty years ago when I remodeled that bathroom, I removed the drywall over the tub. The entire area was one massive wasp nest. Fortunately, the wasps had long since vacated the area. Maybe they're back!!

 

[7shooter]

I was up putting a new basketball net on the backboard for my wife who is a sports nut. I was cutting the net off with a knife when I was swarmed by some aggressive hornets from a hive on the back of the back board. I didn't want to jump down from the top of the ladder I was on because I was afraid I would break an ankle so I threw the knife and dove one my side to the concrete. I have studied a number of martial arts so I know how to fall although I had never tried it from a height on to concrete. I didn't break anything and escaped the hornets only getting stung once. One of my neighbors is an ER doc and he happened to be driving by just at that moment but I didn't need him.

I read up on how to get rid of hornets nests and found that the aggressive soldier hornets stay in the nest to protect the queen. The way to kill them is to wait till dark when they are all back in the nest and then get a hornet spray with a nozzle that you can squirt into the entrance hole from a distance to kill the whole gang. It worked . Make sure you wait till after dark or they will get you.

 

[rwsmith]

^^^^Good advice.

I used to spray wasp nests and run and they'd chase you for about 20 yards or so. That was then. I'm so slow now that I'll take you up on your night attack strategy.

 

[bigwheelzip]

We used Borax to eliminate carpenter bees, and I'm fairly sure it works on wasps also.

 

[Vulcan Bob]

Plus one for night attack! Destroyed one in a tree and one of the underground nests at night with no problems.

 

[andy52]

I have a detached garage with a second story shop above when the wasp and dirt daubers become a problem and they do at times I use Raid dry foggers. I set them in the evening and by the next morning there isn't a living insect on the first or second floor. Easy to use, pour water in one container, peel the tab on the second and set it in the water.

 

[Marshwheeling]

Brake parts cleaner, the nasty chlorinated variety. It'll kill them in the nest, or drop them right out of the air if you use the spray tube.

 

[Onomea]

Had ground-dwelling yellow jackets at my Oregon place. My neighbors and I tried a lot of do-it-yourself stuff. After several weeks of trying on our own, wound up hiring an exterminator.

No more yellow jackets.

 

[PeterJ]

Had ground-dwelling yellow jackets at my Oregon place. My neighbors and I tried a lot of do-it-yourself stuff. After several weeks of trying on our own, wound up hiring an exterminator.

No more yellow jackets.

Ground dwelling yellowjackets are easy,,,, wait till dark and pour a quart of gasoline down the hole. You don't even have to light it as the fumes will wipe them out.

 

[soFlaNative]

Ground dwelling yellowjackets are easy,,,, wait till dark and pour a quart of gasoline down the hole. You don't even have to light it as the fumes will wipe them out.

Not much help there for an upstairs bath.

 

[500SNW]

I would think that the Yellow Jacket season would have ended due to the cold temps in NE Ohio. A hard freeze should end the colony if one has taken up residence inside a wall. Do you have siding on your house? Put your ear to the wall and hit the wall with your fist. If they're behind there, you'll hear them buzzing loudly just after you thump the wall. As I said before, a night with temps in upper 20's usually ends their occupation.

 

[URIT]

Call an exterminator. A professional will know what is needed and deal with the problem accordingly. That means locating the nest and getting rid of it while determining the real entry point into the home and possible fixes needed to address that issue too.

 

[snowman]

I would have to concur with URIT's solution in this case at least, since you don't know exactly where they are and how they're getting in. The pros will know how to find out and eliminate them in short order. Sometimes the extra expense is well worth it.

Best wishes,
Andy

 

[dave holl]

Having been a beekeeper for the last 50 years, I have removed many many many yellow jacket nests as well as collecting honeybee swarms. My name is on file with local fire and police for that purpose.

Since you are dealing with a residence, besides calling an exterminator, there are 2 methods I have used with success.
1. There must be an entrance to their colony on the outside of your house. Find it by observing flying insects. You are going to attach to the exterior wall, just below their entrance , a small cardboard platform that you can tape to the wall. Place some powdered insecticide SEVIN on that platform so that they land and track the powder inside. Within 3 days the colony will be dead.

2. This method involves removal of pieces of exterior siding, not desirable especially if masonry is involved. Expose the nest and spray. I wear a bee suit with veil.

The worker yellowjackets will all die in the first prolonged freeze, leaving several queens surviving in the nest or elsewhere. In the meantime they will continue to pester you in the house, actually chewing through drywall.
Dave

 

[anoblefox]

If you are serious about totally eliminating yellow jackets, purchase some Taurus SC product from amazon for $42.83 , 20 ounces. Mix 1/2 teaspoon with a pinch of raw ground beef (hamburger) and place in an empty 1 gallon water jug or equivalent, with a large window cut out so they can get to it. Be sure to securely fasten it in an elevated position so no other animals can get to it. Within 3 days they will ALL be gone. They take it back to their nest and it kills them all. This stuff is still legal so get it while you can, it will last you years. This is used by firefighting crews and really works. You will thank me later!

 

[illini24]

We had wasps making nests around our bar outside until the wife read to take a paper bag and stuff it with plastic bags hang it from ceiling to look like a hornets nest. Wasps do not like hornets,They see the bag thinking it's a hornets nest and they stay away. Haven't had a problem in two years.

 

[gman51]

Yellow jackets are among the worst of the wasp family. It doesn't take much to get them to sting you. I usually spray their nest with the spray can that sprays foam about 15' then I run as quick as these old legs will move.
The real cheap wasp sprays have not worked for me. The cheap stuff doesn't seem to bother them as much as it just gets them buzzing mad looking for the source of the spray. I have had to literally knock them off of my face as they were jamming in their stinger. Talk about sting and burn and swell up.....you got the picture.

It takes a lot to get a black/purple wasp to sting you but you will think you got hit with a stone or a BB. It hurts and talk about swelling up....my whole arm swelled up when a black/ purple wasp got me just above my wrist.

My shed and carport both get a lot of wasps in the summer. Yep I spray with foam spray and run. I read that after the wasps are gone or dead then knock the nest down and smash it on the ground under your foot. That supposedly will stop wasps from making another nest there.

One thing for sure is don't ever use anything that is explosive sprayed inside or on the house. From what I have read there have been many homes blown up when the fumes from the insect bombs got to the water heater or furnace.

BTW If you want to get rid of a big fireant nest then spray it with a good wasp spray. Fireants are in the wasp family and wasp spray will kill them on contact.

If you can mix up some peppermint oil with cinnamon and add it to dish soapy water. Then spray that into the nest area it could cause the wasps to leave.
How to get rid of wasps naturally - Natural Thrifty
............
14 Ways to Safely Control and Get Rid of Wasps and Signs of Wasp Nests Naturally

 

[Alk8944]

Marsh Wheeling is right! Clorinated brake cleaner (Perchlorethylene or Trichloroethane) using the spray tube works so quick you can literally shoot them out of the air. It's fun too.

 

[Gregor]

SEVIN dust, Talstar P, Taurus SC work excellent, the other posters are correct.

I have used SEVIN and it works so well it is hard to believe. I had a nest in my garage door frame and later one in the ground in my front yard. I waited until dark and used a red filter on a flashlight. Yellow Jackets have a "guard" or sentry that is at the entrance, they were not alarmed at the red light. I used a condiment bottle with a straw taped on as an extension to dust the Sevin into the crack. The Yellow Jackets carry it into the deepest parts of the nest. The next day, no activity at all. Several people I have told this to have had the same results.

Last Summer I paid $400.00 for a local exterminating company to spray my house to get rid of carpenter ants. I had to have them come back 2 more times to spray with no results. This Summer, I bought some Talstar P from Amazon and mixed it per directions. I sprayed the outside of my house and shed. The dead bugs that I saw were amazing, even in the basement that I did not spray. Those Chinese stink bugs, ants, etc. gone, gone, gone. Safe to use indoors and around children and pets once dry.

 

[billwill]

Yellow jackets, confined space in a bathroom and nakedness....now that is a scary combo!