A wasp bit me and it hurt.

August 5, 2007 4:28 PM

wasp and hornet filter: Does anyone know of a good product which can be used to *prevent* wasps and hornets from building their hives? Some kind of spray or jelly or strip of some kind? (That wont wash away in the rain)?

Problem is wasps and hornets are building hives all over the place - on the siding of the house, even in the car (in between the small space or 'seam' around the trunk). I'm hoping to find some kind of poison jelly (like they have for cockroaches - cockroaches eat it and die; it doesnt wash away in rain, just sits there), or something can be just as effective. The goal here is to *prevent* the wasps from setting up shop in the first place (as opposed to spraying the hive with Raid once the wasps have already set up shop). I looked for such a product at Home Depot/Garden Center and couldnt find anything. Do such products exist? Any other tips for keeping wasps from building nests in a particular place? Thanks!

posted by jak68 to home & garden (14 comments total)

p.s., i dont know why its all in tiny font. sorry! :)
posted by jak68 at 4:33 PM on August 5, 2007

I saw a commercial the other day for a thing that I think was aimed at prevention. It's a little house you hang and the bees go in there thinking it would make a good nest and then they die. It was made by Raid.
posted by dino terror at 4:41 PM on August 5, 2007

My friend solved his problem by using the expanding spray insulation foam in the crevices around his deck. Worked great.
posted by bleucube at 5:16 PM on August 5, 2007

I just bought something at the farm supply store. It's a fake wasp nest. It's kind of like a Chinese lantern in that it's paper around a wire frame that comes collapsed and you have to expand it like an accordian.

The theory being that wasps are territorial and they won't build a nest within so many feet of their buddy's.

I hung one on my deck and no wasps have made nests. But it's hard to tell if the fake nest is the reason.
posted by cda at 5:43 PM on August 5, 2007

The OP of this question also had success with the fake nest approach, as detailed in JollyWanker's comment therein.
posted by CKmtl at 5:55 PM on August 5, 2007

I've got the Raid product that dino terror mentions. It's got a liquid in it that attracts and kills them (it smells like really, really sweet beer).

I can't necessarily credit this with the lack of another nest (that I know of) around the house, but it's trapped several of the stinging bastards and the survivors haven't built a nest, so it's probably worth a shot. I think they cost $6 or $7.

What sounded really cool about this is that, if set up early in the season when the queens are looking for a place to nest, they will also be attracted and go into the trap. Now that nests are established, though, it still seems like it would cut down on the ones flying around.
posted by altcountryman at 6:00 PM on August 5, 2007

The theory being that wasps are territorial and they won't build a nest within so many feet of their buddy's.

Interesting theory. I guess it depends on the type of wasp. Our neighborhood is infested with paper wasps. Everyone's eaves, overhangs, and outside walls have multiple nests constantly cropping up (most of us spray and knock down regularly) within 1-2 feet of each other, some closer. Last year, for instance, there 4 nests clustered inside the patio umbrella when I opened it for the season. Ugh.

Just a data point. I hope your results are better.
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 6:13 PM on August 5, 2007

Not all wasps are queen/worker. Paper wasps are communal, with all the females who share a nest being fertile. As such, I doubt they're territorial.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 6:31 PM on August 5, 2007

We used to just take a hose to them and blast them away the moment they appeared. Usually had to do it a couple of times at the beginning of each spring (they'd come back), but they seemed to learn fast enough.
posted by kisch mokusch at 6:56 PM on August 5, 2007

The only product I have had any luck with was Diazon. I think it is also called Diazinon. It will get rid of them and you only need do it once a year. Using it at the beginning of the wasp season works best but it will work whenever you use it- just takes a bit longer to get them all. I put this stuff out in a tin plate with some raw meat and sure enough the wasps were gone in about a week or so.

Now for the problems... Diazon is hard to find. It was banned for residentail use back in 2004 but you can get it as it is still allowed in argicultural use. I wouldn't recommend spraying this stuff as it can kill just about everything that comes in contact with it- hence my using it in a stationary setting.

You can read up up some more on other methods here...

http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-hornets.htm

Also, go over to wikipedia and read up on "diazinon" so you have an idea of what you are dealing with if you can find it.

In late June, I put one tin plate in the front of the house, one on the side where most of the wasps seemed to congregate and one out back. Make sure everyone that comes around your house knows what it is and tell them "hands off".
posted by bkeene12 at 7:36 PM on August 5, 2007

Some people swear by a paper bag blown-up, tied, and hung up like a fake nest. The bargain bin alternative to the commercial product.

Alternatively, my grandmother had a jam jar with holes punched in the lid, and filled with jam and water, left outside on a ledge. Not much good against a severe infestation, but effective for small numbers.
posted by Chuckles McLaughy du Haha, the depressed clown at 7:07 AM on August 6, 2007

nakedcodemonkey: yes, on my car as well, multiple hives have appeared within 1 foot of each other.
posted by jak68 at 7:10 AM on August 6, 2007

thanks for the tips all. I guess i'll try a multi-pronged approach. I'm doubtful about the paper-bag/fake-hive theory cuz of multiple hives that i've seen. However i'm willing to try everything: fake hives, traps, plus spraying. I must kill the stinging little terrorists, one way or another!
posted by jak68 at 7:13 AM on August 6, 2007

You may not want to spray this everywhere, but it can go many places: natural orange oil. It's used as a cleaner. It's poison to them. I had a serious wasp problem in my old place and this got rid of them all. Nontoxic for most people, but insects hate it.
posted by Listener at 8:27 AM on August 6, 2007