When will it please just die or at least get tired

November 9, 2024 8:55 AM

I am staying in a vacation urban apartment rental for the next 5 days. There is a very nice solarium, totally glass walls but windows do not open. A very angry aggressive wasp or hornet somehow was in the apartment and i got it to fly out of the apartment proper into the solarium. Now I can't go out there.

Every time I tiptoe out there to try to enjoy the lovely room, the angry aggressive wasp or hornet makes a beeline (ha ha) for me. It just kind of gets in my face and chases me around until I flee the room.
I can't open a window, there are no windows.
How long until this thing runs out of steam and/or life? I tried to trap it when it rested for a second but that made it madder. There is no way to swat it, that was the only time it touched down for more than a second. I'm not going to spray poison into the air here.
There are potted plants out there so maybe it's getting some food.
I'm sorry it's a mad little critter, and it defintiely seems like a surreal metaphor for the entire world right now, but am I going to get to go out there again this week? How long can wasps or hornets live in a room?

posted by ojocaliente to Pets & Animals (9 answers total)

Is there a vacuum cleaner with a hose in the apartment?
posted by Lyn Never at 9:00 AM on November 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

I'm not going to spray poison into the air here.

Are you okay with using aerosol hairspray? It sticks to their wings, they get too confused and tired to fly, then you can crush them.
posted by mochapickle at 9:07 AM on November 9, 2024

Best answer: Rather than trying to actively catch it by somehow being faster, I'd try a baited trap.
posted by teremala at 9:08 AM on November 9, 2024 [2 favorites]

Get a jar with a lid handy. Put a bit of melon in the jar. When you notice the wasp in the jar, pop the lid on and move it outside.
posted by jimfl at 9:35 AM on November 9, 2024 [11 favorites]

Seconding the jar method. Also, insects usually try to crawl or fly upwards, so try to lid the jar without holding the jar opening upright.
posted by Drosera at 11:10 AM on November 9, 2024 [1 favorite]

It's very likely that this insect wants to get outside more than you want that same outcome. Is there a way to create a straight line from the solarium to an open window? If there's a single light source (candle on windowsill at night? Shutters during daytime?), it will very likely fly straight there. If you're very scared, you could pull the door open with a rope, keeping your distance.

Don't kill it. Why? Hornets especially are usually quite peaceful. I know it doesn't seem that way, but they mostly just want to get around you.
posted by toucan at 11:24 AM on November 9, 2024

Go to your nearest hardware store and get one of these babies. Put an inch or two of apple juice inside along with a small squirt of dish soap. Leave in a sunbeam. It should do the trick.
posted by heatherlogan at 12:02 PM on November 9, 2024

Buy a bugzooka - I use mine for hornets and wasps that occasionally find their way into my house. It works like a charm.
posted by egeanin at 5:48 PM on November 9, 2024 [2 favorites]

Bear in mind, depending where you live it could be illegal to kill wasps, bees, and hornets. Where I live it can be punished with a 5000€ fine. These animals are an important and endangered part of the ecosystem.
posted by starfishprime at 10:36 PM on November 9, 2024 [1 favorite]