Wasps are a household pest that often plagues suburban homes. It is a great inconvenience to live in a house with a wasp infestation, especially if this infestation is in the form of a nest. According to various studies, each year more than fifteen thousand of them go out in search of places to build nests. They can build colonies in trees, walls, attics, and many other places in and around your house.
Wasp nests can be harmful to young children and towards people who are allergic to wasp stings. It may even be fatal in some cases. Thus, it is very important to keep your family safe from these pests. If your house has been affected by such pests and you are looking for ways to get rid of them, this article is here to help. Keep reading to find out how to get rid of wasps easily using various methods.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps Nest
The safest thing you can do in case you need to get rid of a wasp nest is to call an exterminator. If you are allergic to wasp stings then you should definitely call an exterminator and not take any risks. However, if you are sure that you can tackle the problem yourself then you must take the appropriate safety measures.
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First of all, you have to wear protective clothing, with a net suit around your head. Approach the nest at night. This is because they are less active at night compared to the daytime and you are less likely to get attacked in the worst-case scenario. Wasps cannot perceive red light. Hence, use a red light to find your way instead of using a regular torch. Use a human-safe pesticide spray to completely douse the wasp nest. This will force them out of the nest. You may also use insecticidal dust, smoke, or water in place of pesticide spray. After you force the wasps out of their nest, it is a good idea to remove the nest. You should also take measurements so that the wasps don’t come back in the future.
An important thing to remember is to make sure that you do not have any wasp sting allergies. Go to a hospital or make an appointment with an immunologist to get an allergy test. After you are sure that you are not allergic to wasp stings, go ahead with the process. This is because if you are allergic to their stings, even a single sting can prove to be fatal.
How To Get Rid Of Wasp Nest Without Getting Stung
To be able to remove a wasp nest without getting stung you have to be very precise in your strategy and movements. The first thing to do is locate the nest. Wasp nests look like a cone that is round and shaped like an umbrella. They also usually build their nest on a plane surface which is situated in a protected area. Some places where you are likely to find wasp nests are tree branches and soffits. You can also find them in porch ceilings, window corners, attics, beneath porches, and inside grills.
Sometimes it is difficult to find the nest on your own. In that case, it is a good idea to call a professional to ask for help. Usually, pest control offices in your locality or exterminator services provide help to identify their nests. It can also be a good idea to contact your local vector control district. Vector control can help you with information on how to remove the wasp infestation. They will help you to identify the kind of wasps and advise you on the process of removal.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps On Tree Branch
If the nest you are aiming to get rid of is a wasp nest which is located at a height like on a tree branch do not use a ladder to reach it. You are likely to fall and injure yourself. Thus, if the wasps are too high for you to reach, the best method to get rid of them is to use smoke. Proceed with your eradication process at night since they are less active then. If the wasps are on a high tree branch use smoke to remove them.
Build a small fire and smoke them out. This will force them to abandon the nest. Smoke acts as a tranquilizer and subdues the wasps. Thus, smoking is the best method to get rid of wasps without getting stung. Other methods that you can use if the wasp nest is at a normal height are pesticide sprays and insecticidal sprays. You can also use a bucket of water with some dish soap dissolved in it.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps By High Up
Another method you can use to get rid of a wasp nest that is at a height is baiting. Go to a pesticide store and buy wasp bait and trap products. These effectively attract the wasps to come out from their nests. You need to monitor these traps regularly and keep emptying them. However, if the wasp infestation is too big, baiting is not going to work because it takes a lot of time to work. Thus, it is better to call an exterminator in this case. With a smaller infestation, you can even use homemade traps to draw out the wasps from the height such as sugar water, meat, or any other kind of protein, even vinegar.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps Without Killing Them
Wasps contribute significantly to the ecosystem. Therefore, a lot of people want to know how to remove wasp colonies without killing the wasps, since most chemicals and pesticides that are used to remove wasp nests kill them. One method can be to smoke out the wasps from their nest. Smoking generally does not kill them. Otherwise, there are also a lot of methods to repel them so that the problem of the infestation does not occur at all.
If you want to get rid of wasps around picnics without killing them, you can use a waspinator. A waspinator is a device that mimics the buzzing around a wasp nest. Since wasps are territorial creatures they will not build a nest there and simply leave. Thus, the waspinator is a great way to drive away wasps without killing them.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps Cheaply
If you are low on money, you may also substitute the waspinator with a bag of water with a shiny coin inside. The coin inside the water will give rise to a very high vibration that will repel wasps. They are attracted to sweet and sticky foods. Thus, you must remember to cover all such foods to not attract them. Conversely, you can use this to your advantage by drawing the wasps away from where you are picnicking. Use sweet foods that emit a strong smell like overripe food, sugar water, or banana peels. Put these items away from the place which you are occupying. The wasps will be attracted to these and will fly away from you.
You can also use non-toxic repellents that are safe for insects. All repellents that contain the chemical Picaridin are safe and do not harm wasps. Thus, you can ward them away without harming them or yourself.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps Through Home Remedies
There are a lot of home remedies to get rid of wasps if you are reluctant to use chemicals. The best way to get rid of wasps is to use vinegar. You have to mix two cups of apple cider vinegar or any other kind of vinegar, with two cups of sugar and one cup of water. This concoction is a homemade wasp repellent. Stir the mixture very well. The sugar should dissolve. Place this solution near the their nest. The smell of the sugar will attract the wasps and the vinegar will kill them.
Another very easy and chemical-free method to get rid of wasps is to use herbs. Herbs will not only get rid of wasps but they will also make sure that they do not return. You may use herbs that smell strong such as spearmint, thyme, citronella, and eucalyptus. Put these herbs all around your backyard, windows, and barbeque grill. You can also put them around any other place that is likely to be infested by them.
Another way to use natural ingredients to make a spray to repel wasps is as follows. Use one teaspoon of clove oil, one teaspoon of geranium essential oil, and mix it with six cups of water. Shake the mixture thoroughly and pour it into a bottle from where you can spray it. Spray this solution into the wasp nest near your house. You must make sure that the nest is completely doused in the essential oil water. Keep repeating this process every night. Thus, you will effectively kill the wasps. If you want to kill the wasps directly then mix three tablespoons of lemon extract in one cup of water and spray it directly on them. The acid in the lemon extract will kill them.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps in Air Conditioner
First of all, you have to check the area around the air conditioner and the wall. If there are any gaps or openings in the perimeter, use some caulk to plug it close. You can also use a foam sealer instead of caulk beads. If the air conditioner is around a window use duct tape to fix the gaps and the spaces. Other methods to fill gaps are using cardboard, towels, newspapers, or rags. An important thing to remember is to remove all foods from near the infected air conditioning unit. You should remove pet food away from the air conditioner. Wasps have a habit of returning to the places where they had found food. Hence, remove all picnic areas away from the infected air conditioning unit.
You can hang sugar mixed with water on top of the machine to get rid of wasps in an air conditioner. These traps will attract the wasps inside them because of the sweet smell. The wasps will eventually drown inside the trap being unable to get out. In place of sugar, you can also use jam or meat in the water to attract the wasps. You have to empty the dead wasps from the water traps regularly. You can also use a fake wasp nest to drive wasps away from your air conditioner. Since wasps are very territorial in nature they will not come near it. Thus, you can successfully get rid of wasps without having to use chemicals.
Finally. you can also prevent wasps from building a nest in the nest air conditioner by wrapping your air conditioner with a waterproof sheet. This will help because after the summer season is over, the air conditioner will no longer be in use. Thus, they may enter the air conditioner to hibernate during winter.
How To Get Rid Of Wasps Around House
It is very important to use prevention methods to get rid of wasps around your house to nip the problem in the bud. Thus, you should check your house and its perimeter regularly for cracks and holes. They can enter through these gaps and hence it is important to block all of them. You have to seal all the holes, especially the ones around windows and around air conditioners or near power lines.
Around the end of autumn, most of the worker wasps die, and around the time of spring, the wasp nests become active. Thus the best time to seal the cracks in your house is in between autumn and spring. If you find out that they are inside your house do not seal them inside the wall. The wasps will come out through vents or cracks in the drywall. Thus if you discover an infestation inside your home, it is best to call a professional.
According to research done by the University of New Hampshire, these pests are attracted to areas where there are open food resources. Thus, houses that have yards with exposed garbage and composting food substances are affected badly. Hence to make sure that your house is not infected you must not keep open bins in your yard. Always seal your garbage properly before throwing it away. Try to avoid composting, or just try to compost indoors where the compost will not attract the wasps.
Another natural method with which you can keep away wasps from around your house is peppermint oil. According to some studies done by the Journal of Pest management, essential oils repel them. You just need to mix some peppermint oil in water and spray it around your yard. You can also use the EcoSmart organic wasp and hornet killer.