How do I deal with a wasp nest?

Question

I recently discovered a fairly large (a few hundred wasps, from the look of it) wasp-nest under the eaves on the side of my house.

Anyways, I called a exterminator (Terminix, actually), and they tried to push a year-long maintenance contract on me, and claimed that wasps leave pheremones, and if you don't continually kill them off, they will keep coming back.

In my own research, there is no note of this particular wasp behaviour on wikipedia, and I have actually found a lot of insect-control websites that specifically say wasps don't nest in the same place every year. This makes me think that Terminix may be stringing me along a bit.

Has anyone heard this claim "they will return unless you kill them off repeatedly" statement before, or is it likely that I can deal with it myself with a can of wasp-killer spray?

Answer 1

A $3 can of wasp spray will do the trick. Hit them at dusk, soak down the nest. The nest will be empty come morning. Some sprays say on the label that they will repel wasps for a couple of months. I always carry several cans of spray in my truck as I run into them constantly when working on houses. Go get um !!!!

Answer 2

I do not believe that wasps return to the same location to nest.

You can deal with removing the nest yourself, or depending on where you live and how cold it gets, you can wait till the winter as they will naturally die when it gets cold.

Here are instructions:

Wasp nest removal is a fairly simple process. Finding the nest usually entails a quick survey for heavy wasp traffic during dusk or dawn, when wasps tend to return to the nest. Once the sun is down for the evening and you've noticed less traffic near the nest, dress yourself with multiple layers of clothing, and find a pair of gloves, just in case. Then, go out to the nest and spray the entrance with any wasp killing agent, like Raid. Spray liberally, but avoid inhaling too much of the poison. Most wasp poisons kill on contact, but it's best to be safe by slowly leaving the area, as sudden movements can attract attention.

Which wasp killer you use depends on where the nest is:

For nests that are located underground, you will want to use a wasp killer that is not labeled as a projectile spray. You want very little spray for yellow jacket nests that are found underground.

For nests that are elevated, you will want to find a can of wasp and hornet killer that is labeled as a projectile spray. This will ensure a stream of wasp poison roughly 15–20 feet in length, allowing plenty of distance to make a quick escape if necessary.

Repeating this process twice or even three times may be necessary until you're certain the nest has been vacated. Once you see that there is no traffic, it's probably safe to knock down the nest if it's an aerial nest, or fill the nest with dirt and gravel if it's in the ground. This should be the end of your wasp problem until the next migration cycle.

source: getridofthings.com

Answer 3

As a retired telco lineman, I had daily encounters with yellow jacket wasps. I used to finish the summer days with wasps' nests past my ankles in the bottom of the bucket. As in bucket truck. We had to deal with them when we we opened the enclosure, and they would be pretty angry due to our invasion of their home in the telco equipment. A couple of tips: always wear glasses that cover the eyes well, as they will try and sting you in the eyes if your eyes are close to their nest. You could use a CO₂ fire extinguisher, as it will freeze them and stop their activity.

The statement that the wasps will return, is in a way true, since any good home will again be used by the wasps looking for a place to call their own next year. One thing I did notice over the winter, when working in the splices: the surviving nests were vacant, but if I probed around in the nest I would see a larger wasp, the queen. It seems the queen would survive the winter, and may in fact start a new nest. If you remove the whole nest, and destroy it, this shouldn't be a problem. Make sure you will not fall off a ladder, or fall if being stung, because this has killed utility workers. It is a good idea to have someone on standby if you get stung, since your throat will swell closed, and anaphylactic shock can set in, even if you never had a reaction before. If you don't have help ready, you won't live to tell the tale. It happens quickly and kills, even in urban areas with hospital and ambulances nearby.

Answer 4

My trick to get rid of inaccessible wasp nests is to set up a shop vac for a half a day sucking at their entry point. Once all the wasps are in the shop vac I suck up some raid spray. I then seal up the hole in the house. Works well. I guess if you really want to let them go you could take them somewhere and release them out of the shop vac. Good karma?

Answer 5

It's bad enough to have to kill insects, but poisoning them is unnecessary and bad karma.

A good method for moving or exterminating them is to act at dusk or in the earliest part of a cool morning, while they are sluggish or immobile (per other postings). Also, as suggested elsewhere, wear protection.
Take a large (enough) plastic bag and gently envelope the nest with it. Carefully gather the bag opening around the nest attach point. As you pull the nest from its attach point, close the top of the bag and secure it with a knot or bag closure. Then either toss the bag into the trash or else relocate it and open the top, assuming the insects are still inactive.

I've done this several times with wasps, and it works very well.

Answer 6

I have been watching hornets build a huge nest inside a decorative bird feeder I have in my garden (never used as an actual feeder). I leave them alone as I walk by and they leave me alone. I plan to remove the entire nest this coming January. I also have wasps nesting next to my small garage door in the door frame. Again I walk in and out and they simply fly by coming and going to their nest. I plan to plug the hole later this fall after we have had some cold weather. I do not like the idea of killing all those insects with poison. They are better insect control than I could buy. I am not allergic to stings, but they seem docile as long as I give them their space. Why is our first reaction to KILL?

Answer 7

They usually vacate in October/November. I've been watching them come and go all summer in my fascia boards. They do not bother us, I do not bother them.

Answer 8

I had wasps in my screen room 2 weeks ago and called an exterminator. Because I said I had them in my screen room he sprayed the screen room inside and out and never looked up at the deck which is the roof of my screen room. Less than a week later, 8 wasps were in my screen room then the next day my friend walked onto my deck and was swarmed by wasps.

I ended up using a can Ortho Hornet and Wasp Killer foam and he doused my door frame where the nest was located plus he did around the window. The wasps fled then I insured their departure by spraying with Spectracide Pro Wasp and Hornet Killer that shoots 20 feet. It's been 3 days and so far so good. You can handle removing wasps with plain old wasp killer you can buy at your local hardware store. It's a lot cheaper than an exterminator.

Answer 9

Glad to hear the can worked for you. Two years ago we had 3 wasps nests on the house. All three were in the cavity of the wall behind the brick. I take it from the above your nest was external to the house. I must have spent $200 on cans trying to attack these guys as they were a threat to us, coming into the living space and generally owning the property. One was in a dryer vent, one was in a weep hole and the third one was in a window corner having bored through caulking and insulation. I read up on this a bit and the understanding is we got three nests because when an established nest gets big enough part of its community along with a new queen fly off (can't remember the term) but if you witness it it is like a cloud leaving the mother ship and they don't go very far to build a new one. So that would have happened 2 times likely while we were on vacation away from the home. As it got colder the wasps just couldn't move very well, any left in the walls died in the winter and no wasps have come back although we did seal up the entries pretty good. For the dryer vent and window issue we re-caulked and for the weep hole we installed a stainless steel insert in all of them. This past summer was peaceful.

I have to chuckle because a in doing a ton of research I found a guy with the same issue and his solution was to stand at the front of the entry point with a tennis racquet and swat each one as it came out. I didn't have the nerve for that.

Answer 10

Go on domyownpestcontrol.com get yourself a sprayer. Then type in Demon WP (Wettable powder...Active ingredient...Cypermethrin.40%). This product comes in envelopes with four little packets of chemical. Mix two packets in a gallon of water and then proceed to agitate your sprayer. The mixture will look like sandy water, and must be agitated every few minutes to ensure the powder doesn't settle after spraying. it does however leave a white film over area of treatment. Use a pin stream nozzle and spray nests. After you get the nests, adjust the nozzle to fan or cone spray and hit all areas within 10 feet of the nests that wasps may hide. DO NOT remove the nests the same day as there will be foraging wasps out during time of treatment. Allow at least 24 hours for complete kill. Demon WP does kill wasps within a few minutes, but if you desire an instant kill, I would recommend adding a product called Exciter ( emulsifiable concentrate...pyrethrin.6%..piperonyl butoxide.60%.) . This contains Pyrethrins only which will give you a quick kill but no residual activity. However mixing the two together will give you a fast initial kill of wasps, and about three months of residual activity. While your at it, spray the foundation 2 feet up, and 5 feet out of your house to prevent crawling insects from gaining access. Or if you want to you can go with the cheap raid aerosol which will only kill the wasps that are there. Also wasp spray is oil based, so it is likely to stain or even kill/injure plants.

Sources.. 8 years of experience as a licensed pesticide applicator in NJ