Dealing with Mud daubers

[AlanB]

This new house I bought is just overrun with mud daubers. Somewhere, the temperature changed, and they are out there by the hundreds.

It is terrible, I don't think they bite, but man do they look scary as a wasp.

Anyone have ideas or suggestions on how to eradicate them?

 

[MrJimi]

Scrape their mud nest off real good and spray something like wd 40 where it was or anything that will smell for awhile and dry up their mud source then get a cold adult beverage and watch them circle around and leave
Jim

 

[davemhughes]

Usually they will not sting you unless you are messing with them. All sort of products out there to kill them. Any grocery, hardware, farm, store will carry the products, I think they are all a petroleum product. I usually once summer is done use my pressure washer to just wash the house and clean up their mess. Of course the time tested way is a little gasoline but I would rather leave them be than throw gas on something.

 

[vallyfarm]

I do not know if it is leagle, so i'll say my friend buys several cans of brake kleen to deal with all sorts of stinging buggers. Fairly cheap, has good range, and will drop a wasp in mid-flight...so I am told. Mike PS...if you are brave, or drunk, you can light the spray with a lighter and burn off a wasps nest the size of a beach ball in seconds, again, so I was told.

 

[Slamfire]

I do not know if it is leagle, so i'll say my friend buys several cans of brake kleen to deal with all sorts of stinging buggers. Fairly cheap, has good range, and will drop a wasp in mid-flight...so I am told. Mike PS...if you are brave, or drunk, you can light the spray with a lighter and burn off a wasps nest the size of a beach ball in seconds, again, so I was told.

My youngest tried that after comin' back from the hospital, decongestin' from hornet stingsl. He sprayed startin' fluid across a Zippo and melted the alumiinum sidin' on my campin' trailer. I told him the next time he got stung, I wasn't takin' him to the hospital.

 

[masphi]

Over the years I have found that a mud dauber can nest in every conceivable spot imaginable – most of them places that cause me grief. I once even force landed my airplane after a mud daubar nest broke loose and blocked my carburator.
I have found (as previously stated) that WD40 will prevent them from nesting.
Personally I spend a few minutes every 2-3 months spraying electrical outlets, air fittings, equipment etc. to prevent them from creating their mess.
I have not had any problems sicnce.
Mark

 

[Bird]

When I was a kid in southern Oklahoma, we occasionally had a few mud daubers, but then living in town for many years, I never saw any. I did know that many RV repairmen said the most frequent cause of air-conditioner problems, and sometimes furnace problems, on RVs was mud dauber nests. And then when I bought the place in the country 60 miles south of Dallas, I didn't know there were that many mud daubers in the whole world. I spent several days just removing all the nests from the walls and ceiling of the 40' x 60' shop building; never did get half of them removed from the barn. When the automatic choke quite working on my old '81 F250, I found it was a mud dauber nest on the linkage. I also found then inside the air cleaner housing on the old truck. Fortunately, we never had them get inside the house. So I sprayed Diazinon or Malathion under the eaves of the house and both inside and outside the shop a couple of times a year. It didn't get rid of them, but did slow them down a bit. I've heard that they can sting, but I've never personally known of anyone being stung by one.

 

[Soundguy]

My youngest tried that after comin' back from the hospital, decongestin' from hornet stingsl. He sprayed startin' fluid across a Zippo and melted the alumiinum sidin' on my campin' trailer. I told him the next time he got stung, I wasn't takin' him to the hospital.

I've found that starting fluid... ( no zippo! ) works fine by itself.. get one with a straw. At work i used it, and it makes hornets drop off a nest without ever trying to fly.. drops them outta mid air too.

Soundguy

 

[dooleysm]

I left my grill cover hanging over the rail on my deck overnight last summer. I didn't get back to recover the grill until the following evening and I found a mud dobber nest inside the grill cover. What the heck!

I covered more nests than I care to remember when I was drywalling our house 3 years ago. It disgusts me to no end when I knock a nest down and see all the dead spiders and bugs they've stashed in there. Yuck.

 

[KYErik]

When I was 10 or 11, I recall grabbing one by its folded wings with my fingers because I thought that they were unable to sting.

That little stinger on the end of its abdomen bent backwards and stung my finger! Yep they can sting, but just don't grab them and they will leave you alone.

 

[slowrev]

I'll admit the make a mess, but I don't tear down the nest till they hatch. Opened up a few and found several black widow spiders in em. They are partial to black widows here and put them in there for the larvae to eat till they come out.

Ben

 

[jinman]

I've found that starting fluid... ( no zippo! ) works fine by itself.. get one with a straw. At work i used it, and it makes hornets drop off a nest without ever trying to fly.. drops them outta mid air too.

Soundguy

Hey Soundguy...since starting fluid is ether, are the wasps dead or just takin' a snooze?

I find that any small hose or metal tubing left inside our barn will likely be plugged by dirt daubers. Just last weekend I had a 3/8" id pressure washer hose that had 1/10" opening on one end. I also have yard sprinklers that won't work in the spring and find they are clogged up with ants. Everybody is lookin' for a home.

 

[wushaw]

In mid June I will set of three Raid foggers in my shop to kill all dirt dobbers and whatever else that flys or crawls, it is all I do for the summer in the shop, the residue from the foggers last for weeks.
Now outside I spray, swat or smash any dirt dobber I see, they are a pain to deal with.
All the paper wasp are sprayed with the was killer you can get at Wally World.

 

[Soundguy]

It killed them. I thought the same thing.. wondering if it just anesthetized them.. but they never moved after that...

I've found that I have to put a piece of masking tape over my fire extinguisher nozels as they will plug them up as well.

Soundguy

Hey Soundguy...since starting fluid is ether, are the wasps dead or just takin' a snooze?

I find that any small hose or metal tubing left inside our barn will likely be plugged by dirt daubers. Just last weekend I had a 3/8" id pressure washer hose that had 1/10" opening on one end. I also have yard sprinklers that won't work in the spring and find they are clogged up with ants. Everybody is lookin' for a home.

 

[johnk]

I like to use the wifes hair spray to get the flying insects. They look like kamakazees after a few seconds when sprayed. It works like a glue trap on a mouse.... If you have a lot of them get a large spray can. They may stick around but they won't hurt you. Have fun.

 

[CurlyDave]

After reading all the "home remedies" I am really amazed.

What has always worked for me is to spray thoroughly with the insecticide made for mud daubers, the one in the can that shoots a stream 25 feet or so.

Spray on, wait a day, spray again, wait another day, clean up with a strong water stream if possible, scraping off & wet rags if the hose is not practical due to electricity nearby or getting water in the attic.

Any of the other sprays mentioned are not really any cheaper & are less effective.

 

[Harvster]

One note about their nests. All those spiders in there are not dead. The wasps paralyze the spiders and they are simply waiting out there fate of being eating alive by the wasp larvae. If you take the spiders out of a nest you will notice that they are soft and you can move their legs around but they are certainly not dead and dried up like bugs on a windowsill. Makes it even more creepy knowing they're alive.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Over the years I have found that a mud dauber can nest in every conceivable spot imaginable – most of them places that cause me grief. I once even force landed my airplane after a mud daubar nest broke loose and blocked my carburator.
I have found (as previously stated) that WD40 will prevent them from nesting.
Personally I spend a few minutes every 2-3 months spraying electrical outlets, air fittings, equipment etc. to prevent them from creating their mess.
I have not had any problems sicnce.
Mark

I like this idea. Dont have to spray poison all over - just make the area repellant. I wonder if kroil works.
larry

 

[JoeR]

I usually spray the house to keep them off. You can go to [www.bugspray.com] and they have a nice write-up about insects and their habits.

Joe

 

[AlanB]

I can't get the link to work.

So are Mud daubers temp sensitive I gather, did not see any out today and it was much colder.

I had not noticed any before the warm temps in the last week or two, then they were overwhelming.