wasps, hornets and bees.. etc..

Soundguy · Aug 2, 2004

Boy.. has been a busy season for these suckers.

Just this past week I found a 6" round hornets nest under the hood of my NAA.. I liked to had a coronary when I casually flipped the hood open .. ticking them off I might add.

I had about 10" of space between the tractor and the barn wall, and I think I made it out of the barn in about a second.

Got them with some 'enforcer' spray.. it's one of them sprays with the 'power-head'.. and shoots 20'.. kills instantly.. and I do mean instantly. I then found a nest of paper wasps on one of the wall supports.. of course.. found the hard way, by banging into it. All I saw was a bunch of things flying at me.. a quick shot of spray and every one of them suckers hit the ground... dead.

Thought my 'fun' was over when i took the seat off my JD-B.. only to find a 3" x 4" paper wasp nest.. partially hooked to the seat. I don't think I got stung.. but did bang my leg up getting out of the barn.. well.. once they calmed down about an hour later and had all roosted back on the nest... I let them have it with the enforcer.. worked as well on wasps as did hornets.. ended up using the whole can that day, but for 2.62$.. it was well worth it.

Any preventative you can hang up or put out to get rid of wasps?

Soundguy

slowrev · Aug 2, 2004

don't know of much of any way to run off wasps and hornets. btw the spray stuff does not kill bumblebees right away. Some of those and myself had a discussion about where I was working yesterday evening. The bumblebees won the argument....for now /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

at_obuk · Aug 2, 2004

Any preventative you can hang up or put out to get rid of wasps?

If there is any I'd like to know about as well. They (paper wasps) keep making nests in between the door and the body of my Ford Ranger. I think they like the color (blue). So far this summer I've had to spray 12 nests.
Than they have been making nests under the eves of the house and under the railings on the decks. I'll bettcha I've nailed at least 3 doz nests. Even though I use the same type of spray as you have, they are back in the same spots a week or two later. I thought that spray was suppose to linger and keep 'em from comin' back!!

Eric P.

SPIKER · Aug 2, 2004

hey guys; go to the yellow jackets link below. and to the rural living forum there are posts there on them! some good stories to make you laugh smile and cringe!@ /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

mhalla · Aug 2, 2004

Since I too have been having problems with wasps and hornets, a week ago I did some web surfing on the subject and found an idea that takes into account the fact that wasps and hornets of the people stinging kind are protein eaters. The article I found suggested soaking a small piece of meat in insecticide and hanging it where the wasps and hornets will find it. They will take pieces of the poisoned meat back to the nest to feed the larva which will then die.

Sounds like the approach used in household ant traps that use poisoned bait. I haven't tried getting rid of wasps or hornets this way but find the approach interesting and may try it sometime.

This might be a way to control wasps and hornets before it takes a can of spray to get rid of them or before they build too big a nest in an unpleasantly surprising place.

Mike

DiskDoctr · Aug 2, 2004

Soundguy,

Sounds like one heck of an aerobics program you got going there /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Preventative? Got it. Mothballs. We used to have trouble with wasps in a wooden mailbox, under the eves of a garden shed, etc. Put a few mothballs in the mailbox and up in the rafters, and (poof!) no more wasps. I don't think it killed them, just drove them away.

They're cheap and easy to use. Can also toss them into places, too. They will eventually dissolve if you get them wet (exposed to rain), but hey, they come by the box full /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

-JC

texastomtom · Sep 14, 2004

Hmmm

I'm gonna try the moth balls for wasps idea..

Never thought about using them for that.

But I thought I would also throw in that while I can't confirm it we put them out to keep skunks away.

We acctually just scatter them around the permiter of the property and we havn't seen a skunk since we started doing this. Of course it may just be coincidence but a friend told us about this.

I'll have to put more moth balls around the house and barn now though and see if it keeps wasps away.

I've been stung 3 times this month and I'm really gettin tired of it. 2 of them really were no big deal but one of them nearly sent me to the funny farm.

The wasp dive bombed me,,, flew 1/2 way up my nose - just enough to position his stinger on my upper lip and let me have it. Then while I was freaking out with him 1/2 up my nose ( I could hear his buddies laughing ) he decided to buzz and dance in my nostril.

I'ts kinda funny now but it sure wasn't at the time and the sore on my lip still hasn't healed....

Oh well - at least he didn't climb inside my sinuses...

bczoom · Sep 14, 2004

Well, since I haven't seen what I use, I'll throw in my 2 cents.

In the barn, I use the sonic repellers. Plug in and forget it for years. They emit a sonic sound that keeps most bugs and small rodents (don't affect cats or dogs). Once or twice a year I also may let off a couple of the bug bombs. I have bees everywhere around the buildings but have never had a nest in them.

Around the house or other outdoor places they like to gather, I use the Ortho Home Defense spray. Keeps them away for about 6 weeks. Also works for direct contact spraying but I prefer not to use to directly kill flying things since it's pretty toxic to breath (until it dries) and I don't want to be flailing the wand around. Works well for spraying on a nest and let them carry in. I use a 2 gallon pump sprayer so when I'm spraying nests, around eves and stuff, I can stand way back.

If you need something in a hurry and don't have bee spray around, use WD-40. Kills them dead.

I also use moth balls but I can't stand the smell so I use sparingly and in places I normally don't frequent.

beenthere · Sep 14, 2004

Yours is the first positive I have ever heard from someone using the sonic repellers. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

I am getting to like the Ortho HomeDefense (hoping it will work in the next few weeks on the asian lady beetles). /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I don't know if I can attribute the lack of wasps and yellow jackets to the use of this HomeDefense spray I have been using this summer, but there have been none (absolutely zero) which is not characteristic of a summer for me.

bczoom · Sep 15, 2004

( Yours is the first positive I have ever heard from someone using the sonic repellers.)

beenthere. I really can't attribute the lack of bugs/mice/varmints to anything other than those sonic things. The next building over gets all kinds of mice, birds...