# Dealing with Wasps and Hornets



## Idaholady

Here in the Northern Panhandle of Idaho this year; we've seen a lot of activity with the bald faced hornet, wasps and yellow jackets.

I've purchased those yellow hanging catchers, putting attractant in the bottom and finding only a few insects going for them.

Then a friend gave me a recipe which called for water, a.c. vinegar, sugar and a little dawn soap; still didn't seem to attract them.

Finally today I was at a friend's house and she put some canned kitty food in two of those catchers and you should have seen the activity!

I went home and put some left over smoked salmon dip mixture in two of mine and within a short time the hornets and yellow jackets were going crazy.

So, now that makes me wonder how we are going to manage when TSHTF and we don't have our sprays to knock down nests and ways to kill these insects.

I guess al long as we have some kind of meat to hang out over a pail of water and other methods; we'll get by....

Anyone else having problems with the increase in hornets, yellow jackets or wasps in their area?


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## cowboyhermit

They tend to be fairly cyclical, a few years back they were so bad (wasps, hornets) that they were putting a huge dent in some of my honey bee hives, dead bees everywhere Found a nest bigger than a basketball withing 100yards of the apiary but also figured out some ways to protect the bees in the future if need be. 
Last few years they haven't been bad, I never bother to use chemicals for them so shtf wouldn't make much difference to me but it would be good to have some traps and/or learn how to make them.

Overall though I wouldn't want to get rid of them entirely as they can be useful. Here is a bit of info;http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/benefits-of-wasps-yellow-jackets-zw0z1303zkin.aspx#axzz2aPD96AI9
"The food demands of growing yellow jacket colonies are so great that it has been estimated that more than 2 pounds of insects may be removed from a 2,000-square-foot garden by yellow jackets."


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## Davarm

A simple trick to deter them from building nests on your porch and the eves of your house is to paint the surfaces sky blue.

It works, the wasps and yellow jackets seem to think the surface is open sky and will pass it by when looking for a place to start a nest. I was skeptical but the year I did it none nested on my porch, the next time I do it I'm going to use a little better quality paint that will last longer.


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## MDsapper

and make sure to find the nests early on and remove them before they become a hugh problem


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## Momturtle

I am fatally allergic to the vespids - yellow jackets, bald faced hornets and those giant scary fruit hornet ones. But I am hyper vigilent during the season and unless they actually build a nest in the house I leave them alone. The reason is that when I go out into the garden in the morning, all the wasps are out hunting over each of my cabbages, broccoli, kale and anything else that may have a caterpillar on it -- they are the ultimate predators of cabbage loopers and such. As long as they are hunting and you don't pinch them up against something, they go about their busiess and I go about mine. Bummer about the bees though. Didn't know they went after the bees or are they going after the honey and the bees die defending it?


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## lovetogrow

Thanks for the tip Davarm (I love that color) :2thumb: 

Momturtle same here, deathly allergic and if I don’t bother them them don’t bother me.


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## RevWC

Fire...my dad would take a newspaper roll it up and light it...then burn the nests....


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## cowboyhermit

Momturtle said:


> Bummer about the bees though. Didn't know they went after the bees or are they going after the honey and the bees die defending it?


I think it is pretty rare that they are a major problem, usually the bees have no problem defending the hive but there was an empty hive and once the scouts find a food source:gaah: The poor bees would drag the wasps out, sometimes more than one pulling the same wasp, but many died in the process either decapitated or stung to death. The wasps were after both honey and brood

I understand about the allergies, I keep an epipen around even though none of us are allergic:dunno: I have seen a bad reaction though and it is scary stuff. I also always keep several unopened bottles of epinephrine for the animals, in an true emergency "veterinary use only" may be open to interpretation


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## Idaholady

Well, I just found a huge, basketball sized hornet's nest up under the eaves on the back side of my carport.

I bought two cans of Raid; because friends said that would be the best to spray on the nest.

Now, I have to wait until it is dark to sneak up on the nest; spray like mad and get out of there. The last time I used a weaker brand of spray and it had no affect on the nest. This time I will have to get a little closer and then spray up into their entry. When one can is done, I'll use the second one until the whole thing is saturated. We're looking at 200-400 hornets in that nest. Spray and run like mad......

I am very allergic to their stings too; so I'm really nervous about doing this...hubby isn't around, so I'm on my own......wish me luck....


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## mojo4

Most good wasp sprays shoot 25 feet since they usually nest in places accessed by ladders and dancing on a ladder with hornets is often perilous!! They invaded pretty hard this spring but I fought back early and hard and they moved on. Also having 4 birds nests under my deck helped. My 3 year old daughter did get stung and since then she has hawkeyes for bugs. I killed 2 that snuck in with a flip flop and ever since then she tells everyone "daddy killed bad bug with a fip fop!" I promptly awarded myself 1 distinguished cross for valor.


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## LincTex

I wait until nightfall, then suck them all up with the shop vac. The large-surface-area paper wasps require you to vacuum the whole surface, but if it was just one entrance I'd put the hose on there and suck them all out. I cap the hose after the machine is off. Make sure there is a good layer of nasty dust on the filter inside so they don't try to chew their way out through it, but it has never been a problem. The foam outer filter ring will also stop them. Set the whole thing out in the hot sun, they will all be dead inside.


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## TheLazyL

Idaholady said:


> Well, I just found a huge, basketball sized hornet's nest up under the eaves on the back side of my carport.... nest; spray like mad and get out of there. ...


Late at night I sprayed my nest, broke it open with a loooong tree limb trimmer pole, sprayed again and then left the vicinity very fast.

Good luck!


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## backlash

We spent last weekend at a friends cabin in the mountains.
First thing my brother and my cousin both got stung.
There is a large nest inside the soffit on the porch.
I went to the local store and bought 2 cans of wasp and hornet spray for $9 each can.
It killed off a bunch but not all of them.
I'm going to go back armed with better spray and attack them at night and then seal up the hole they use to get in.
At our house this year we haven't had many wasps or hornets like we do most years.


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## JayJay

Just for future reference.
I stepped on a bee, and went to the freezer for ice. But Ixquicked instead and found toothpaste as a relief.
It was instant relief. It worked. Now, keep toothpaste in your BOB.


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## drfacefixer

cowboyhermit said:


> I think it is pretty rare that they are a major problem, usually the bees have no problem defending the hive but there was an empty hive and once the scouts find a food source:gaah: The poor bees would drag the wasps out, sometimes more than one pulling the same wasp, but many died in the process either decapitated or stung to death. The wasps were after both honey and brood
> 
> I understand about the allergies, I keep an epipen around even though none of us are allergic:dunno: I have seen a bad reaction though and it is scary stuff. I also always keep several unopened bottles of epinephrine for the animals, in an true emergency "veterinary use only" may be open to interpretation


Just in case you didnt know.
.. Epi is no good after its expiration date. It rapidly degrades and loses potency. I go through about 6 epipens a year. They arent cheap, but a 1mg vial is.


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## carolexan

The last FridayI was hanging laundry on the clothes line and was stung 6 times by red wasp. It hurt like the dickens, I dont care how old you are. I ended up with IV Benadryl, steriod dose pack and 7 days of antibotics. Wasps, bees and hornets are particularlly bad now among my friends here in Texas. Drfacefixer I will follow your lead on the epi. Thanks


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## cowboyhermit

Epipens are not cheap, like $100 and it sucks to toss them but yup, gotta do it, pretty amazing that they can last as long as they do.

The bottles are cheap, like 50mls for under $20 but they need refrigeration. And of course you would need syringe, needle, and the will to stab yourself. We do have these, kinda like an autoinjector for livestock, only used if proper treatment is not possible. I think the sight of me coming with it might cause enough adrenaline on it's own


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## swjohnsey

Wasps and hornets are generally beneficial. I try to have a live and let live policy. The wife not so much.


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## jeff47041

I've never been stung by a hornet doing this. A lot of people call me to rid them of hornets nests.

Wait until dark. Get close and spray an entire can of hornet spray up in the hole. then leave. Overnight, the spray will soak up through the nest and kill every one of them. Next day you can go back and knock down the nest.


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## Guardian

So, we have a nest of smaller hornets I think but at any rate they decided to move above the entrance to our home. With all that come and go no one has been bothered but with small children around I decided that they can live anywhere but there. Grabbed some foaming spray from Home Depot and decided that after dark I would send them walking. Well, interestingly enough they have been fighting back...  Seems they have found their way into the home and we are at war. I have killed probably 10 - 12 or more and got zapped once. Now I know not to block them in as my father did that when I was a kid and I remember coming home to a house full. They were exterminated but the house was full of bees. I might have let them go until cold weather but I need to replace blocks and the door so for the previously mentioned other reasons they had to go. On an unrelated side note, we returned home tonight and found a doe eating in the garden with her two fawns outside the fence. They have been around in the lawn for a long part of the summer and that was ok... Just don't eat the tomatoes.  I swear mother nature has it in for us this week, but the tomato fed deer might become canned venison if she is not careful. Hornets or whatever they are I have no use for today, they need to be in the trees, or yard, or garden. I am fortunate that unless I get stung several times I don't swell up at least. :eyebulge:


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## LincTex

Vengeful said:


> they decided to move above the entrance to our home.


Yeah, why wasps will do that I just don't get....


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## pdougan

Cheap way to kill them is with soppy water it clogs there pores and they cant breathe i use it to kill them around the house works great


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## jeff47041

pdougan said:


> Cheap way to kill them is with soppy water it clogs there pores and they cant breathe i use it to kill them around the house works great


Soapy water? I wonder if that will kill wood bees. They look similar to bumble bees but eat my buildings instead of stinging people.


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## goshengirl

jeff47041 said:


> Soapy water? I wonder if that will kill wood bees. They look similar to bumble bees but eat my buildings instead of stinging people.


Learn something new every day. Never heard of wood bees - thought we had bumble bees. But they seem a bit more aggressive than I'd remembered bumble bees, and they're eating up our two sheds and the house porch. I hate killing bees with the nationwide die-off going on, but these wood chewers are out of control!


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## jeff47041

goshengirl said:


> Learn something new every day. Never heard of wood bees - thought we had bumble bees. But they seem a bit more aggressive than I'd remembered bumble bees, and they're eating up our two sheds and the house porch. I hate killing bees with the nationwide die-off going on, but these wood chewers are out of control!


Aggressive, as in coming up to you and hovering just out of reach? I have tennis rackets that I buy for a dollar at yard sales sitting next to every entrance to each of my buildings. Wood bee swatters.
Every spring, I spray the rafters of the buildings with spray for wood ants. (The kind you mix in a pump up sprayer) Within a few days, hundreds of dead wood bees are laying around. And there are thousands of them left.

For the most part, any wood that is painted doesn't get eaten and any of my buildings that are closed up are left alone. I've had to replace rafters and posts that have been shredded from them. They drill a perfect 3/8" hole straight in about 3/4 of an inch, then they turn and will eat an 8" tunnel in the wood. Really weaken the wood.

I hate killing good bees, but all wood bees must die. I've never seen these nasty things on any flowers or plants, so I've just convinced myself that they are just useless bugs that have nothing to do with pollination.

I hate these things and am at a constant war with them.


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## 8thDayStranger

We call those carpenter bees around here. We catch them hovering and pop them with rulers or paint stirrers. A friend of mine sprays the canned foam in the holes. It traps the bee and fills in the hole at the same time. Those things will destroy a porch or an eave quickly. 

If you're feeling frisky, try shooting them with a pellet gun. Hours of fun.


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## kappydell

I generally make a wasp trap out of a 2 liter soda bottle if I see them in my area...set it out and they eliminate themselves. Much cheaper than the bought traps...
Just cut the top part of the bottle off at the line where the label is. Insert bait. Re-insert the top, screw top side down to make a funnel. Wasps fly in, cant get out & die. When full, replace trap & burn the old one.


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## crabapple

http://www.about-bees.com/mason-bees.html
http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/Carpenter_Bees.htm
Painting wood helps to stop the bees, Sky blue according to another post( have not tried that one yet).
I think the Epi 1mg vial is a good ideal.


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## neldarez

Idaholady said:


> Here in the Northern Panhandle of Idaho this year; we've seen a lot of activity with the bald faced hornet, wasps and yellow jackets.
> 
> I've purchased those yellow hanging catchers, putting attractant in the bottom and finding only a few insects going for them.
> 
> Then a friend gave me a recipe which called for water, a.c. vinegar, sugar and a little dawn soap; still didn't seem to attract them.
> 
> Finally today I was at a friend's house and she put some canned kitty food in two of those catchers and you should have seen the activity!
> 
> I went home and put some left over smoked salmon dip mixture in two of mine and within a short time the hornets and yellow jackets were going crazy.
> 
> So, now that makes me wonder how we are going to manage when TSHTF and we don't have our sprays to knock down nests and ways to kill these insects.
> 
> I guess al long as we have some kind of meat to hang out over a pail of water and other methods; we'll get by....
> 
> Anyone else having problems with the increase in hornets, yellow jackets or wasps in their area?


I'm from Wa. state and I don't remember ever seeing yellowjackets and hornets like this year...oh my gosh, I have 4 yellowjacket traps on the back porch, the soft bag kind that you fill. I put my hummingbird mixture in them because they go to the hummer feeders and my birds can't drink so I know they love it! I have literally hundreds in these bags, then in the flower bed next to the door, I fill clear glass bowls 1/2 full with water, add dish soap and set out. I have to dump them every 2-3 days because of all the yellow jackets dead in them..........what a year!!


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## LincTex

Berryman's B12 carb cleaner spray (with the red straw attached).....










I was working on an old tractor yesterday that had a red wasp nest under the seat.

I was GOING TO leave well enough alone ("don't bother me and I won't bother you") but *those sumbit.ches just HAD to come bother me*....

I had can of B-12 sitting nearby, and hit one from 4 feet away, while flying. Instant death, and all it took was one tiny shot (if you get B-12 on your skin and feel the chemical burn, you'll see why!!!)

Wasp/hornet spray lasts what, 10 seconds and it's gone? I killed over 20 wasps (one at a time) and didn't even put a dent in my can of B-12, and it's cheaper than wasp spray!!


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## Davarm

LincTex said:


> Berryman's B12 carb cleaner spray (with the red straw attached).....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was working on an old tractor yesterday that had a red wasp nest under the seat.
> 
> I was GOING TO leave well enough alone ("don't bother me and I won't bother you") but *those sumbit.ches just HAD to come bother me*....
> 
> I had can of B-12 sitting nearby, and hit one from 4 feet away, while flying. Instant death, and all it took was one tiny shot (if you get B-12 on your skin and feel the chemical burn, you'll see why!!!)
> 
> Wasp/hornet spray lasts what, 10 seconds and it's gone? I killed over 20 wasps (one at a time) and didn't even put a dent in my can of B-12, and it's cheaper than wasp spray!!


I've used that stuff on yellow jackets and boy, does it work, drop em right out of the air!

On a different note, reading all these posts made me remember a long time ago(was about 5 or 6) my dad said the way to get rid of wasps and yellow jackets was to whittle out a paddle from a 1x6, stand near a nest and hit it with a rock then swat the critters when they came near you.

We(my older brother and I) were too young and dumb to realize that he didn't mean for us to try it with a nest that was a foot in diameter!


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