Wasps are beneficial insects that feed on other garden insects. However, their ability to sting makes them dangerous for humans. The best way to keep them away is to prevent wasps from finding food near your home. If they still make a nest nearby and you can't tolerate it, the only solution is to remove the nest.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Reduce the attractiveness of your environment
Step 1. Cover all possible food sources such as compost bowls and waste bins
Unlike bees, wasps and hornets love meat and other protein foods, but also nectar. Hornets memorize the food source and will continue to come even after it is sealed or removed, so any open-air garbage storage should be avoided.
Step 2. Cut down on sweet smells during the summer or fall
These are the times when wasps like to feed on flowers, juices and fruits. Collect flowers and fruit from trees to prevent them from becoming a source of food.
Step 3. Stay calm in front of the wasps
It is better to move than to try to kill them. Wasps release pheromones when they are in danger or are crushed, calling forth others.
Step 4. Avoid using sweet scents
A hornet may think you are a food source.
Step 5. Do not use bird feeders or other garden decorations that are yellow or colored like flowers
Light colors attract wasps in search of food.
Step 6. Stick a bar of soap under the roof of the birdhouses
This way the hornets will not nest inside.
Part 2 of 2: Destroy the nests
Step 1. Follow a wasp to see if it has nested near your home
Nests are usually found under boards, eaves and in trees. Tree nests are usually abandoned every year, while home nests can house a queen during the winter, attracting wasps the following year as well.
Step 2. You can call an exterminator if you have many nests or are in hard to reach places
Destroying wasp nests is dangerous, so it's best done while wearing protective clothing.
Call a professional if hornets have access inside the house. If they have nested in window frames, foundations, floorboards, or anywhere else in the house, don't apply the insecticide yourself
Step 3. Choose a spray insecticide that works from afar
If you don't have protective clothing this is the safest way to avoid getting stung.
Step 4. Wait for the evening
Hornets and wasps return to the nest at night and are less active, so you have a better chance of killing the entire colony.
Step 5. Read the instructions carefully before spraying
Leave the area for a few hours and do the same with your family members and pets. Hornets sense when the nest is in danger, so it is best to do this when they are less active.
Step 6. Check for signs of activity
If you don't see any, you may have killed all the wasps. When it seems abandoned, try to detach it, immerse it in water and then throw it away.
- If there is still activity, spray the insecticide again.
- Use leather gloves and thick clothing when handling the nest or spraying insecticide on it. This way you will protect yourself from bites.
Step 7. If there are nests dug out of the ground, cover them with large cups
Make sure the bowl you use sticks well to the ground. Look for the other exits and stop those too. Leave the cups in place for at least two weeks and the colony will starve.
Step 8. Build or buy a wasp trap to catch undead bugs with the spray
Put the trap away from any human contact and hang it at a height of at least half a meter or one meter from the ground. Keep the trap for at least a couple of days.
- You can build a trap by cutting off the top of a two-liter plastic bottle. Attach a string on the sides so you can hang it on a tree. Insert the top cut upside down into the bottle, fitting it together. Add a sweet substance, such as juice or water and sugar. Hang it from a tree. The wasps will enter and will no longer be able to get out.
- Empty and clean the trap every three weeks, at night. Make sure there are no live wasps in the trap before opening it.
Advice
- If you are stung, immediately rinse the area and apply an antihistamine ointment to limit pain and swelling.
- Contact a professional if you are unable to find the nest. The exterminators have traps with poisoned food, which the wasps will carry into the nest, poisoning the entire colony.
