How to Kill Wasps: Summer Time is Wasp Time

I will give a full admission right now, I hate wasps. I have been stung exactly once in my whole life, and it was by a wasp. Imagine a happy little 9 year old girl running around in the sprinklers of her backyard, laughing and enjoying a warm early summer day. Now imagine that little girl running unknowingly near a wasp nest under the roof overhang. From there you can cut right to my tears, because that mean old wasp came down and stung me right in the arm. It hurt like heck and it made me so nervous around future wasps and bees that I would run first, and ask questions later. Now those little red devils are back, I'm 30 years older and they still scare the dickens out of me! I have begun killing the nests they are attempting to build under my roof overhang, so I thought I would remind you to do the same at your houses, and give you ideas on how and when to do it. First a few facts about wasps:

1) Unlike bees, they keep their stinger, so you can be stung repeatedly by just one mad wasp. Agitating a wasp is a bad idea.

2) Wasps eat bugs and generally are not looking to harm humans. However, if they are making nests near or on your house, they will protect the nest and you may suffer a sting for it.

3) There are ground wasps and yellow jackets that nest in the ground or in little crevices at the lower portions of your house. You don't want to step on their nest, so better to look for them and find them before they find you.

4) Wasps die off in the winter months, except for the queen. The queen hibernates until spring, then comes out to find a male to mate with and a new place to build her nest.

5) You should fill up cracks and holes around the outside of your house. They like to make nests there and sometimes they will find their way inside your house.

Best ways to kill wasps:

1) You should check around the outside of your house for wasps nests on a regular basis. I checked mine twice in one week, and found 3 nests being formed. They move fast in the building process and they are persistent.

2) The easiest way to kill the wasp nest is to call an exterminator, aka pest control guy/girl. It's the safest way for you, but it isn't cheap. Most pest control businesses charge $40-75 to come out and spray.

3) If you decide you want to save your money and do it yourself, you should do it in the evening hours. Night time is when the wasps sleep and they have poor vision at night, so they might not see you to chase you!

4) Personally, I use either Raid Wasp Killer or Real-Kill Wasp and Hornet spray to kill the wasps. You want to make sure you get the projectile spray so that you can stand a safe distance away from the nest, and still accurately spray the nest and kill the wasps. Those sprays give you about 20 feet to work with, so at least you have a head start if you need to run!

5) Once you have sprayed the nest, check the next day to make sure no other live wasps are hanging around that nest. If they aren't, then it is time to knock it down, as this keeps other wasps from hanging around that particular area.

6) Some folks will tell you to use gasoline or WD-40 to spray on the nest and to light it on fire. This seems ridiculously unsafe, dangerous and generally like something a guy would come up with! No need for gas or fires, these are wasps, not Frankenstein.

Natural way to kill wasps:

The best way I found, and have actually tried, is good old soap and water. Take 1 quart of water and mix in 3 tablespoons of dish washing soap. Borrow your kids squirt gun, the super soaker works best. Fill up the squirt gun, stand back and soak the nest with your soap and water mixture. This mixture will kill the wasps, but be sure to check the nest the next day to make sure no wasp escaped your aim! If the nest is clear, knock it down.

If the wasps are not near your house and not bothering you, just let them be, they do serve a purpose by eating bugs and caterpillars. If they are too close for comfort, now you have a few easy ways to rid yourself of them, good luck!

Sources:
http://www.everythingabout.net/articles/biology/animals/arthropods/insects/wasps/
http://www.wasps.net/