Wasps....ugh

[mjeff87]

Took the week off work for a stay-cation to get a bunch of stuff done around the house.  Today started out bad enough, I had a severe leg cramp overnight in bed that shot me straight up.  My feet were under the covers, and it was so severe a cramp that one of my toenails got caught on the bed sheet and I ripped it right off trying to get out of bed.  That will wake you up clean and sober at 0400, let me tell you.

 

The best part of the day was yet to come.  I was painting my garage door header and got lit up by a couple wasps.  I noticed a bunch of them flying in behind the header, thinking they have a little commune going on, but forgot about them later when I was touching up/cleaning up the siding.  I'm allergic to insect stings, but not the deadly type....I just blow up and get bruised.  Been sitting inside now for about an hour with a compress on my hand, the swelling is going down some but still hurts like Hades.

 

Ive got a bunch of spray I can unleash on them, but I'd rather they just left without me having to kill them.  They were just protecting their home, unlike yellow jackets that just seem to get a thrill out of stinging the hell out of you (repeatedly) and chasing you halfway down the block.  I have ZERO reservations about killing them, with extreme prejudice.

[Dzimm]

Just kill them.  Get the powder, it works wonders for areas you can't directly spray the hive.  Unlike other bees, your wasps aren't nearly as important to leave alive, plus they will continue to use that best all year and possibly come back in later years if it's not destroyed.

[JMO413]

I agree on the just kill em! 

[89 MJ]

Kill em all and hope they burn!!!

 

Don’t torch them on a serious note. 

[jdog]

Not a fan of wasps and where they decide to build their nests. Agree with the others, KILL EM just not with fire.

[Pete M]

that sucks man   if there's a small hole in the house they are using, maybe a can of expanding foam shot in there? 

 

just found a ground nest of yellow jackets out by the street.  they did not like that I parked the lawnmower on top of the hole for a while.   but that won't be enough to kill them all.  I'll have to make some traps like last time (where I caught hundreds of the little bastards in one nest!)

[mjeff87]

Well, I just spent the last couple days painting everything, so they are going to get a pass tonight.  I don't want to ruin all my hard work lol. I'll blast them tomorrow evening with some spray.

 

Funny thing was, after the stings I was sitting on my porch painting the posts and a brown colored wasp was walking it's way toward me, docile as can be.  I brushed it away but it came walking right on back the path it was on.  I lifted my leg and he just walked right under it on his journey across my porch.  He was definitely on some kind of mission, was kind of amusing to watch him.

 

I don't like to indiscriminately kill things if I can help it.  I'm a firm believer in Karma and everything on this planet having some kind of useful purpose.  Except Yellowjackets/ground hornets.  Those I kill without remorse, usually involving gasoline or some other flammable substance.

[Pete M]

as I tell my nephews, there are good bugs, and there are bad bugs, and there are good bugs that become bad when there are too many of them.  yellow jackets are technically very good hunters and can keep other bug populations in check. 

 

but on the other hand...

 

 

 

 

[Money_Pits]

I leave them be unless they are nesting near a window or door. I'm not allergic to them at all, a minor bit of swelling and pain for about five minutes, but I have friends who react poorly to stings, so it's a precaution i take. I can normally just remove the nests while they are being built, and keeping up on that will keep them from coming back to those areas, for the year anyway. They are also pollinators, though not as effective as a bee.

[Pete M]

I only deal forcefully with the massive underground yellowjacket nests on property.  I live in georgia and I don't mind the the little lady predators flying around eating the rest of the bugs.    for there are many, many other bugs.    but those nests are huuuuuuuuge and I can't risk them getting angry with my nephews around. 

[Pete M]

a days harvest.  built a trap from a cookie container with a funnel made of a 2-liter bottle and stuck the assembly above the hole (can't get it flush with the ground because there's a chunk of metal sticking up in the way).  a good harvest so far.  last time took days and days to get them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mjeff87]

Nice job.  I jam a stick in the hole (or close to it)to the nest as a location device.  Later in the evening I pull the stick out and give them a gasoline dinner.  Not the most ecological solution, but it works.

 

I also napalm-ed the corner of my garage header yesterday, haven't seen a wasp since.  I went to the range yesterday morning to break in my wife's 9mm....it was interesting trying to shoot with a grapefruit for a left (support) hand.  Let's just say it wasn't my best day shooting

[Pete M]

I need the confirmed kills.    can't risk the burrowing buggers finding a way out. 

[Manche757]

This thread motivated me to grab a can of Raid and spray a wasp nest by the front door.

[mjeff87]

I grew up on the family farm that my grandfather bought and built.  To this day I can still remember him getting stung by wasps and hornets (usually up on a ladder against an outbuilding) multiple times.  He would just swear a lot, grab the offending insect and squish it in his hand, then carry on with what he was doing.

 

I get one little bug bite and I'm down for the count, lol.  We didn't call them the greatest generation for no reason.

[FrankTheDog]

My father and I killed a swarm of wasps in an old unrestored room in our 1820’s farm house. It was the middle of October so they were sluggish and we just pinched them all. There were at least a couple hundred of them and not one sting. It also helped that we were half in the bag.