How to Get Rid of Wasps
As you get ready to do battle with these winged invaders, thorough preparation and a commitment to fast and decisive action should be among your top objectives. Wasps, unlike bees, do not lose their stinger when they sting, which means they can sting repeatedly. Wear protective gear, dressing in layers of clothing made of tightly woven fabric. Put on long pants, a long-sleeved shirt under a thick jacket, gloves, socks and shoes, and a hat paired with a bandana to cover your face.
Find the wasp nest. You can simply walk around your property, checking all those snug, out-of-the-way hiding places that wasps are known to haunt—roof eaves and rafters, wall cavities, crawl spaces, railings, fence posts, and tree branches. Or you can observe the wasps flying around your yard. Their flight patterns should show them going to and from one location. Tail the wasps until they lead you back to their nest.
Choose your wasp removal battle plan.
Before you do battle, consider timing. It’s best to approach the nest at night or early in the morning when wasps are slower to react. “The cooler temperatures during the evening and early morning make the wasps slow and docile,” Smith says. Also, most of the hive will be in the nest during these times, allowing you to take out all of them at once.
The time of year is just as important as the time of day. Wasps pick a spot for their nest in early spring, then begin to expand it. By August, a nest can reach its peak size, housing up to 2,000 wasps. That’s a lot of stingers. With this in mind, it’s best to pay attention to wasp activity around your home in early spring. Nip the problem in the bud by eliminating recently established nests before they have a chance to become a buzzing wasp metropolis.
Whichever method you choose, hit the entrance of the nest and work your way out from there, covering the entire thing if there’s time. Don’t be shy with your attack. Douse the entire nest with whatever substance you’re using to kill the wasps. Your assault should last no longer than 15 seconds, after which you should make your escape. When it comes to escape, plan in advance a route that enables a retreat to a safe area once any surviving wasps emerge from the nest looking for their attacker. Make sure there are no garden tools, lawn furniture, or toys in the way that might trip you as you make your escape.
Wasp-removal methods to consider:
Set up wasp traps.
You can purchase commercial wasp traps online or at home improvement stores. Or you can make your own. Cut off the top of a large plastic soda bottle at the “shoulders.” Punch holes in the soda bottle near the top and add string or wire for hanging the trap. In the bottle, add 1 part fruit juice, 10 parts water, 1 teaspoon of yeast, several drops of liquid detergent and a piece of ripe fruit or fruit jam. Add a teaspoon or so of vinegar to dissuade honeybees. Invert the piece of the bottle you cut off and set it into the top of your trap. Place the trap where you’ve seen wasp activity.
Use a commercial wasp spray.
“One really good way to get rid of wasps and their nests is to use a wasp spray that can shoot far,” says Smith. The best wasp sprays unleash powerful wasp-killing pyrethroids and pyrethrins from a relatively safe distance of up to 27 feet away. These sprays work on contact, instantly killing the wasps with powerful neurotoxins. Sprays are especially useful when you’re dealing with nests that are under eaves, in tree branches, on porch ceilings, or in other hard-to-reach places where pouring boiling or soapy water just isn’t feasible. Try to kill as many wasps as possible in the first strike to eliminate, or at least weaken, a counterattack. If working at night, don’t use a standard flashlight, which will alert the wasps to your presence. Instead, use an amber-colored light.
Tried-and-True Advice
“A telescoping ladder has been a game-changer for me when dealing with high wasp nests. It’s much safer and more stable than a standard ladder, especially when trying to reach a nest under an overhang or high on a tree branch. I can adjust the height and position without feeling like I’m at risk of falling.”
—Paul Rankin, Contributing Writer and Editor
Pour boiling water.
If you’d like to know how to get rid of wasps naturally, start with boiling water. Pouring a bucket of boiling water onto the wasp nest accomplishes two things: It immediately kills scores of wasps, and it ruins their nest. It may, however, take a few bucketfuls to destroy the nest and completely detach it from its hanging spot. Meanwhile, you’re likely to have upset dozens of stinging wasps. The wise course is to stage your boiling-water attacks several hours (or even a full day) apart. Consider adding dish detergent to the boiling water; it slows the wasps down a bit, giving you more time to exit the scene.
Spray a soap and water mixture.
In a spray bottle nearly filled with water, add 2 tablespoons of dish soap. Thoroughly saturate the wasp nest with this mixture, as quickly as possible, and then make a hasty exit. You may need to repeat the process a day later, after the wasps have settled down from the first attack.
Use essential oils.
Wasps are repelled by several natural scents, including peppermint, citrus, cloves, and lemongrass. Fill a spray bottle with water and then add 10-15 drops of essential oil; spray your mixture in areas where you’ve seen wasps. You can also use candles or sachets scented with wasp-repelling essential oils to keep the stingers at bay. This method will not kill the wasps, but will deter them from entering a particular area.
Call a pest control company.
If you’ve tried the above methods and the wasps persist, it might be time to call in the pros. Large nests—bigger than a grapefruit—are worthy of immediate professional attention. And if family members, particularly children, are a risk of being injured by any number of wasps, it makes sense to seek help. “If you have allergies, you should definitely call in the pros,” says Kyle Morgan, founder of Care Pest Pros in Spicewood, Texas. “We’re cheaper than a hospital visit.” One of the best pest control companies near you (such as Orkin or Terminix) can help.
How to Prevent Wasp Infestations
It’s much easier to spend a little time to prevent a wasp infestation than it is to deal with the time and expense of getting rid of one. Along with eliminating those things that attract wasps to your yard (see above), there are other measure you can take to prevent wasp infestations:
- Seal entryways: Use silicone caulk and expanding foam to seal any gaps or cracks that can serve as entry points into your home. These include gaps around door and window frames and in siding and soffits.
- Plant wasp-repelling plants: Along with moving flowers away from living areas, Smith suggests working wasp-repelling plants into your landscaping. “If you plant plants that they don’t like, such as mint, basil, or rosemary, it will cut down on the frequency of wasps visiting your property,” he says.
- Nip new nests in the bud: Keeping vigilant and eliminating nests before they become established is key, Smith says. “If you treat and take down any nest that pops up quickly, it will cut down on the pheromones that they release, which attract other wasps.”
FAQs
Although there are a number of miscellaneous uses for dryer sheets, repelling wasps isn’t one of them. There is no proof that dryer sheets keep wasps away.
Wasps have a strong sense of smell, which allows them to locate food. Wasps do hate certain scents, including peppermint, lemongrass, vinegar, bay leaves, scented herbs, and essential oils.
When considering how to kill wasps, don’t discount chemical sprays. Wasp sprays contain powerful pyrethroids and pyrethrins that will paralyze a wasp’s central nervous system on contact, causing it to suffocate and die.
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