41–50 of 103 posts
I just vacuumed up a bee hive that had taken residence in my siding. Just rigged up my shop vac at the entrance and left it on.
Bees make honey and pollinate - yellowjacket wasps may remove some pests from the environment, but otherwise bring pain and suffering to the unwary.
Similar story, had a nest in the walls of a bay window bump. Too far up the side to spray effectively, but they had one weakness: there was a clear entrance spot. So I duct taped a pool vacuum hose next to it and ran it into the garage attached to a shop vac. Left it running for a day, problem solved. It was fun listening to the "ka-thunk" sound when each insect got sucked in. I think for next time I'll make some kin…
I've used a shop vac as a first step, but if it's the only step, won't the queen survive and make more wasps? Unless you left it running for so long the queen starved to death, I mean. My current approach is to wait until after dark, then fill up the nest entrance with spray foam (while wearing a beekeeper suit, just to be safe). I don't think that would work for walls, though - they'd probably find another way out.
I see a lot of advice being given in these comments, and I find it a little alarming that my own preference hasn't got a mention. Just leave them be? I've had plenty of wasp nests in sheds, roof spaces, garages etc and never had a problem peacefully coexisting with them. Almost everyone I've spoken to about it shares this sentiment, and generally wouldn't do anything about it unless it was in an especially risky loca…
Wasps nest under the eaves of houses all the time. If they're not near an entryway, usually people leave them alone as long as the nest stays small.
Yellow jackets do not nest under the eaves of a house. They burrow in the ground (or walls) where you can't see them or the nest size. They're also particularly aggressive and will swarm if you step on their nest.
YJs are more aggressive and territorial than a normal "wasp" with the added bonus of sometimes they just swarm you out of nowhere.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why didn't he just move it to another place? Hornets are a threatened species.
Which hornets are threatened? The only hornets news I hear is that they're invasive and killing pollinators.
That said even though they're not particularly aggressive, I don't know anyone who would just leave a nest on their property.
I see a lot of advice being given in these comments, and I find it a little alarming that my own preference hasn't got a mention. Just leave them be? I've had plenty of wasp nests in sheds, roof spaces, garages etc and never had a problem peacefully coexisting with them. Almost everyone I've spoken to about it shares this sentiment, and generally wouldn't do anything about it unless it was in an especially risky loca…
Maybe you have friendlier wasps in the UK, but the common ones in the US (yellowjackets, mud daubers, etc.) are generally very aggressive, and trying to coexist with them will end badly sooner or later. I'm vegetarian because of personal ethics. I safely capture and release spiders I find in the house. I use live traps for mice and rats, and release them in the woods. But most wasps here are on my "nip the problem in…
I see a lot of advice being given in these comments, and I find it a little alarming that my own preference hasn't got a mention. Just leave them be? I've had plenty of wasp nests in sheds, roof spaces, garages etc and never had a problem peacefully coexisting with them. Almost everyone I've spoken to about it shares this sentiment, and generally wouldn't do anything about it unless it was in an especially risky loca…
Maybe you have friendlier wasps in the UK, but the common ones in the US (yellowjackets, mud daubers, etc.) are generally very aggressive, and trying to coexist with them will end badly sooner or later. I'm vegetarian because of personal ethics. I safely capture and release spiders I find in the house. I use live traps for mice and rats, and release them in the woods. But most wasps here are on my "nip the problem in…
I just vacuumed up a bee hive that had taken residence in my siding. Just rigged up my shop vac at the entrance and left it on.
Bees or yellowjacket wasps? The first are pretty much "live and let live" the second turn into aggressive starving balls of winged hate in the late summer and early fall. Bees make honey and pollinate - yellowjacket wasps may remove some pests from the environment, but otherwise bring pain and suffering to the unwary.
For people that don’t know, regular wasps always leave in the face of danger to the nest. If you have the typical small nest, the easiest thing you can do is hit it fast with a broom or similar. They will all disappear in seconds. I’ve seen my dad do it a lot of times with his bare hands, never got stung. But if you pass by the nest enough times, you’ll be. Another good solution is fire. A blow torch with a wide flam…
Soapy water is unreasonably effective. Water alone is not. The soap makes the water extra clingy and does a pretty rapid job of incapacitating insects. Then killing them. I've taken out individual wasps this way, but not a whole nest.
I tend to use a shop vacuum to get rid of undesirable wasp nests. Fill the tank with a few litres of water so the victims have something to drown in, point the tube at the nest entry or whatever entry the wasps use and switch it on for an hour or so. As soon as there is some disturbance most of the resident wasps will exit the nest to defend it so you'll get the resident population in only a few minutes. Keep the vac…
I do this as well, but put in about an inch of water with a few drops of dish soap. Instant wasp kryptonite. I have a few extension tubes so I can just lean it up against the house and watch as they are sucked in coming in or out. It is absolutely hypnotizing. It won't kill an entire nest late in the season, but will knock down their numbers so that they aren't as prevalent.
This summer, we had a white-faced hornet nest, in a bush, a few feet from our front door, so it had to go. Normally, hornets are great. They are nowhere near as aggressive as yellowjackets (unless you mess with the nest), and they eat yellowjackets, so you either have hornets or yellowjackets, but not both (but they also eat bees, so people who want to encourage pollinators, need to discourage them). But that low on…
What I don't have good luck with is the nests built high up since I'm afraid of heights