Wasps, invisible at the beginning of the summer season, become intrusive and aggressive in August. They are attracted by the delicious smells spreading from the ripe fruit and berry harvest. They are also partial to fish and meat products. It is necessary to figure out how to remove a wasp nest from the site in order to avoid the imminent danger in the form of painful bites and possible allergic reactions.
Striped flying insects not only spoil sweet, juicy fruits, but also fiercely defend their territory. Wasps are capable of attacking nearby people and pets for no reason, seeing them as potential enemies. It is imperative to get rid of an unpleasant neighborhood. Let's look at this process step by step.
Read: 10 simple and quick ways to get rid of wasps in your dacha
Step 7: What to do next with an empty wasp nest if there is any left
Even an empty wasp’s nest must be removed, not to mention one where there are still inhabitants. A house that is found empty (for example, in winter) or freed from wasps must be placed in a strong and durable sealed bag so that surviving wasps cannot escape (even if they are not visible, it is better to be safe).
Then the nest should be set on fire, simply burned, taken outside (if it was in a building) - this is the most effective way to get rid of the remaining insects and their home. After all, sometimes some particularly tenacious and vicious individuals can come to their senses and seriously bite. And the surviving queen will become the ancestor of a new aspen colony and everything will start all over again.
The dangers of a wasp neighborhood
The proximity of a wasp hive to housing is fraught with a number of dangers. First of all, there is the risk of being stung, which can be fatal for people with an acute allergic reaction. But even in the absence of allergies, those stung will experience unpleasant sensations - pain, itching, burning, swelling and redness. In addition, wasps can act as carriers of infectious diseases, so it is unwise to tolerate such a neighborhood.
Before taking radical measures and choosing a method of fighting insects, you need to get to know them better, study their habits and behavior patterns. Determining the type of pest can help with this.
The most common type of insect is paper wasps. They are distinguished by their large size, yellow-black color and aggressiveness.
In the vast expanses of our country, paper wasps are found predominantly. The insects have a yellow body with black stripes and long legs, and build large paper nests with easily visible honeycombs. They arrange their housing in inaccessible and well-protected places - on eaves, under the roof of a barn or garage, where it is not visible. Wasps rarely attack first and only sting when threatened. However, the bite of such an insect is painful and can be dangerous.
Repellent
The destruction of wasps in a dacha does not always involve exterminating them; you can scare away a family and force them to move. The location of the nest in the depths of the garden, at the end of the vegetable garden, does not require emergency action; their presence on the site does more good than harm. To do this, you need to know what to be afraid of wasps.
On a note!
Wasps destroy a huge colony of agricultural pests by feeding them to their larvae. They ensure thorough pollination of crops, which significantly increases productivity.
You can get rid of wild wasps in your area with a strong odor. The nest is watered with flammable substances - kerosene, gasoline, machine oil. Or lay out a soaked rag nearby. Insects do not like the smell of herring; they throw the head of a fish at them.
Bunches of peppermint, wild rosemary, and elderberry are hung in the attic of the dacha. A decoction of these herbs is periodically wiped across window sills, window frames, and doorways.
Don't underestimate your enemy
When declaring war on wasps, you should first take care of your own safety . Their bites are really dangerous for humans, so do not forget that after a bite the wasp does not lose its sting, so it can attack many times. Those who have experience dealing with aggressive individuals are advised to wear a large amount of loose clothing. But most of all, you will protect yourself if you wear protective beekeeper overalls. In addition to a protective suit, take a good flashlight, because wasps most often build their nests in dark attics or unlit corners. You will need a constant light source, so it is better to mount the flashlight on a stationary vertical surface.
If the subject of the fight is ground wasps, how to get rid of it: keep buckets of earth ready, with which, if necessary, you can fill the nest and, if danger arises, leave the battlefield, in order to avoid being chased by a train consisting of a swarm of wasps.
Prepare an allergy medicine and ice , which will come to your aid in case of bites. A tourniquet, which will be required to be applied above the bite site to suck out the wasp venom, will also not hurt. This is done in cases of severe allergies to avoid anaphylactic shock.
Get some neighbors to help you. You will need a companion to carry the weapon, as well as a person who can provide first aid in case of a bite. For example, if a severe allergic reaction occurs in the form of confusion, dizziness, a sharp decrease in blood pressure, or even suffocation. Think carefully about all your escape routes in case of an unsuccessful battle.
Fire
Fire will do an excellent job of destroying a nest, but you should not use this method if the nest is located indoors or near wooden structures, plants, or gasoline storage areas. But if it is a hive of earth wasps or a nest in a stone niche, the burning method is indispensable.
An alternative method is poisoning insects with smoke. Place a barbecue under the nest and light a fire in it - the smoke should rise into the hive within 2-3 hours. After this, remove the empty wasp shelter and burn it.
Professional insecticides
The preparations are used in special cases for spraying the walls of a house in a summer cottage, garden plot, country house, and outbuildings outside. The concentrates are extremely toxic and retain their properties for up to 20 days in the absence of heavy rains. The maximum effect lasts 2 hours. Spray the walls, window sills, porch, balcony.
Professional insecticides for wasps
Important!
The solution is prepared immediately before use. Dilute the drug in cold water according to the instructions. During work, you need to use a respirator, rubber gloves, and a protective suit. If the poison gets into the respiratory tract, it can cause poisoning of varying degrees of severity.
The concentrated solution is also used for spraying the nest, pouring it into cracks in the floor or wall. Odorless drugs are added to the bait - Delta Zone, Lambda Zone. Products are purchased in specialized stores and ordered online. Cost from 300 rub. for a small bottle.
Effective means:
- Executioner;
- Tetrix;
- Get;
- Sinuzan;
- Cucaracha;
- Diazinon.
The products are harmful to all insects. In addition to flies, horseflies, wasps, and hornets, beneficial creatures are also killed. Application must be justified.
Precautionary measures
Removal of a wasp nest must be carried out in compliance with the following precautions:
- Protective (thick) clothing is required.
- Gloves will be required.
- To protect your eyes - glasses.
- Covering your face is a must.
A pesticide spray for treating protective clothing is a product that will enhance protection. Even if you are not allergic to wasp stings, you need to be on the safe side .
It is also important to consider where exactly the nest is located, and how safe it will be to use certain methods of influence. It is especially important to choose elimination methods for nests located on housing and wooden buildings.
Before using chemicals, you must study the instructions for the specific drug, including the safety precautions.
Ways to combat wasp colonies
The nest is not always located in a visible place. More often you have to look for it throughout the area. Depending on where it is found, a remedy against wasp nests is selected. A common option is to build a dwelling in the ground. A practical way to get rid of paper honeycombs is to burn them. About a liter of flammable liquid (gasoline or kerosene) is poured into the hole where striped predators live, then set on fire. To avoid getting burned, you should make a small path of gasoline along which the fire will reach the nest.
Burning is one of the most effective methods, but it is not always possible to implement it. In some cases, there is a risk of trees or nearby buildings catching fire. An alternative to fire will be water. The dwelling of earth wasps is filled with two buckets of boiling water. A building found in a hollow cannot be burned or flooded. Insecticides will come to the rescue again. The concentrate is dissolved in water and poured into the hollow. The entrance is tightly plugged with a cloth impregnated with the same composition.
The structure of winged architects can be located on a tree branch. In this situation, there is no better way than to smoke out the hornet's nest. A fire with damp branches is built under it. It is necessary to place it so that the smoke goes to the honeycomb. Wasps do not like the smell of smoke; after a few hours, all adults will fly away. At this time, the structure can be knocked down. There will be larvae and pupae inside, which should be burned.
Soap solution
Pour warm water into a spray bottle and add liquid soap to it - the more of it, the richer and more effective the product will be. Shake the container thoroughly until a thick foam forms, then begin processing.
Spray the nest, the surface around it and the places where wasps are most often found with soapy water. The deeper the product penetrates into the hive, the greater the likelihood of completely getting rid of uninvited guests. It may happen that all insects die in one treatment, but if this does not happen, the procedure should be repeated.
Appearance
What do wasps make their nest from? Bees produce wax, thanks to which they build their houses. Wasps do not have such abilities, but they have jaws that can detach pieces of wood and chew them. With the help of their saliva secreted during this process, they process this material into a thin plate, resembling paper in appearance. From the resulting raw materials, the wasps already form their home, first constructing honeycomb cells, and then wrapping them in a wrapper resembling a cocoon. To see how insects make a nest, you need to watch them for several days.
What does a wasp's nest look like? At the first stages, its appearance is similar to a honeycomb, and then they become overgrown with numerous walls and are more reminiscent of a cocoon with a hole from which they can fly out and fly in. What else do they build a hive from? What materials can they use? Wasps can use not only pieces of wood, but also dry leaves, transforming plant stems into the walls of their house.
Safety precautions
A hive under a roof.
You need to understand that any contact with wasps is potentially dangerous. Therefore, before moving on to a fair fight, you need to take into account a number of nuances:
- Choose a safe method to prepare everything in advance and avoid distractions.
- Keep everyone safe: warn neighbors, lock up and remove pets.
- Choose the time - at night the animals are less active, and it is better to postpone the destruction to autumn or early spring.
- Do not touch single birds before cleaning the nest - they can transmit a danger signal.
Traps
Simple homemade traps will help you exterminate wasps in your dacha yourself or reduce their numbers. They are prepared from plastic bottles of different capacities. Cut off the neck, insert it inside like a watering can, and secure it with staples, adhesive tape, and tape. A cord and wire are threaded at the top so that you can hang it in any convenient place.
Bait, not necessarily poisonous, is poured inside. It can be lemonade, compote, jam with water, syrup, juice, bubbling yeast, kvass. Insects freely climb inside, but get out through the small neck of the unit.
On a note!
Over the course of a day, several dozen pests enter the bottle. The trap is used against wasps in the country house, under the roof, in the attic, in the garden, anywhere.
What to do with prisoners is an individual decision. You can fill it with water, throw the bottle into the fire, sprinkle it with an insecticidal preparation, or release it into the wild away from your own property.
Recommendations
For effective processing, the following points should be taken into account:
- Mechanical methods of destruction are among the most effective.
- Using protective equipment will help you avoid wasp bites.
- Knowing the exact location of the nest is necessary for the highest quality processing.
The use of any of the methods is possible only under strict control of the situation. This is especially important when using the fire burning method.- The situation with wasps can get out of control and even become dangerous if it is not dealt with in time.
In a colony there can be not only hundreds, but thousands of individuals that can cause serious harm and pose a danger (spreading diseases, spoiling tree fruits, a high probability of attacking humans). - With the onset of cold weather, the wasp's nest becomes empty, and it can be safely removed and thrown away.
- You should not let your guard down when dealing with even dead wasps, as their sting can still pose a threat to humans.
- After the wasp nest has been removed, the area in which it was located must be treated with pesticides to prevent the wasps from returning in the future.
You cannot simply knock down an active wasp nest with a stick, as the angry insects will rush to attack and begin to sting.
Methods for getting rid of insects
There are three important steps to getting rid of a wasp nest:
- Search for insect habitats.
- Choosing a control method.
- Prepare and implement recommended safety measures.
Finding a wasp's nest is not always easy and can turn into a real quest. Insects build homes in inaccessible places, protected from the sun and human eyes. Mostly this is the attic of a barn or house, garage, niches under slate, gaps between the wall and peeling upholstery. In local areas, they can make nests in the trunks of old trees. Such caution of insects causes difficulties in finding their abode, but bait will help cope with the task:
- Leave a piece of fish or meat in a visible place.
- Wasps, sensing the smell of food, will fly in to eat.
- Watch where the insects fly after they feed. This will reveal the hive or the path to it.
Wasps build evidence in hidden places that are not visible to humans. This makes it difficult to find the nest in order to destroy it
A variety of methods are used to destroy a wasp's home. Their choice depends on the location and size of the home. In this case, preference should be given to safe and simple methods, taking into account the risks and characteristics of each.
Before you start destroying a wasp nest yourself, make sure there is no allergic reaction. A simple test from an allergist will help you do this. Many people who have experienced bites are aware of the individual reaction of the body and can independently assess the degree of risk. If you have allergies, seek help from special services.
The site of the wasp sting becomes swollen and red, itching and pain appear. In the presence of an acute allergic reaction, Quincke's edema is possible, which can be fatal.
Once you are sure that you are not allergic, do not neglect the means of protection to avoid bites or minimize their number:
- put on a special protective suit (thick clothing), gloves, boots;
- wrap your face in a scarf and put on glasses;
- Spray clothing with pesticide or insecticidal spray.
Carry out the operation to destroy a wasp nest at night. At this time, individuals are less active.
Mechanical methods of influence
The most effective way to get rid of a wasp nest is its mechanical destruction. This option is possible only if you know the exact location of the home and have access to it.
Burning out with fire
The easiest way to get rid of wasps is to burn the nest. However, such an event carries a risk of fire, so this method is not acceptable in residential or commercial buildings.
To destroy a wasp hive with fire, pour it with a flammable mixture and set it on fire. From a weak fire, some individuals can get out and attack, so the flame should be quite intense. Due to the porous structure and characteristics of the building material, the hive burns out instantly. It is important to ensure that the flame does not spread to buildings, trees or dried grass.
It is recommended to burn wasp nests located away from buildings with fire to avoid the spread of flames and the occurrence of a fire.
Destruction by water
Water will help get rid of a wasp nest under the roof. Operation procedure:
- Fill a full bucket of water.
- Press it against the ceiling so that the entire nest is under water.
- Support the container with sticks or a ladder to keep it static.
- Soak the hive in water for a day to ensure that all its inhabitants are drowned.
This method is not suitable if there are holes between the bucket and the ceiling through which insects can fly out.
Wasp traps
If the nest is inaccessible and cannot be reached, use special traps. This method does not require much effort or financial investment, but it will take a lot of time to remove all the insects.
A trap with sweet bait will help you catch single wasps left after the nest is destroyed.
The procedure for making and using a trap:
- Cut the plastic bottle in half.
- Pour beer or sweet syrup into the lower part, filling the container 1/3 full.
- Insert the second part with the neck inward.
- Place the trap in the insect's habitat. Attracted by the aroma of the bait, the insects will get inside the container and will not be able to get out.
- Periodically clean the trap and renew the bait.
Chemical methods of wasp control
To destroy the wasp's home and its inhabitants, insecticides are used - poisonous substances designed to combat insects. They will help get rid of a wasp nest in a hard-to-reach place, destroying the entire population. There are several ways to carry out bullying.
How to effectively get rid of a wasp family:
- Purchase an insecticide and prepare a solution based on it according to the instructions.
- Pour the prepared mixture into a plastic bag. Prepare the tape.
- Place the bag over the nest and secure it carefully with tape. Act quickly and carefully.
- Leave the wasp's home in this form for 2-4 days. If after the allotted time no buzzing is heard, the bag and the remains of the wasp’s home can be disposed of.
Do not destroy single wasps that have flown out of the nest. When they die, they release a special toxin that stimulates other insects to attack.
Poisoned Bait
Procedure for using bait:
- Pour beer or sour jam into the container.
- Add a few grams of insecticide and mix well.
- Leave the bait in a visible place, but make sure that it is not accessible to children, pets or birds.
- Renew the bait regularly until the last inhabitants of the nest and its queen disappear.
Follow safety precautions when using insecticides. Do not use the product near children or pets and keep them away from the treatment area for at least 24 hours. Destroy dead wasps to prevent pets from eating the poisoned insect and becoming poisoned.
Aerosols
To kill insects, use pesticides or insecticides in aerosol form. Before using the product, read the instructions and take safety precautions.
Procedure for using pesticides:
- Direct the aerosol stream at the nest and spray for 15 seconds.
- Leave the home for a day for the active substances to take effect.
- After 24 hours, assess the condition of the hive - if there is increased activity near it, repeat the treatment.
- If there is no activity, knock down the wasp's home with a stick and burn it along with the surviving wasps.
A pest control service will help you quickly, safely and effectively get rid of a wasp hive. The help of special services is especially relevant if it is impossible to get to the nest, and you cannot endure such a neighborhood and situation.
Folk remedy for getting rid of a wasp's nest
Dishwashing detergent will help you get rid of wasps safely and without harm to yourself. A soap solution getting on the wings of insects interferes with their active movement and soon leads to death.
Processing procedure:
- Prepare a soap solution from dishwashing detergent and water in a ratio of 1:4, stir well.
- Pour the resulting product into a spray bottle and spray the nest on all sides for 15 seconds.
- Repeat the procedure several times at intervals of 4-6 hours until all wasps are destroyed.
A concentrated soap solution, which settles on the wings of insects and interferes with their movement, will help get rid of wasps.
Chemical and folk remedies, as well as mechanical methods, will help you get rid of a wasp nest at home. After destroying a home, take care to prevent its reappearance. To do this, clear out the clutter in the attic and throw away things you haven't used for a long time. At least once a year, do a good cleaning and wipe down the wooden structures, seal the cracks, and strengthen the upholstery on the walls. Remember, it is easier to prevent a problem than to look for ways to solve it.
How to prevent the appearance?
Eliminating an established wasp colony is very difficult. To prevent this problem from occurring again, you need to remember the following preventive measures:
- Starting in spring, it is necessary to inspect the places that wasps like to use for nesting - balconies, gazebos in the garden, sheds, a place under the roof of a residential building, etc.
- Unused building materials and debris remaining after repair work must be removed, since such places are often favored by wasps.
- If there are gaps in the cladding of a balcony or outbuildings, they need to be sealed.
- Food waste should be disposed of in containers with a lid.
- Fruits that fall in the garden should be removed promptly. Otherwise, they will serve as food for wasps and help attract them.
