The appearance of a wasp in an apartment evokes various emotions, from horror and panic to the practical interest of a novice entomologist. One individual flying in in search of food is not worth worrying about. You can catch it or wait until it flies away on its own. The problem occurs when the queen makes a nest in or near the apartment. A growing colony will become a threat to people; in some cases, it will be necessary to involve specialists in exterminating insects.
How insects get into an apartment
In summer and autumn, at any time you can find a striped guest in the apartment. She can get into the room in various ways:
- through an open window or vent;
- fly into an open door;
- crawl through the crack of the window frame;
- get through the ventilation duct from the attic;
- if the nest is located on the facade, its inhabitants gnaw passages in the wall.
If a wasp flies into the house in the spring, then it is a queen looking for a place for a nest. One insect easily hides from the eyes of residents and builds a house for its family somewhere in a secluded place.
Attention. Insects often settle in the drawers of the lifting mechanisms of roller blinds or blinds.
The queen feeds her larvae with flies and food scraps from the table. Until the first generation grows up in June, uninvited neighbors do not attract attention. Having noticed 6-7 adult individuals in the room, you need to find a nest. To do this, you should put bait from pieces of meat or minced meat and watch for insects. You can get rid of the entire colony at once using poisoned food. An insecticide is added to the meat bait and left in the open. Wasps chew food before feeding, they will poison themselves and poison all the larvae.
Attention. If there are animals in the house, it is necessary to place poisonous bait in places inaccessible to them.
There are several reasons why wasps fly into an apartment:
- They are attracted to the smell of food. Do not leave jam, compote, or honey in an open container. Fruits lying on the table or cores in the trash can are also liked by insects.
- One of the reasons is the search for a place for a nest. Females remember the place of their birth and instinctively look for a secluded corner not far from it.
Burning out nests
Do you want to know how to get rid of wasps in your home once and for all? To date, no more effective method has been invented than burning. Wasps make their home from tree bark. In turn, its structure is identical to ordinary cardboard - it will take a few seconds to burn it to the ground. All you need to do is pour gasoline on the hive and set it on fire. At first glance, everything is extremely simple, but only at first glance.
We have already mentioned that it is strictly forbidden to use open fire - in this case the probability of fire is too great. This method is definitely not suitable for cases where the hive is located in the siding of the house, under slate, or in existing cracks. Use it only when there are no flammable objects nearby.
Why you should get rid of wasps
Some people are ready to put up with buzzing neighbors who only occasionally visit the house. A humane position is not always justified; if wasps fly into an apartment, they are a potential threat to the health of its owners.
What dangers do people face?
- The insect bite is very painful, especially children and allergy sufferers. An angry individual can bite several times, because it does not leave a sting in the wound. The affected area turns red, swelling of varying degrees appears. The wound must be treated with an antiseptic (iodine, hydrogen peroxide, calendula tincture).
- Wasps do not hesitate to feed from animal corpses and garbage dumps, and after visiting these places they run over the table and food in the kitchen. They are carriers of intestinal infections that pose a danger to human health.
- Having powerful jaws, insects gnaw holes in fruits lying on the table.
Advice. If wasps often fly into your room, install a mosquito net on the window. It will allow you to ventilate the room, preventing insects from entering it.
Beehive on the territory of the land plot
Wasp hive
To destroy a wasp nest in the ground, several proven methods are used.
- Burning. Douse it with a flammable substance and pour it into the hole of the hole. They use gasoline, kerosene, and motor oil. They set it on fire. Even if not all members of the family are in the hive, they will no longer live there, and the removal of pests will end. Working individuals die within 1-2 months.
- Pouring boiling water. This method can be used to combat a wasp nest in a greenhouse, hotbed, orchard. Pour a bucket of boiled water into the hole. The next day you need to re-fill the wasp's nest. Then destroy. They dig it up, take it out, throw it into the river or burn it. Or they are covered with earth in large quantities to remove entrances and exits.
- You can smoke out a wasp hive with acrid smoke. A regular fire is lit in the immediate vicinity or a piece of rubber is set on fire. It will smolder for a long time, filling the hive with acrid smoke.
- The use of poison. To eliminate a family, poison in powder form is poured into the hole or near the entrance or an insecticide solution is poured. Dusts have a contact-intestinal effect and remain active on the surface for up to one month. The destruction of pests occurs gradually. The family dies out within 1-2 weeks. The solutions last for several days, but they kill the family much faster. The solution is also added to baits, which are placed directly at the entrance.
The product for destroying wasp nests located in an inaccessible place must be odorless so as not to scare away the wasps ahead of time. Effective preparations Clean House in powder form, Lambda Zone, Get, Delta Zone - concentrates for preparing a solution.
Important!
The destruction of wasp nests in the open air should be carried out early in the morning or in the evening. Be sure to be careful. Act clearly and quickly. You should wear protective clothing to avoid becoming a victim and receiving multiple bites.
Ways to destroy a wasp nest
Having discovered the colony house, it is necessary to destroy it. The sooner you do this, the better. The number of inhabitants of the nest is constantly increasing. Depending on the location of the structure, different methods must be used. The general recommendation for any method is to act in the evening or at night, when the wasps are inhibited.
Mechanical
To prevent insects from flying out of the house when it is knocked down, it is necessary to plug the entrance with a piece of fabric. Another way is to pour foam into the hole.
Attention. Before you start destroying a nest, you need to be suitably equipped - cover your hands with gloves, cover your face and neck with a cape, and clothes should be made of thick material.
Boiling water will help remove the wasp house on the balcony. A bucket of hot water is placed under the nest, and then the leg that attaches the structure to the ceiling is cut off. It is better to knock down a nest with a shovel with a long handle. Insects will not be able to get out of the house and will drown in the water. The place where the nest was built should be treated with a wasp repellent liquid.
The most difficult thing to deal with are insects whose refuge is outside, and they make their way into the apartment through gnawed passages. It is recommended to insert an aerosol spray into the holes and treat them thoroughly with poison. You can leave pieces of fabric soaked in insecticide (Karbofos, Aktara). Plaster the passages and also add insecticide to the solution. If the nest on the facade cannot be reached, it is recommended to contact a company specializing in insect extermination.
Chemical
When starting to destroy a wasp nest, it is important to take care of the safety of your household. It is better for them to leave the apartment during insect poisoning measures. The control tactics are as follows: the wasp repellent Dichlorvos, Dr. is sprayed into a thick garbage bag. Klaus, MOSQUITALL. The bag is placed over the nest and left for several hours. During this time, the insects will die from exposure to the poison. The structure can be removed and thrown outside, and the room can be ventilated. In cases where the bag cannot be put on, poison from aerosols is sprayed onto the nest.
Caution is paramount
The main rule to remember is: wherever there is a wasp nest, a person is in danger. He may be bitten for no apparent reason, completely without reason. At best it will be a small bite, at worst it will be numerous bites with an allergic reaction and swelling. In order to get rid of wasps once and for all, it is not enough to simply find the nest and eliminate it, you need to understand the reason for the appearance of uninvited insects on your site. Of course, you can swat away a couple of winged insects with an ordinary fly swatter. But if they have already built a nest on your territory, this is absolutely not enough - you should move on to more serious measures.
Ways to catch insects in the house
What to do if a curious wasp flew into the room? The easiest way to get rid of an annoying neighbor is to beat the insect with a magazine rolled into a tube or a fly swatter. Then carefully (perhaps she is still alive) brush the body onto a piece of paper and throw it out the window. The method is simple, but inhumane. A living creature does not have to be killed; it can be caught and released into the street. There are so many ways to catch a wasp in an apartment.
- The insect itself wants to leave the apartment, so just open the windows and doors and the little guest will fly away to freedom. You shouldn’t push her towards the window, waving your arms. This will be perceived as a threat and the wasp will sting.
- After waiting for the wasp to sit on a table or other flat surface, cover it with a jar. Slide a piece of paper under the container, then turn it over. Now the uninvited guest is trapped, take her outside and open the jar.
- A safe way to get rid of one or more individuals is a homemade trap. To make it you will need a 1.5 liter plastic bottle. It is divided into three parts, the top one is cut off. Bait is placed in the bottle - jam, fermented compote, kvass, beer. The upper part of the container is turned upside down and inserted into the lower one. Wasps, attracted by the smell of sweet food, will crawl into the trap and will not be able to get out.
Attention. People who are allergic to wasp venom should not catch the stinging insect themselves. Get someone to do this for you. For a healthy person, an accidental bite will cause an unpleasant sensation, but for an allergy sufferer, severe swelling or anaphylactic shock.
Stinging insects have no place in the apartment; even one is dangerous. The wasp may hide in food and bite your neck or tongue. Swelling of these organs threatens any person with suffocation. Having noticed a striped guest, it is better to drive it away from the house; if that doesn’t work, just slam it down.
Insecticidal preparations
If you don’t know how to get rid of a swarm of wasps in your home most effectively and safely, pay attention to the universal method. It is based on the use of insecticidal drugs. Currently, they are presented in sufficient assortment and abundance in hardware stores. You can choose any of the following:
- "Delta Zone";
- "Executioner";
- "Karbofos";
- "Diazinon";
- "Tetrix".
These are time-tested, affordable drugs. Recently, a drug such as Aktara has been increasingly used to combat unwanted insects. Its price is slightly higher than the cost of its closest analogues (100 rubles per package of 4 g). But the efficiency is at the highest level. Of course, events require some preparation, primarily informational.
"Delta Zone" and all of the above drugs are available in water-soluble form. All you have to do is strictly follow the instructions on the package. After the miracle remedy is prepared, prepare a thick plastic bag, making sure there are no slits or holes. The size of the package should be identical to the size of the hive. Pour 200 ml of solution diluted in the specified proportion into the bag.
And finally, the most serious and crucial moment - the bag with the solution must be placed as quickly as possible, at the same time carefully placed on the nest, and in such a way that the possibility of wasps getting out is excluded. If the wasp's home is under the roof, then it is better to glue the neck of the bag to it with tape, thereby ensuring better fixation. The package with the hive and all its inhabitants can only be removed after several days. Under no circumstances try to do this right away - then you will have to look for the answer to the question of how to get rid of a swarm of wasps in the house, which will begin to attack all your household members.
To be sure, before removing the bag, move it - if you don’t hear the characteristic buzzing sound, it means the wasps are dead and your goal has been achieved.
Features of life
Ground wasps begin building nests in the spring at the first warming. Some species settle in sandy soil, while others choose dense soil. Females choose a suitable place.
The wasp digs the ground for its burrow with its paws, which it uses to push the soil away like a shovel. Powerful jaws are involved in the work, and wings help break through dense layers. The insect continuously waves them, the air enters special bags on the chest. The muscles contract, and air is pushed from the sacs through special channels to the jaws. They begin to work with such frequency that a depression is formed with a slight touch to the ground.
Insects can settle in a hole abandoned by rodents, in voids under the soil, near roots and dried trees, in an old anthill.
In the underground dwelling, females build honeycombs in the same way as outside. Chewed wood fibers and saliva produce a mass that, when hardened, looks like paper. From it, the queen builds the first 5–10 cells and lays eggs in them. After 1–1.5 months, larvae appear. The female takes care of them, brings protein food to each cell, and she herself feeds on flower nectar. When the larvae turn into adult insects, they are involved in the construction of a nest for new family members, searching for food, guarding and protecting the home.
By the end of summer, the colony of social wasps reaches its maximum size and numbers several thousand worker wasps and heterosexual individuals ready to reproduce. Only fertilized young females overwinter; the remaining members of the colony die.
Solitary species of ground wasps live separately, building small nests or occupying soil voids for reproduction. The female catches a small insect: a spider, a caterpillar, a fly and paralyzes the victim with poison. It lays an egg on its body and hides its prey in a hole. It will be food for the emerging larva, since the wasp does not care for the offspring. She immediately leaves the dungeon and seals the entrance. Young wasps that have grown from larvae emerge independently in the spring.
Dangerous neighborhood
At a summer cottage or in a country house, the harvest of sweet berries and fruits is at risk. The peak of wasp activity occurs in the second half of summer, when the offspring have grown and require food.
Wasps like to live in dry, ventilated places
Ripe berries and fruits, especially grapes, attract wasps with their sweet juice. Insects can cause significant damage to crops. They cause no less damage to apiaries, attracted by the sweet smell of honey. They will not disdain leftover food from the table and garbage, simultaneously transferring germs and pathogenic bacteria from the trash heap.
Wasps can cause significant damage to fruit crops
Wasps are aggressive insects. Having settled next to people, they will protect themselves, their nest and family from potential threats. Bites for no apparent reason are not uncommon, and if you kill one individual or disturb a nest, you may be attacked by a swarm. The sting is painful because the wasp injects venom, causing pain and swelling that does not subside for several days. For those prone to allergies, this can end sadly, even leading to anaphylactic shock. Bites are especially dangerous for children. Wasps cause a lot of trouble and anxiety to farm and domestic animals. Even if the insects are not aggressive, it is impossible to predict at what point they will decide that you pose a threat and launch an attack.
A wasp sting leads to swelling and is dangerous due to allergic reactions.
Folk remedies
Chemicals in concentrated form can harm not only insects, but also humans. Therefore, it is not recommended to use poison in small spaces, and even more so when it is not possible to leave the apartment/house for several days. Folk remedies come to the rescue, tested over the years by our ancestors, who knew a lot about fighting various kinds of pests.
Vinegar has a rather specific smell and insects do not like it very much; as a preventative measure, you can spray curtains, drapes and other textiles with it. Instead of vinegar, you can use a detergent diluted in water: it remains on the wings of insects, the inability to fly leads to inevitable death. You can also make a mint tincture - an old, proven ancient method of fighting insect pests.
If for some reason the above does not suit you, then the most radical and no less cheap way is to call a special service. We are armed with the necessary equipment, protective clothing and experience in this difficult task.
Prevention of occurrence
To prevent wasps from flying in and building nests in the future, you need to follow a few simple rules:
- in late autumn (when there are no more wasps) and early spring (when there are no wasps yet), you need to get rid of old wasp nests. The trace from the removed nest should be disinfected - hydrogen peroxide, a solution of potassium permanganate or insecticides will help;
- do not accumulate spoiled fruit at your dacha or at home;
- Prevent any gaps from appearing in sheds or attics.
Wasps and their nests in the house are, of course, a nuisance, but not such a big problem, because you can easily get rid of these insects. Follow the instructions in our article, choose the means and methods that are right for you, and dangerous wasps will never bother you again.
