With the warm and wonderful weather of summer, come the not so wonderful things: Mowing the lawn, scorching heat, and the always obnoxious and painful wasp! Don’t let those little critters ruin your outdoor fun, take a stance against them and fight back! Here are a few simple and effective ways you can get rid of wasps and take your backyard back!
Fake Nest
Wasps are highly territorial so if they think there is a nest in your backyard already, they will avoid the place! While you can buy fake nests to hang up (that can actually be pretty decorative), you can also make your own if you want. Some people say even hanging a brown paper bag has worked.
Glass Trap
An easy way to get rid of wasps is by buying (or making) glass traps for them. They can actually be used as decoration as well, if you buy the right kind. Just make sure to keep the bait fresh or else the wasps won’t go into the trap.
Soap Spray
Many people just make a water and soap solution that they spray onto the wasp nest. Make a soap solution and use your hose to spray down the hive and the wasps. The soap covers them and kills them rather quickly. Make sure you stand in a strategic spot so you don’t get stung when you spray the nest down!
Plants
Some plants have natural chemicals they release that detract bees and wasps. Use that to your advantage and put some of those plants around your backyard to repel wasps! Some great options are mint, wormwood, citronella, and eucalyptus.
Block Entrances
Some types of wasps like building their hives underground. While this can be obnoxious when you’re out gardening, it actually makes it easier to get rid of them. You can pour hot water down the hole and then block the entrance with a boulder or something else. Or you can just block it off and let the wasps die of starvation. Just remember that most underground nests have multiple entrances, so block them all.
Clean Up
It’s always easier to not attract wasps in the first place then have to deal with them later. Do this by making sure your backyard is clean. Don’t leave any food uncovered (even animal food), and make sure no sugary drinks or foods are left outside. Also, keep your garbage cans closed because the trash attracts wasps as well.
Nighttime
If you decide to remove a nest by yourself (instead of calling professionals), it’s always best to do so at night. The wasps are more dormant at night so their reaction will be slower than it would be during the day.
That “fake nest” is actually a European hornet nest. Hornets are natural wasp enemies, so the wasps tend to look for living areas well away from potential murderers. Works great on European wasps but the North American paper wasps aren’t quite as unhappy about it. If you have an established wasp nest in your yard, they won’t bat an eye at this thing. However if all you’re seeing are a few advance scouts looking to set up shop, you may have good luck hanging one. We are in the US and use these to deter wasps from hanging out around our beehives, and have had fairly good success with them, but have tried hanging one near an existing nest before and it did nothing. The manufacturer will say the same thing as well.