wasp nest and Clorox
Lynda Ekins
in her lawn. She has been advised to either buy a specific wasp poison
to place in the hole then cover the hole, or to upend a bottle of Clorox
into the hole and run. I was horrified by the last suggestion and
appealed to her not to do anything so environmentally unsound. In order
to counter the argument of the person who offered this suggestion I need
to be able to give her a scientific argument to use. Can anyone give me
this? Does anyone know of a better way than using a wasp poison to get
rid of the nest? Will plugging up the hole work? Can anything other
than poison be put in the hole so that the wasps abandon it?
Thank you all in advance.
Tony Wallis
| A friend .. a wasp nest underground in her lawn. .. advised .. a specific
| wasp poison, .. or to upend a bottle of Clorox into the hole and run.
| I was horrified by the last suggestion and appealed to her not to do
| than using a wasp poison to get rid of the nest? Will plugging up the hole
| work? Can anything other than poison be put in the hole so that the
| wasps abandon it?
[1] There's no such thing as a "specific wasp poison". Wasps are
insects and can be killed by insecticides. Insecticides vary from
disgustingly nasty organophosphate cholinesterase inhibitors
(basically nerve poisons) e.g. Malathion, to "nice" simple soapy
water.
[2] Chlorox (i.e. bleach) is just one brand of the domestic standard
5-6% solution of sodium hypochlorite. A bottle of it will kill off
the worms, bacteria, etc. as well as the wasps, and probably mess
up the grass nearby for a while. You could probably kill the wasps
by doing the same trick with a used Chlorox bottle filled with
soapy dishwater.
[3] A slowly running hose might be simpler. Just fill the nest cavity
with water and keep it full for a while.
[4] During the day a good fraction of the wasp population will be out
foraging - and will come home ! They will all be home when it gets
dark.
[5] What ever method you use, the probability of one of the entrance guards
"getting" you if you attack the nest is non-zero.
[6] Getting them to abandon the nest and go somewhere else is not as
simple as it sounds. (Beekeepers do sometimes use repellents, but
that just makes the bees pile up outside the hive.)
[7] [DOES NOT APPLY IF YOUNG CHILDREN ARE INVOLVED]
Why not live and let live ? Just stay away from immediate vicinity
of the nest and they won't bother you any more than they bother
people half a mile away. One of my favorite tricks when I see
people going "argh, wasps/bees !" and thrashing their arms around
during a picnic in a park is to walk over to the people, pour a
little pool of sugared soft drink into the palm of my hand and
wait. I soon gather a little circle of wasps/bees on my hand
happily lapping up the "nectar". It makes the point ..
A WASP/BEE FORAGING =/= A WASP/BEE ATTACKING.
However,
SQUASHING THE WASP/BEE == ATTACKING THE WASP/BEE
--
to...@nexus.yorku.ca = Tony Wallis, York University, Toronto, Canada
Bob Daggit
In article <1991Aug22.1...@milton.u.washington.edu> com...@milton.u.washington.edu (Lynda Ekins) writes:
Lynda> Summary: need scientific argument not to use Clorox to get rid of wasp nest
Lynda> A friend has purchased an old house and has found a wasp nest underground
Lynda> in her lawn. She has been advised to either buy a specific wasp poison
Lynda> to place in the hole then cover the hole, or to upend a bottle of Clorox
Lynda> into the hole and run. I was horrified by the last suggestion and
Lynda> appealed to her not to do anything so environmentally unsound. In order
Lynda> to counter the argument of the person who offered this suggestion I need
Lynda> to be able to give her a scientific argument to use. Can anyone give me
Lynda> this? Does anyone know of a better way than using a wasp poison to get
Lynda> rid of the nest? Will plugging up the hole work? Can anything other
Lynda> than poison be put in the hole so that the wasps abandon it?
Lynda> Thank you all in advance.
I think this thing must be kept in perspective. Granted that it would be
nicer not to have to use these toxic chemicals but the tradeoff might be
damaging a few square inches of the environment to prevent the death of
someone due to a wasp sting. "Environmentally sound" methods might be
to bring in a bulldozer and bury the whole mess 6 feet deep OR pour a
dewar of liquid nitrogen into the hole. :-)
Amy McNulty
com...@milton.u.washington.edu (Lynda Ekins) writes:
> in her lawn.
We've never had any underground wasp nests. However, we have found an
environmentally safe way to get rid of the wasp nests hanging from the
underside of the house roof edges, so I thought I'd pass that along in case
anyone's interested. Perhaps this could be modified to get rid of underground
nests too. (Note: All disclaimers apply, since anything you do to aggravate
wasps could potentially cause them to attack you. However, my husband has done
this many times in the past couple of years without being stung.)
The most important thing is to wait until the wasps are dormant before doing
anything to annoy them. They are usually less active after dark; however, the
air temperature is also important. Try to wait for a fairly cool night (maybe
60 degrees F.). Now, turn on the garden hose; use a hose sprayer attachment
with a quick on/off switch built into it, and turn it on full force. Spray the
nest until it starts falling apart; then flip off the hose switch and run like
heck to the inside of the house. (Note: Obviously, make sure there isn't anyone
else standing around nearby before you do this.)
Now you can watch the activity from a safe haven (inside the house). You will
see the wasps buzzing around furiously for a while (probably the remainder of
the evening). Assuming you completely destroyed their nest, they will usually
go build a new nest somewhere else rather than staying in the area where they
were disturbed.
Good luck!
__________________________________________________
Amy McNulty -- Stratus Computer, Marlboro, MA
Gabriel Michael Kraljevic
out. Getting the wasps to *abandon* the nest is not really a good solution
either - they will only become VERY, VERY upset. If you can't live with the
wasps then you should try to destroy them. Although the use of a pesticide
like propoxur is the *surest* way to kill of the wasps, one may try what I
describe as an environmentally safe alternative. I warn you that this may not
work, so be prepared to RUN (8>)!
1) Regardless of which method you use to destroy a wasp nest you should ALWAYS
do it at night. During the day many wasps are foraging for food and will come
back to the nest before nightfall. If they find the nest filled in or
destroyed they will be VERY, VERY upset.
So, step 1 is to wait for nightfall.
2) Get a plastic garbage bag or sheet of poly that can cover a good area
around and over the nest. Also get a garden hose (attached to a water supply)
or a pail of water - 5 gallons or more.
3) Place the plastic over the nest. Warning, even though it's night and the
wasps are relatively inactive, there will be two or three guards at the nest
entrance. Therefore you want to cover the nest quickly and efficiently. Try
to anchor the plastic with sand or dirt around the edges.
4) Worm your garden hose through a hole in the plastic or between the plastic
and the ground into the nest entrance - push it in a few inches. If you're
not attached to a tap, then use a funnel and your pail of water.
5) Let the water into the nest a good rate. Try not to overflow the nest and
disturb your plastic, but make sure that the water pushes wasps down into the
nest. Keep adding water until the nest is full. Leave the sheet (and even the
hose) overnight and check in the morning.
6) Fill the nest again until you see no live wasps.
You may want to wear a beekeeper's veil or similar headgear just in case. Also,
as much as it may be undesirable, have a can of wasp killer pesticide handy.
Propoxur (Baygon) will kill wasps immediately if they come swarming from the
nest.
If you have to run (8>o) run for bushes if possible and make a lot of movement
of branches as you run into them. Wasps are very visually oriented and a lot
of moving branches in your path may fool some of the attackers.
(A small shrub does not constitute "bush" - a thicket or dense underbrush does
give you adequate protection - but keep running until you don't see any wasps!)
If you are trying to get rid of a nest that's in a tree or under an overhang,
a paper nest that's easily visible, wait for evening and with a ladder and
lots of guts, quickly surround the nest with a green garbage bag. Try to seal
the bag around the whole nest. You then cut the branch or pull the nest off
the overhang and get that bag into a barrel of water. I don't advise that
you do this without the use of a pesticide! You'd be better to stream the
spray into the nest entrance as you approach it and douse the interior as you
come right up to it. Then to the baggie trick.
Best of luck (8>).
Gabe
Email Mujahideen
+
+If you are trying to get rid of a nest that's in a tree or under an overhang,
+a paper nest that's easily visible, wait for evening and with a ladder and
+lots of guts, quickly surround the nest with a green garbage bag. Try to seal
+the bag around the whole nest. You then cut the branch or pull the nest off
+the overhang and get that bag into a barrel of water. I don't advise that
+you do this without the use of a pesticide! You'd be better to stream the
+spray into the nest entrance as you approach it and douse the interior as you
+come right up to it. Then to the baggie trick.
Heck, when I was a kid in Oregon we looked for the hanging nests, and
threw big rocks at them to knock them off the tree. Then we rank like
hell. In my older, wiser, and slower days, I'd advise fire or chemical
weapons.
--
Robert Allen, r...@sun.com DISCLAIMER: I said it, not my company.
"Traditionalists often study what is taught, not what there is to create."
- Ed Parker, Grandmaster, American Kenpo.
Dave Platt
> One of my favorite tricks when I see
> people going "argh, wasps/bees !" and thrashing their arms around
> during a picnic in a park is to walk over to the people, pour a
> little pool of sugared soft drink into the palm of my hand and
> wait. I soon gather a little circle of wasps/bees on my hand
> happily lapping up the "nectar". It makes the point ..
> A WASP/BEE FORAGING =/= A WASP/BEE ATTACKING.
> However,
> SQUASHING THE WASP/BEE == ATTACKING THE WASP/BEE
Great story, Tony!
There's a piece of companion advice that I've heard: "Never swat a
yellowjacket." Apparently, these wasps will release a cloud of "alarm
pheromones" if you attack/swat/squash them. This will enrage any other
wasps of the same species who smell the pheromone (nearby, or downwind)
and they will swarm in and attack.
Hence, if you kill one yellowjacket, you'll soon have to kill dozens.
Your chances of getting stung would be quite high, I'd think.
--
Dave Platt VOICE: (415) 813-8917
Domain: dpl...@ntg.com UUCP: ...apple!ntg!dplatt
USNAIL: New Technologies Group Inc. 2468 Embarcardero Way, Palo Alto CA 94303
Thomas Rush
> One of my favorite tricks when I see
> people going "argh, wasps/bees !" and thrashing their arms around
> during a picnic in a park is to walk over to the people, pour a
> little pool of sugared soft drink into the palm of my hand and
> wait. I soon gather a little circle of wasps/bees on my hand
> happily lapping up the "nectar".
And how do yo get them out of your palm... preferably still
happy?
thomas rush uunet!cpqhou!thomasr
compaq computer corporation their employee,
deep in the hearth of texas not their opinions.
Bill Rubin
around our laundry room. First problem is, I'm not really sure what they
were. They didn't really look like bees, they had large bulbous areas for
their rear halves. Anyway, I went into the room well covered and opened an
outside door as well as a window and managed to convince them to leave (my
wife found one on the window later and killed it). Happily, they did not
try to attack me. While outside later, we noticed a bunch of these insects
flying in and out of a small opening in our wood shingles right near where
we had found them outside. Since I was not sure what they were, I didn't
want to spray, and we have not seen them since. First, what are these, and
second, could they be living in our wall? I figure I can seal up the hole,
but do not want to do so while there might be insects living inside it.
-- Bill ru...@watson.ibm.com
Email Mujahideen
+On a similar topic, this weekend my wife found 9 wasp/bee/hornets flying
+around our laundry room. First problem is, I'm not really sure what they
+were. They didn't really look like bees, they had large bulbous areas for
+their rear halves. Anyway, I went into the room well covered and opened an
+outside door as well as a window and managed to convince them to leave (my
+wife found one on the window later and killed it). Happily, they did not
+try to attack me. While outside later, we noticed a bunch of these insects
+flying in and out of a small opening in our wood shingles right near where
+we had found them outside. Since I was not sure what they were, I didn't
+want to spray, and we have not seen them since. First, what are these, and
+second, could they be living in our wall? I figure I can seal up the hole,
+but do not want to do so while there might be insects living inside it.
It sounds like a classic case of wasp, or yellow-jacket, infestation.
Both of these bugs look like lethal bombadiers with their abdomens
hanging down as they fly, unlike honey or bumble bees,w hich fly with
their bodys sort of straight out. Yellow jackets have a bright,
yellow and black "Don't mess with me" colour scheme, while generic `wasps'
often lack much coloration and are dark greenish.
These bugs are much more easily peeved than honey bees, and are much
nastier when they are P.O.'d. They often make their nests in the rafters
of houses, as well as in the walls. Call the Orkin man; don't mess with
them yourself.
Alan J Holmes
>
>In article <1991Aug22.1...@milton.u.washington.edu> com...@milton.u.washington.edu (Lynda Ekins) writes:
>Lynda> Summary: need scientific argument not to use Clorox to get rid of wasp nest
>
>Lynda> A friend has purchased an old house and has found a wasp nest underground
>Lynda> in her lawn. She has been advised to either buy a specific wasp poison
>
>nicer not to have to use these toxic chemicals but the tradeoff might be
>damaging a few square inches of the environment to prevent the death of
>someone due to a wasp sting. "Environmentally sound" methods might be
I have used with great success, a small amount of petrol poured into the
nest late in the evening when all the wasps have gone beddy-byes. I believe
the petrol asphixiates (!spelling) the wasps, certainly there is never
any evidence of the nest surviving. A small amount means about an eggcup
full.
Regards
Alan Holmes
mkrist...@gmail.com
mkrist...@gmail.com
Terry Coombs
... call a pest control place or use the raid - unless you get wild with it
and spray flowering plants you have only a small chance of harming bees .
You might get lucky and find a local beekeeper who will come and remove it
for you . Expect to pay him for his labors .
--
Snag
Hobby beekeeper
4 colonies
in hives .
Tim R
These are social wasps that start with one queen and multiply to about 1500 by late August. They will defend the nest aggressively. If you're not allergic, the lethal dose of venom is around 500 stings, so I take this seriously.
I've tried a number of remedies but have settled on one that works.
I fill a 5 gallon bucket with water and laundry detergent. Note: a household trigger spray bottle with dish soap and water, 1:15 ratio, knocks bees and wasps down instantly. They don't go into a rage and buzz like when you hit them with Raid, they just drop. Anyway, I set the bucket near the nest during the day.
At night I go out and pour the bucket into the hole, NOT STOPPING once I start. Hee, hee. This has never failed; occasionally I've had to do it a second time to finish the job.
A hose alone never seemed to work. I think they know how to survive water, they get rained on, but soapy water wets and drowns them.
I have never been stung doing this. I usually do get stung mowing the lawn when I find the new nest of the year.
Tim R
Terry Coombs
> Oh, and yes I know it's a 15 year old thread. <G>
jackets . I know of no wasps that will nest in the ground . I have seen some
that built a paper nest partly under a rock , but nor under the ground . The
wasps we're most familiar with build a conical paper nest hanging from a
tree or underside of a beam or ceiling .
--
Snag
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney
That's a good tip. Soap, vinegar, baking soda and salt takes the place of a lot of chemicals in the garden. Cheaper too. If I ever have to drown a rat, I add enough laundry detergent to break the surface tension which keeps the fleas from jumping out.
John McGaw
jackets. One of them got me on the back of my left thigh -- straight up the
shorts. Glad it didn't go further and very glad that I'm not allergic.
Probably ten years ago and ten feet away I had the same thing happen and
got stung through my tee and raised a huge painful welt. In both cases I
gave the nests a dose of commercial insecticide straight down the hole.
Fair is fair. If I hadn't gotten stung they wouldn't have gotten poisoned.
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney
Myself, I will pick up a spider in the house and drop him outside and chase off harmless garden varmints, etc. But -- and this is a big butt -- when I see a black widow around the house or a rattler, rat, tick, flea, ... I don't call PETA.
Tim R
> Some feller, maybe a different group.... was going on and on about how he lived near a nest of poisonous snakes, and even though his small children were playing in the same area, he would not kill one.
>
> Myself, I will pick up a spider in the house and drop him outside and chase off harmless garden varmints, etc. But -- and this is a big butt -- when I see a black widow around the house or a rattler, rat, tick, flea, ... I don't call PETA.
Shoot. Shovel. Shut up.
Most people screw up the third one.
Terry Coombs
from his front door , splitting it for firewood this winter . They found 5
adult and 4 baby copperheads ... they're all dead now . If they're out in
the woods , I leave them alone . If they're in my yard , they're dead .
--
Snag
Snuffy "Hub Cap" McKinney
Tim R
They're always on the road scarfing up road kill. But you never see a roadkilled crow.
Here's why.
They always leave one crow up in a tree, to yell "Car! Car! Car!"