topic Re: Wasps in the house in Community Chat

Wasps in the house

gidgetgh — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 22:32:34 GMT

We get wasps in our house every year at this time. For a week or two and then that's usually it for the year. Maybe one or two in late summer. This year though, we seem to have more than usual. We've killed 6 since Saturday and we have one right now that's on the loose somewhere. I live in Atlanta and a few other friends have had them also. If they don't stop soon, I'm going to call an exterminator.

Re: Wasps in the house

sfnative — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:07:59 GMT

You know that cold spray that you use to clean your computer keyboard? You could zap it with that or purchase a small fire extinguisher and blast it with that.

We once had a wasp nest under our second storey deck and the exterminator guy blasted the nest with by turning on a fire extinguisher, which stunned them, then knocked the nest off into a special bag.

Perhaps if you could stun it with cold, as above, you could then take care of it for good.

Re: Wasps in the house

stilltamn8r — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:18:17 GMT

I spray spiders with hairspray-it freezes them up and then

I vacuum them..wonder if it would work on wasps?

Re: Wasps in the house

JustJazzmom — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:24:03 GMT

Check all caulking around windows and doors and any cracks in your foundation and seal them. Check attic and/or roof areas for same (holes in which they are getting inside) and seal or repair holes.

Re: Wasps in the house

gidgetgh — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:30:55 GMT

I've heard of hairspray and Windex. We've been zapping them with big spray. We have a two story great room and most of the time, but not every time, when we first see one, it's at the top of one of the windows, two stories up so we can't get to it. Then we have to watch for it to finally fly somewhere so we can get it. We can't figure out where they're getting in. One minute, there won't be one and the next minute, there he is. We have no idea where the nest is. My husband has some health issues so he really can't go on a detailed hunt outside, other then a cursory look around. We had our house pressure washed and painted last year and I asked the painters to look up by those windows for a hole. They couldn't find one. And when they pressure washed, no water came in there. One of the mysteries of life. My husband thinks they're in the attic and go dormant in the winter and then wake up when it warms up.

Re: Wasps in the house

gidgetgh — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:32:58 GMT

On 3/31/2014 JustJazzmom said:
Check all caulking around windows and doors and any cracks in your foundation and seal them. Check attic and/or roof areas for same (holes in which they are getting inside) and seal or repair holes.

This may be a stupid question, but would an exterminator do that for us?

Re: Wasps in the house

JustJules — Mon, 31 Mar 2014 23:42:41 GMT

On 3/31/2014 stilltamn8r said:
I spray spiders with hairspray-it freezes them up and then

I vacuum them..wonder if it would work on wasps?

It does work on wasps, or any bug for that matter, since on flying insects it freezes their wings (good on flies) or legs. There have been several times we get the big horse-flies and they get in the house, the things are like flying golfballs, and I chase them with my hairspray.

Gidget, we get wasps here too, yellowjackets, hornets, and even mud daubers..those creepy ones with the detached string-type body. Since the weather is warming up I'm sure they will pop up soon. Check around your window sills and roofing eaves for any nests, they can build in the most inconspicuous places. I once found a small wasp nest under out tv satellite dish, but they particularly seem to like corners and overhangs. A few of them always manage to find a way into our home, they fly in when we open the door, or creep in through the crevices I suppose. I saw some news report that bees and wasps are supposed to be more prevalent this summer, something about migration. I always keep a can of wasp killer around to spray on the nests. I'm not allergic thankfully, but they are annoying and I have no desire to get stung.

Re: Wasps in the house

skuggles — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 01:06:45 GMT

On 3/31/2014 JustJazzmom said:
Check all caulking around windows and doors and any cracks in your foundation and seal them. Check attic and/or roof areas for same (holes in which they are getting inside) and seal or repair holes.

I just can't get up on a ladder to do that. I know I have a hole that wasps keep getting into at the junction between the shingles and the fascia board. I call the exterminator, because no one will come to repair the hole for me. The exterminator will come for 200 dollars. It's depressing that you can't find people to do these small jobs anymore. I think they hear "wasp nest" and automatically say no. I have tried getting the exterminator first and waiting for the wasps to disappear, then giving someone a call. Nope.

Re: Wasps in the house

JustJazzmom — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 02:19:58 GMT

On 3/31/2014 gidgetgoeshawaiian said:
On 3/31/2014 JustJazzmom said:
Check all caulking around windows and doors and any cracks in your foundation and seal them. Check attic and/or roof areas for same (holes in which they are getting inside) and seal or repair holes.

This may be a stupid question, but would an exterminator do that for us?

Probably not but a handy man would.

Re: Wasps in the house

JustJazzmom — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 02:22:43 GMT

On 3/31/2014 Jules5280 said:
On 3/31/2014 stilltamn8r said:
I spray spiders with hairspray-it freezes them up and then

I vacuum them..wonder if it would work on wasps?

It does work on wasps, or any bug for that matter, since on flying insects it freezes their wings (good on flies) or legs. There have been several times we get the big horse-flies and they get in the house, the things are like flying golfballs, and I chase them with my hairspray.

Gidget, we get wasps here too, yellowjackets, hornets, and even mud daubers..those creepy ones with the detached string-type body. Since the weather is warming up I'm sure they will pop up soon. Check around your window sills and roofing eaves for any nests, they can build in the most inconspicuous places. I once found a small wasp nest under out tv satellite dish, but they particularly seem to like corners and overhangs. A few of them always manage to find a way into our home, they fly in when we open the door, or creep in through the crevices I suppose. I saw some news report that bees and wasps are supposed to be more prevalent this summer, something about migration. I always keep a can of wasp killer around to spray on the nests. I'm not allergic thankfully, but they are annoying and I have no desire to get stung.

One time when the roof was being redone, the gutters were obviously looked at and inside one of the gutters was a wiffle ball. The ball had fallen just the right way so that the openings were facing into the gutter. A paper wasp had made a nest inside the wiffle ball!! It was sprayed with wasp insect killer and then removed from the gutter. My young son took it into his pre school class for 'show and tell'. I had to assure the teachers that there were no wasps still alive in it and it was just the nest inside a big plastic bag for the kids to look at!

Re: Wasps in the house

MiraclesHappen — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 04:15:03 GMT

Since you live in Atlanta, call Massey Services.

Re: Wasps in the house

CelticCrafter — Tue, 01 Apr 2014 10:03:08 GMT

On 3/31/2014 sfnative said:
You know that cold spray that you use to clean your computer keyboard? You could zap it with that or purchase a small fire extinguisher and blast it with that.

We once had a wasp nest under our second storey deck and the exterminator guy blasted the nest with by turning on a fire extinguisher, which stunned them, then knocked the nest off into a special bag.

Perhaps if you could stun it with cold, as above, you could then take care of it for good.

If they are in the house, don't use the fire extinguisher on them unless you are prepared to spend hours cleaning the mess it will make.

I had to use it once for a small stove fire, just one shot and it sent yellow dust all through the house.....

Re: Wasps in the house

jlkz — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 00:33:03 GMT

Sometimes the bees get in via cracks near outside floodlights too. Check there.

Re: Wasps in the house

RedTop — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 17:43:05 GMT

My thoughts are that you've had the wasps as roommates all winter; they are just coming out of hiding now that the outside temperatures are getting warmer.

Re: Wasps in the house

DoneTryin — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 18:29:59 GMT

Yikes! I once had a wasp caught between the screen & slider on my balcony door; don't know exactly how he got in. I hate killing bugs & usually try to direct them out a window or door, but I couldn't corral this guy so had to hit him with a couple of shots of hairspray. Yuck. Then I had to pull him off the glass with a paper towel & flushed him.

Re: Wasps in the house

gidgetgh — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 22:09:20 GMT

On 4/2/2014 RedTop said:
My thoughts are that you've had the wasps as roommates all winter; they are just coming out of hiding now that the outside temperatures are getting warmer.

My husband thinks they're in the attic and dormant all winter. We go through this every spring for about 2 weeks, but this year has been especially bad. We killed one early this morning that we saw last night. Went all day without another one. Went to the grocery store and when we got home a few minutes ago, we had 3 more. We've killed two of them and one is up too high for us to get it yet.

Re: Wasps in the house

JustJules — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 22:43:26 GMT

On 4/2/2014 gidgetgoeshawaiian said:
On 4/2/2014 RedTop said:
My thoughts are that you've had the wasps as roommates all winter; they are just coming out of hiding now that the outside temperatures are getting warmer.

My husband thinks they're in the attic and dormant all winter. We go through this every spring for about 2 weeks, but this year has been especially bad. We killed one early this morning that we saw last night. Went all day without another one. Went to the grocery store and when we got home a few minutes ago, we had 3 more. We've killed two of them and one is up too high for us to get it yet.

Have you considered getting a bug bomb and setting it off in your attic? They sell different ones, sure they have one for wasps and flying insects. Of course, if you have anything stored in your attic, you would want to cover it up and protect it first, but that might be a solution if you think they are migrating out of your attic.

Re: Wasps in the house

gidgetgh — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 23:59:12 GMT

That's a good idea Jules. We don't have anything in the attic. One of our furnaces is up there, but that's it. We've now had 7 in here just today. My husband doesn't want me to call an exterminator. I know not why.