Wasp spray that works

[SteveB]

It will only help them breathe better.

[Stormin Mormon]

I'm not sure, but they may be some seriously stoned off their asses wasps, now. I didn't really look very closely at the nest entrance. Might be fewer wasps. But no kids got stung, today.

[Stormin Mormon]

Thanks Zoot, thanks Steve. I'll look for the black can stuff at Home Cheepo.

[CWLee]

Where do you send a sick hornet? To the waspital!

(Courtesy of Prairie Home Companion weekly newsletter.)

[Stormin Mormon]

Has to bee a joker in every crowd. I just hive to hear what's nest.

[TimR]

That's what I use too. The dust is good stuff.

For the ones you can see, I use soapy water. Ordinary dish soap mixed

1:15 with water from a spray bottle knocks them down and drowns them faster than anything I've found, and they don't go into a buzzing stinging frenzy as they die. It's safe around kids, pets, and food. (I'd be careful around electrical of course.)

[LouB]

Interesting tips

Thanks

[norminn]

Our Florida lawn had a nasty infestation of some kind of bug, so we checked out U of Fla website for tips. Symptoms were of mole crickets, which has to be one of the ugliest insects around. To be sure, before treating the lawn, they rec. dousing a couple of square feet with a solution of water and dish detergent; if mole crickets present, they would start to drown and come to the surface. Well, it had the same effect on quite a few critters, including earth worms. Change in surface tension? of the water bypasses the bugs' normal defense and drowns them. Interesting experiment for the buggy :o)

[SteveB]

That's what I use too. The dust is good stuff.

For the ones you can see, I use soapy water. Ordinary dish soap mixed

1:15 with water from a spray bottle knocks them down and drowns them faster than anything I've found, and they don't go into a buzzing stinging frenzy as they die. It's safe around kids, pets, and food. (I'd be careful around electrical of course.)

reply:

Two very useful suggestions. Thanks.

Steve

[TimR]

I've had several yellowjacket nests in my yard. I don't know the latin species name, sorry. I call them yellowjackets; they are aggressive colony wasps that live in holes in the ground. I usually find them while mowing, to my sorrow.

I fill a 5 gallon pail with water and some laundry detergent, wait until after dark, and pour it into the nest. It's almost always killed the whole nest the first time, maybe once or twice I've had to repeat it.

[Zootal]

I've been lucky in that I've never found a yellow jacket nest. We get a lot of paper wasps, but those build those hanging umbrella nests. Paper wasps are gentle, so I only remove them if they are near heavily trafficked areas. I found a bald face hornet nest in a tree above my swimming pool (my daughter found it - luckily it was small and she only got stung once), so I had to resort to the spray. Bald face hornets are aggressive bastards if you go near their nest.

Where do you live? I shudder at the thought of running my mower over a yellow jacket nest.

[SteveB]

I ran into a yellow jacket nest a while back, and got five bites. Man, that hurts. But you only feel the hair on your leg or arm tickle a little. Then, BAM, it hits you. Leaves a nice red scab for about two weeks.

I found another nest yesterday, luckily seeing them before I really got close in. There must have been fifty of them. I got a can of spray, and sprayed. Immediately, three came at me. I ran like hell. The second time, I didn't get so close. Spray and run, spray and run. I used a whole can of spray.

That time, I won. XXtreme SW Utah.

Steve

[norminn]

clipped

There have been a few publicized (and tragic) cases of people who died after massive y.j. attacks. One was a small child with hundred of stings who died for lack of medical care afterward. Another, an elderly man mowing his yard. Y.j.'s are the only wasps that PURSUE - and often it is only the vibration of a mower that disturbs a ground nest to get them going. Nasty!

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

They don't exactly have sharp teeth-- more like an alligator clip on steroids.

I'll take a few stings over bites any day. A little baking soda to draw out the poison & it is forgotten in an hour or so.

Jim

[SteveB]

Wish I knew that then. I put some Benadryl cream on it, which helped. A little.

Steve

[SteveB]

Don't they eat with their mouth and sting with their tail?

Ah, yes, here it is.

Steve

[norminn]

clipped

Fortunately, I've never been stung by a wasp.....only honey bees and very small Florida scorpion. All on my feet because I stepped on them. Ice cube for a minute or so takes care of the pain for me. No allergies.

[Jim Elbrecht]

-snip-

OOPs- Brainfart. I conflated their barbless stinger which allows them to sting a few times and a story I read last week about how come horsefly bites hurt so bad.

Some days the noggin is just a jumble of unrelated facts waiting to be used incorrectly.

Jim