409 works good as a wasp killer, if you run out of the raid.

Two things. One, as mentioned, you need protection. From my experience, if they can not smell you they won't sting you. Cover up with plastic and you can get as close as you want with the spray.

Two, if you see them going in and out of a small opening just hang the hose from your vacuum just below the opening. I just drill a small hole in the end of the suction line and fashion a hook from a coat hanger. As they fly in or out they will be vacuumed up. Then put the vacuum hose on the exhaust of your car for 30 minutes at dusk. You'll have a very large number of dead wasps at the end of a day. Repeat as required.

I like that plan, but can you somehow incorporate burning them alive?

Vacuum up a half can of quick start, or a can of propane.

Drop a match down the suction line. Step back.

Ooooh, I like it! Should be a hit on YouTube as well! This might require purchasing several vacuums.

I don't think I'd recommend it with a central vac.

Ian

When we bought the farm we were getting the farm into shape after many years of neglect...wasp and hornets were a constant companion. I even made a holster for Hornet Spray, the big cans.

Wasps build either mud nests or conical nests that they hang from rafters, etc.

They call them Paper Wasps
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Cool thing is they lack numbers and you can drop'em like an ugly women.

Hornets, OTOH, live in these type of condos and scare the living daylights out of me. I cut through one once clearing lines with a chain saw...good thing the truck was only about 10ft away. Cut into one of these and it is ON:eek:

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And don't get me started on ground Yellowjackets.

I hate the damn things. Ever had one fly into your motorcycle helmet when cruising through town with and open shield? Oh yeah, good times. I love killing them as well.

We have two of those yellow hanging things on our trees. One in the front yard, one in the back yard. I empty them about every two weeks, and there are usually at least 30 of em in there. I add more smelly stuff to the cotton, and start catching em again.

About two weeks ago, I was weed eating, and disturbed a nest in the ground, which was wierd, as I hadn't ever see one before. I halued a$$ and got the mower and the spray. I gave em a few minutes to calm down, and then drove the mower over the nest, ohhhh yeeeeeah. I got a bunch of em that way.

ow! I cannot imagine chainsawing into a hornet nest.



BTW - I had a nice stroke of luck last year. Ground wasps had dug a heavily fortified bunker under some tree roots - they must added a U shaped chamber since I was not able to flood it even with a soapy solution.

But that winter the local possum patrol halted their raids on my neighbor's compost pile long enough to dig every one of them out. I'm not a big possum fan, but that did put a little warmth in y heart towards them.

i love possums! they eat all the bad things. i had a family make my snail prob go away. ( i think)
they are ugly, but harmless to us.

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So far so good. No stings yet while scrapping but it is hot as heck!!!

Speedy:)

OMG I look like I am trying out for the leading roll in Power Rangers :)

Speedy:)

I can't believe you are willing to post pictures of yourself dressed like that on the internet. That helmet needs some sort of smoked visor.

OMG, that is funny!
Here is a trick...
Get a propane or mapp gas torch with a trigger ignition (that works every time) and when the little buggers are around, fire torch, melt wings, step on helpless insect.
They are a lot less intimidating when they can't fly...
(One just stung me on a little hike this afternoon!!)

At work in the OR, we use an aerosol adhesive called benzoin. If there's a fly in the OR, one way to dispose of it is to spray the bugger with benzoin (easier and cleaner than smacking it with a rolled up magazine). The wings get all sticky, and the fly transforms into a sitting duck.

85 degrees outside and this is what I looked like inside the suit. I was totally drenched in sweat.



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Your a better man than me... I would call an exterminator... what the he11 am I saying I don't even paint my own house!

When I did air conditioning service wasps loved nesting in the roof top units... nothing like unscrewing an access door and being face to face with a wasp nest and no where to run.

We used to hit them with spray adhesive we carried on out trucks.

Not an option right now but they are almost immobile when it is cold, that is the best time to go wasp hunting, find the nests and smash them with a hammer.

I was test-riding a Buell MC from a dealer in MN. last summer when a bee managed to make it down the back of my collar, (think forward/sport riding position), and sting the **** out of me under my shirt. SOB, that hurt. And it's weird when you're riding a fairly loud bike and get no warning or don't know WTF rolled-up your alley, so to speak. :mad:

Incidentally, I got a pro to knock-down all of the hornet nests at the house and spray the nasty chems where they were. I just happened to see him working down the street and grabbed him. He sprayed something on the nests first that "froze" them, then knocked them down w/ a long extension pole then finally dusted the eve w/ something else.

I let him use my small ladder for a couple of them so he didn't need to pull his off the truck, a bunch of the nasty spray got on my ladder and I got a good whiff of it when I immediately used it afterwards. (Dude was wearing a serious respirator when he sprayed it). I could hear my brain cells popping, it was like a massive hit of modeling glue from back in the old days. Not good. If I start posting as a die-hard Republican and defending "W", while agreeing w/ Mule a lot, that would be the explanation. So far I haven't noticed anything other than a nasty headache when it happened. :cool:

The concensus of this post is to find the best way to kill wasps.
I will go against the concensus (if only for the sake of mindless internet argument).
I like to challenge "reality". Any solid rational will stand up to a challenge if it is based solidly on reason.

Looking at speedracing944's area, there looks to be a lot of wind swept flatland(no low-energy places for incects to hide), and very little flowering plants(no food).
*With little food and shelter, I would expect the insect/animals to be very competative and aggresive in that situation.*

My back yard is the opposite.
I have lots of flowering plants for the insects, and there is little competition. I left several paper wasp's nests alone(for now) in the garage and haven't been stung yet. I reach between bee-laden flowers everyday and they rarely act aggresive towards me.
The point is give them a little food and shelter and the incects will sort themselves out, and protect the area. Kinda like Kabul if it was done right.