Go Natural
Organic
wasp control can be achieved via commercial products or tried and true home remedies. No matter the type of wasp you need to exterminate, organic wasp control can do the job. Chemical sprays and foams are also effective and inexpensive, but they come with serious health hazards. With so many natural pest control options available, why not give one a try?
Pest Control from the Kitchen
There are some useful organic pest control remedies that you can make from items found in your kitchen and even your bathroom. When attempting to use any extermination technique on wasps or an active nest, be certain to wear protective clothing. Also know that wasps are less active in the evening, making that the best time to strike.
- Mint Oil: There are organic wasp control products on the shelves that use mint oil as their active ingredient. You can make your own similar concoction by adding one tablespoon of mint oil to a spray bottle filled with water. Make sure your spray bottle will allow you to stand several feet away; then use this green pest control mixture to saturate the nest.
- Detergent: Possibly the simplest and best way to safely exterminate wasps is with liquid detergent. Filling a spray bottle or hose attachment with liquid detergent and then spraying the nest will coat the wasps in a natural pest control solution. The soap keeps the wasps from flying and will eventually get into their systems and suffocate them.
- Beef Liver: While not recommended as a long-term organic wasp control solution, a beef liver trap is a good way to keep wasps away while you are outside enjoying a family cookout. Hang a few pieces of the beef liver in a location far away from guests and place a bowl of soapy water underneath. The wasps will be drawn to the liver, instead of your food, and they will eat from it until they are completely gorged. The wasps then fall into the bowl and are killed.
- Sugar Syrup & Soda Bottle: Another type of organic wasp control trap can be made by placing sugar syrup into a soda bottle. Take a 2-liter bottle and cut off the top about one-third of the way down the bottle. Invert this top piece inside the bottle to look like a funnel. Secure the two pieces together with tape and then put some sugar syrup into the bottle. Hang your trap from a tree or other location and smear a little syrup on the outside to make sure the wasps find the scent. The wasps will funnel into the bottle a get stuck inside. This form of organic wasp control will work best in late-summer when wasps are more likely to be seeking out sweet foods.
Don’t Try this at Home
Some do-it-yourself pest control remedies, while potentially effective, are dangerous to attempt. The following is a short list of wasp removal ideas that are best forgotten.
- Kerosene: Yes, dousing a nest with kerosene and lighting it on fire will kill wasps and definitely destroy the nest. But it could also set your house on fire or seriously injure you or another family member. Plus, the use of kerosene isn’t particularly friendly to the environment.
- Hairspray: Hairspray will work. It sticks to the wings of the wasps and makes it difficult for them to fly. The question is, how difficult? It is likely that a few wasps will escape your Aqua Net attack and take their aggression out on you.
- Cigarette Smoke: The premise behind this method is that you blow cigarette smoke on wasp nest while outside smoking. The smoke chokes the wasps out so you can knock down the nest. This method has a very high failure rate because it is more likely to irritate wasps and send them to attack you.
Green Market
Purchasing an organic pest control product may be the easiest way for you to handle your wasp removal. Any product containing the following ingredients will provide more than adequate natural pest control:
- Mint oil
- D-limonene
- Pyrethrins
Traps and decoys are also available green pest control solutions. The traps work much like the home-made variety, using sugar as the primary bait. Nest decoys are a nice addition to your wasp removal plan because they can help keep new nests from forming. The territorial wasps will see the decoy nest and seek out a friendlier, competitor-free location. These two products may not be as easy to locate in stores, but can be quickly found online.