Wasps are not pests anyone wants in or around their home. Whether red wasps, yellow jackets, paper wasps, or other species, these pests can go from annoying you to harming you, hence the need to get rid of them before they do any damage. So, if you’re thinking about how to keep wasps away, you’ve found yourself the perfect article to help out.
When trying to keep wasps away or get rid of them, many options are available. You can ensure you block all areas where the pests can nest to keep them away. You can also remove items that may attract them. However, if wasps are already in your home, you can opt for traps or scents to drive them away.
Rest assured, this article will give you all the details you need to learn what keeps wasp away from the house and outside the home. Ride along with us!
We can’t talk about how to keep wasps away from your house without acknowledging questions such as; What smell do wasps hate? What do wasps hate? Below, we will discuss how to repel wasps.
Pests have a habit of nesting between tiny cracks in the home. When you cover such gaps, you make your home inhabitable to the pests. Check your eaves, the areas around your vents, the mortar between the bricks, and other areas that might have cracks. Ensure that you cover all cracks or gaps you see within your home. Silicone caulk works like magic in this case.
Moreover, we recommend doing the sealing in late fall—when most worker wasps are dead—or early spring before nests are active. That’s how to keep wasps from building nests and how to keep wasps away from house.
If you find wasps inside your home while checking for cracks, do not make the mistake of sealing in the nest. No, they won’t die as you might have thought. Instead, the pests will find a way out. You solve the problem only by destroying the nests.
Besides, ensure that you detect the nests early. The best time is early spring—the period the queen wakes up and begins building a nest to lay her eggs. When you detect the wasps’ nests early, before they become well-developed, you can easily get rid of them.
There are various tools you can use to destroy the nests. The PT Wasp & Hornet Killer Freeze II is a good example. This spray can travel 15 feet, so you can safely stay far away from the wasps’ nest when applying it. The formula’s quick action means the pests won’t have any chance of stinging you.
Wasp foggers are another alternative that exterminates the pests. Luckily, you don’t need to look too hard to find the best wasp foggers.
As we suggested in our introduction, wasps are not only found indoors; they also terrorize the outside of homes. If you want to know how to keep wasps away from porch, how to keep wasps away from deck, how to keep wasps away from pool, or how to keep wasps away from balcony, this section has you covered.
One of the most effective ways to keep wasps away outside is by setting traps for them. These pests like protein, and you can use that against them. Place a strip of raw meat or chicken leg on a wasp trap. This kind of trap will not only drive the wasps away but also trap them and kill them. That’s how to keep wasps away from swing set and other household items.
Besides, you can choose from many traps on the market. If you’re wondering how to keep yellow jackets away, the JT Oakes Advantage Yellow Traps seem to be a perfect choice, according to most reviews. This trap, made with break-resistant, durable, molded plastic, effectively targets the Common, German, Southern, and Eastern Yellow Jackets.
Wasps are naturally attracted to food. So, you should not leave your food open at your picnic or cookout. Cover it with mesh lids or net. Also, do your best to cover open cans because they attract wasps. Apart from edible food, leftovers attract wasps.
Even the University of Hampshire Cooperative Extension believes
that wasps may plague yards
Trusted Source
Controlling Wasps, Bees and Hornets Around Your Home
Wasp encounters can be painful, even life-threatening, for a few highly sensitive people. Yet some New Hampshire species are not very aggressive and they also serve as valuable predators of soft-bodied insects. A hands-off policy might be better for some situations, while others might require careful, direct action. The choice you make
should depend on the species and situation.
extension.unh.edu
with plenty of food, such as dropped fruit, open recycling bins, and exposed garbage. Therefore, ensure that you always dispose of your trash properly and keep a tight lid on your trash bin. Additionally, don’t keep waste bins near seating areas.
Moreover, storing pet food outside the house makes sense, but that’s not entirely safe since the feed has strong scents. These scents draw wasps close, causing a pest problem.
So, if you’re thinking about how to keep wasps away from hummingbird feeders, for example, the best move is to remove pet food dishes from outside. That’s how to keep wasps away from car and how to keep wasps away from security cameras and other outdoor objects.
If you don’t want the hassle of preparing a wasp killer mixture or buying a trap, you should learn how to keep wasps away naturally. While some plants attract wasps for their sweetness, others drive the pests away with their natural scents.
So, what scent do wasps hate? They hate the smell of wasp repellent plants such as citronella, lemongrass, mint, and spearmint. Thankfully, these plants need little maintenance to grow, making them effective options to keep wasps away from your property.
Or you can put used coffee grounds around the deck – they work as natural fertilizer and can repel insects:
Wasps are not the only menace around the house; bees can create a hostile environment for you and your family. Therefore, this section will discuss how to deter bees and wasps.
If you’ve never thought about how to keep bees and wasps away with peppermint oil, now is the time to give it a real thought.
Peppermint oil is a natural insect repellent, and it works well against wasps too.
Whether you’re about how to keep red wasps away or how to keep paper wasps away, soap and water blend is an effective solution. Pour the mixture of soap and water into a spray bottle. Then, spray the locations of wasp nests. The solution will clog the spiracles—pores on the body of wasps—of the pests, effectively suffocating them to death.
A study in the Journal of Pest Management Science Trusted Source Essential oils and their compositions as spatial repellents for pestiferous social wasps These repellent essential oils and their active compositions have great potential for efficient, environmentally sound semiochemical-based IPM of pestiferous vespid wasps. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov found a combination of clove, lemongrass, and geranium essential oils to repel wasps effectively. Hence, you can deploy the oil blend to deter bees and wasps.
Wasp sprays are excellent weapons against bees and wasps because they’re formulated to target a wide variety of target species. In fact, you can easily buy wasp sprays. However, you can opt for a DIY spray if you don’t want the expenses. Pour a cup of warm water and two drops of liquid dish soap into a spray bottle.
Then, add two drops of each of the essential oils we mentioned in the previous section. Gently shake the mixture and spritz it around the places you find wasps. Reapply hourly for the best results.
According to Healthline, a wasp’s stinger contains venom and can trigger severe allergic reactions Trusted Source Wasp Sting: Reaction Symptoms, Treatments, and Remedies Wasp stings can be uncomfortable, but most people recover quickly and without complications. Unlike bees, which can sting only once, wasps can sting multiple times. The sting typically causes sharp pain or burning, followed by a raised welt. Learn about common treatment options and signs of severe allergic reactions. www.healthline.com such as swelling of the face, itching, dizziness, breathing difficulties, lightheadedness, diarrhea, loss of consciousness, etc. Therefore, they are not pests you want to have around your home.
It’s a good thing that this article has explored various ways you can get rid of wasps indoors and outdoors. These methods range from prevention to treatment. As we already advised, the best time to get rid of the pests is in early spring, when they’re the most vulnerable. It’s even better to prevent their presence by making your home inhabitable for them. Conclusively, we hope that this article has given you the necessary information on how to keep wasps away.
