Wasps in the outbuilding

[Hutch]

And I ain't talkin' about Episcopalians, neither.  I noticed a couple of them last weekend, as I was trying to restore some semblance of order amongst all the stuff.  It's suffered some termite damage, and is not bank vault tight, on the best day it ever had.

All that said, I've never seen it like was today.  I blundered into the outbuilding, toting a very heavy box.  I was about to ope said box and distribute the contents appropriately on the shelves, when my balding head got bumped by a flying critter.  I reflexively waved it away, and the I noticed that I'm in a 11x17 room with dozens of the little bastards.  I UA the AO to the single entrance door, and watch with dismay as it appears that there is muy grande problemo.

I will scout the exterior of the building at dusk, looking for obvious nests.  I'm familiar with standard wasp and hornet spray treatments of under-eave nests in the evening, but my view of the circumstances leads me to believe I'll have to treat inside the building.  It has a low ceiling, covered by insulation above.  There's a 2'x4' removable panel to permit access into the "attic".

How do I kill these pests?  Does an aerosol bomb work on wasps?  One in the main room, one in the "attic"?

[wmenorr67]

First read this as in the outhouse.

Then I saw the size and thought that would be bigger than a two-holer.

As a solution to your problem, kill it with detcord and start over.

[lupinus]

Fire. Burn it to the ground, watch with glee as the bastards dies, build new shed.


Sent from my iPhone. Freaking autocorrect.

[Brad Johnson]

Bug bomb. Forty or fifty of them. Maybe some gasoline. And detcord.

Brad

[230RN]

Did  you actually get stung?

Some wasps are fairly benign and don't start stinging unless you get them really upset.

[KD5NRH]

I've had some fun with a beekeeper hood, a can of starter fluid and a lighter.

Those had already stung me, though, so burning their wings off  and letting the chickens deal with them seemed like good revenge.

[HankB]

You MAY need to call in the military . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Bo2ro60ro

[RoadKingLarry]

Lift off and nuke the site from high orbit, it's the only way to be sure.

[brimic]

Put hornet nest in box to get honey!

[Firethorn]

I've had some fun with a beekeeper hood, a can of starter fluid and a lighter.

Those had already stung me, though, so burning their wings off  and letting the chickens deal with them seemed like good revenge.

I bet the chickens were happy.  Darn things are descended from velociraptors or some such...

[230RN]

You MAY need to call in the military . . .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_Bo2ro60ro

Kind of an interesting "buddy rest."  Don't know why he'd need it with a flamethrower, but is anything like that used in our military for more accurate shooting?

(Sorry about the mis-spelling in the pic title.)

[Hutch]

Burning that building would be... exciting.   In the interest of OpSec, I would never reveal the location of the magazine.

So.... A flea bomb? 

[bedlamite]

http://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-fly-swatter-40122.html

[K Frame]

You may want to go professional on this. They could be nesting above the insulation, or they could be nesting in the attic. Without knowing exactly where, there's a good chance bombing them won't do a thing for you.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

If you can find a single opening a running shop vac can contain critters as they emerge. A few good sprays in said vac settles em down.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

[zxcvbob]

Since burn the bitch down and detcord have already been mentioned...

Go back in there *carefully* at night with a flashlight.  See if you can find the nest.  If not, check out the outside of the building in the daytime when they are active to see if you can find the hole where they go in and out.

You want to use an insecticide dust.  Sevin is probably good enough.  Throw a big pinch of it on the nest or in their access hole.  They will get it on their feet and contaminate the nest.  I've killed big underground yellowjacket nests (one was under a sidewalk where a tree root lifted it up) this way.

The key is using dust instead of spray.

[lupinus]

Burning that building would be... exciting.   In the interest of OpSec, I would never reveal the location of the magazine.

So.... A flea bomb? 

Well good. Makes it more certain to get all the little bastards.


Sent from my iPhone. Freaking autocorrect.

[Hutch]

You may want to go professional on this. They could be nesting above the insulation, or they could be nesting in the attic. Without knowing exactly where, there's a good chance bombing them won't do a thing for you.

SWMBO has also suggested this.  Thus shall it be, and may God condemn to perdition.

[230RN]

http://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-fly-swatter-40122.html

Got one of those just to look at the circuitry and how they put the grids together.

Really awkward to use, especially in the house.  Almost as destructive as a cat chasing a moth.  Table lamps, knick-knacks beware.

Terry

[brimic]

Got one of those just to look at the circuitry and how they put the grids together.

Really awkward to use, especially in the house.  Almost as destructive as a cat chasing a moth.  Table lamps, knick-knacks beware.

Terry

I got one for my birthday a few years ago. Its amusing as it is satisfying to use!
The same god that gave us irritating pests gave us a brain to figure out entertaining to eliminate those pests with extreme prejudice. The do work on hornets, but it takes them a bit longer to die a burning crispy death, little bastards deserve it.

[AmbulanceDriver]

I got one for my birthday a few years ago. Its amusing as it is satisfying to use!
The same god that gave us irritating pests gave us a brain to figure out entertaining to eliminate those pests with extreme prejudice. The do work on hornets, but it takes them a bit longer to die a burning crispy death, little bastards deserve it.

reminds me of this doohicky

http://bugasalt.com/

[230RN]

reminds me of this doohicky

http://bugasalt.com/

My objection to that is that I don't like the idea of salt being distributed anywhere near guns.

Just paranoid about salt near ironish materials.  

In the house I use a spray bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol. Knocks 'em down, then I pick them up with a tissue and discard them.

Muzzle (or nozzle) velocity is low, so you've gotta lead them a lot in flight.  If just sitting, you have to really sneak up on them.

Nice thing about most spray bottles is they have adjustable "chokes" for either a stream or a spray.  :)

[AmbulanceDriver]

My objection to that is that I don't like the idea of salt being distributed anywhere near guns.

Just paranoid about salt near ironish materials. 

In the house I use a spray bottle of 91% isopropyl alcohol. Knocks 'em down, then I pick them up with a tissue and discard them.

Muzzle (or nozzle) velocity is low, so you've gotta lead them a lot in flight.  If just sitting, you have to really sneak up on them.

Nice thing about most spray bottles is they have adjustable "chokes" for either a stream or a spray.  :)

OOOH.... I like this idea....

[230RN]

^  Takes a little practice and development of technique, though.  Look up fly vision to understand how they see things.  They also prefer tan or dark yellow things and tend to roost at night on vertical things.

And they are fast in flight.

Nice thing about the spray is it's relatively harmless.  But don't experiment with lighting the spray on fire without extreme caution. "Beware of your target and what lies beyond."

I got to be kind of an expert on fly behavior since I once raised horses.

'Nuff said.

[MechAg94]

I like the idea of waiting until dusk or night to look.  You could just try to go up to the door in daylight but stay low and see if you can see a nest under the eaves or just inside the door.  These are not killer bees or anything.  Move slow and easy and keep your eyes open.  Or you could just get a book and a chair and wait around until you see them flying in or out. 

If you can figure where the nest is, WalMart and Lowes sell "insect fogger" spray cans that kill wasps.  Walmart has a "Camp Fogger" in the camping section that will work.  They don't have long range, but can affect a large area especially if you can't get a direct line of fire or it is enclosed.  If you see the nest and have a direct line of sight, the 20 foot wasp killer sprays will generally drop them almost immediately. 

My guess would be the nest isn't that large yet.  I got bumped once while mowing.  There were 8 or 10 black paper wasps trying to make a nest in a cavity on my house.  I only saw 2 or 3, but several more came out when I started spraying. 

My generally rule is move slow and easy then stand still when you actually spray with as much distance as practical.  They tend to attack movement when irritated.  If you can stay around a corner or something even better. 

Of course, if these are the big wasps that nest by the hundreds, I don't know if any of my advice really helps.