How do you deal with wasps in your house?

[McElroy]

Become the wasp. Be the wasp.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

my mother was nearly killed by a swarm of them just repeatedly attacking her, and getting stuck in her hair.

This happened to me too. For months after whenever I would try to physically exert myself my muscles would seize up and sting. Little bastards really beat the shit out of me.

If 1 gets in my house I mostly just do my best to make it easy for them to get out again. If they prove too stupid to leave I have to smush them.

 

[RedRockRun]

move

 

[Padwolf]

Wasps and spiders can't get me if I have my windows shut all the time! Muahahahahahahaa (who am I kidding spiders still get me)

I never really wasps in my house to be honest. But if you are getting them almost daily, it sounds like you have a nest or something somewhere. Best call an exterminator.

Or burn your house down. There is no inbetween.

 

[maninahat]

I usually open the door and waft them out of it. People get really stupid around wasps. It is very very unlikely an adult will get themselves stung, and yet will run around with bits of paper, trying to stop one wasp as though their life depended on it. I usually ignore them, as long as they don't buzz too loudly or go after what I'm eating.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Having witnessed a striking display of it recently at my parents' house, I would say your best bet is to take out the source. If there's that many wasps around, they must have a nest somewhere nearby if you look around. Hopefully it's not up in a tree.

Last week, my parents noticed a small wasp nest that had been built in one of their windows when they weren't looking. I was there visiting when my dad brought out a heavy-duty raid can (with proper protective equipment of course) and sprayed the nest down with it. It only took about 5 seconds of spraying before dead wasps started tumbling out. There had to be at least 10 of them, and none of them even got close to him.

Granted, my dad is a brave guy who likes doing things hands-on even if they could be dangerous, and that nest was still in its early stages, so if that prospect is too scary for you I would hire a professional. You can also buy sticky traps that attract them with a sweet smell, but that won't get rid of the nest.

 

[sageoftruth]

Tennis racket

I'm starting to relive some high school tennis team moments from this post. I love how they just go flying across the planet at cartoonish speeds when you land a hit.

 

[sageoftruth]

This is the only sensible solution.

No, don't panic. Flapping your arms at them and trying to move away will only annoy them. If a wasp flies right up in your face, stay still, let it inspect you until it has decided that it can't eat/mate/make a home of you and it will go away. Its hard to do at first, but once you get used to it, it gets easier.

Of course, at first it might feel a bit like this:

 

[Clankenbeard]

Every day I wake up, there's a 70% chance I'll see a wasp(s) floating around my house, either on a doorway or being a dick by flying from one side of the house to the other.

Are you my daughter? I have long dealt with the occasional wasp in the house. For me, here in a Texas summer, I may get 2-3 a month like this. My daughter does indeed wig out until I chase it down with whatever flyswatter or magazine is handy.

They like to build nests in high corners and are always poking around building roofs and doorways. I've removed 4 or 5 nests in progress in the upper corner of my back door frame. I suspect that they get into my home because they are landed in a door corner, checking it out for a possible nest location, when somebody opens the door. In the USA, exterior doors always open inwards.

My advice would be to always look along the top of your entry door before you open it to go inside. This isn't possible if you opening from the inside. But, maybe you can cut down 50% of the rogue entries.

 

[Tanis]

Put up a few fake nests filled with water/poison.
It's worked to keep them away from the house to start.

Also: There's many a spray that will kill on contact.

 

[TechNoFear]

I used to get a lot of paper wasps in the eves on my back patio, right next to my clothes line.

One morning I got some underwear from the line and put it on to find it contained a wasp, neither of us was happy about sharing those undies. Not as bad as the redback spider I found in my doona cover.

I now use a surface insecticide spray where the wasps used to nest and on door frames / window sills, re-applying it every few months, to ensure no more undie surprises...

 

[Addendum_Forthcoming]

I'd stare at it for a while. If nothing changes, I move out.

 

[Gethsemani_v1legacy]

Annoying problem isn't it? Luckily there are a few easy solutions, so here goes:
* Start listening to black metal, preferably with heavy satanistic or sadistic overtones. They can't stand that shit.
* Convert to a really out there pseudo-religion. Satanism (the LaVey kind) or norse paganism get those suckers straight up into a bind.
* Befriend some ethnic gang members. Nothing freaks them out like having a bunch of latinos in their living room flashing gang signs and calling everyone cabron and ese.
* Start cooking meth. It will have them on a freak out in no time, both moral and olfactory.

In the olden days going "full homo" was also a good bet, but alas times are a-changing and the WASPs have become much more tolerant to this approach. But with the four tips above, I can assure you that you'll have those White Anglo-Saxon Protestants out of your house in no time.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I tried a more zen approach, I tried to catch them with chopsticks. Then I got repeatedly stung. Zen went out the window, and a can of fly spray with a lighter is my new Happy Place.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Generally, I don't. If it's only a single wasp or a few of them looking for food, I'll gladly share my apples, pears and whatever is on hand with them. I also usually cut away a bit of steak for them to tuck into so they don't feel the need to get on our plates, which has worked just fine all my life.

If they were to build their home inside our walls, that's overstepping and it will be handled with smoke first. If they don't get the signal right and start looking for a new home, I'll gladly tear the wall down, set it on fire, nuke it from orbit and start from scratch. Don't get me wrong - I love and adore wasps, but they're just not too cool around pets and kids. Very cool to police the garden, though. They're like tiny, flying Rottweilers. I like that.

 

[Jadak]

Just swat them like I would a fly, no big deal.

 

[BarkBarker]

Protective wear and electricity. Can't fly very far when you've been burned alive can you.....cunts.

 

[Poetic Nova]

Supress a panic attack (phobia for insects are never fun), and yet stil trying to deal with them the best I can.
Last time this actually happend, it had flown straight into a ceiling lamp and it fried itself because it couldn't get out.

 

[dragoongfa]

If wasps wander around often then it means that they have a nest nearby. Try to find the nest(s), wasps like to build their nests right below hanging edges. Then use a fair amount of potent bug spray on the nest.

Burning the nest doesn't work in my experience, unless you fully torch it they will rebuild it. Spraying the buggers takes care of them for good.

 

[BeerTent]

Every day I wake up, there's a 70% chance I'll see a wasp(s) floating around my house, either on a doorway or being a dick by flying from one side of the house to the other.

I'm also terrified of them. I've never been stung personally by a wasp (bees yes) but my mother was nearly killed by a swarm of them just repeatedly attacking her, and getting stuck in her hair.

We live just across the street from some woods and a river, so we get all kinds of obnoxious insects in our house, but most of them are easily dealt with because they can be easily captured (or killed, if I have to act fast), but wasps are a no go for me.

My house mate thinks this electric racket that's meant for flies and other minor insects works just fine, but they have to REALLY hold onto that button before the damn wasp stops moving, and I just don't have the confidence to use that thing. Plus, it's not always an option since wasps like to crawl around corner looking for a way out.

I've tried catching them in a container before, but there's the problem of getting a lid on before the bastard flies out and is now thoroughly pissed at you.

so how do you guys deal with them? Are you confident enough to just go squish them, or do you use some kind of bug zapper, or maybe you're crafty enough to catch them.

There's one in my kitchen as we speak, so if I never post again, I starved to death.

Apparently, Page one of this thread has some pretty shit advice. To be fair, most of you are just making jokes, so...

Killing, or angering a wasp causes it to release pheromones that signals some danger is afoot. Not too unlike the "blood call" that some enemies make in games like Xcom, really pisses off the other wasps in the immediate vicinity, and they gain bonuses like increased chance to crit, and increased attacks per turn. Plus, they release the pheromones too. So repeated killings will result in you getting your ass stung. Probably repeatedly.

If there are wasps in your house, they're getting in somewhere. Start looking for either a nest (They prefer to keep moderately close to a nest) or a way into your house that is not the front door. If you find a hole, plug that shit up with some puddy. If you find a nest INSIDE your house, call an exterminator. If it's a big-ish nest outside of your house, call an exterminator. Putting up a fake nest next to an already established nest will do fucking nothing. (But once the nest is gone, put up a fake nearby, as it's great for warding off the cunts.) If the nest is smaller than your fist, you can destroy it in one fell swoop with a 2x4 or some other plank. But you'd best fucking make sure you destroy it in one hit, so don't try if the plank feels awkward.

Good luck.