DIY Wasp Spray

[Bookworm]

Your chewing tobacco concoction is absolutely NOT harmless to anything except pests.

It's a nicotinoid (sp?), a nicotine-based poison, and is lethal to almost everything, especially honeybees.
It is suspected to be one of the chief reasons for honeybees disappearing, due to the neurological damage it does. The current theory is that the honeybees get damaged to the extent that they cannot 'remember' where they live, and just fly around until they die.

Please stop using it.

[GRUMPA]

UPDATE,.......

After 4 days of spraying those Mud Daubers the population has decreased to what seems single digits. Now I could be exaggerating on the numbers here, but if I didn't get at least 250 of those goobers I would be surprised. Right now I'm getting the newly hatched ones that haven't gotten there full color yet.

I spent a good part of a couple of afternoons with spray bottle in hand standing in front of the truck. The trucks we park with the hoods open, and.....they thought that all those nooks and crannies were just for them, they thought wrong.

I watered yesterday, had a few, fully mature come into the tree well area, and although they got pelted with the home brew they flew off never to return.

There was mention of just using the soap and water, hate to say it but that just doesn't work, I tried.

Something in that Peppermint oil is the key to making it work.

Found out that Tomato leaves don't much care to be sprayed, they just wither and die in 3 days. So I'll need to remember that for next year.

Funny how mother nature works, the local Lizards almost follow me around. It kills flies too and when I go after the wasps I get some flies in the process.

I've almost gone through the first little bottle of Peppermint oil, but I ordered more for the remainder of the year and a couple more for just a little bit more than what it costs me for the first bottle, and I ordered a 4oz bottle this time.

[w5pv]

A fly swat works well also

[XDROB]

A fly swat works well also

Not when you have a swarm of hornets after you. And they will chase you way past their normal boundaries. At that point all I see is a frantic person waving the swatter around their head while running away.

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[OS OK]

I wish someone would come up with a homegrown solution for the dreaded 'star thistle' all I have that works every time is pulling them by hand.

[dualsport]

I hate wasps and will go out of my way to kill them. I got swarmed as a kid by the big black ones that live in the ground. Over a hundred bites/stings (?). I'm still getting even. Now I'm looking for a way to kill regular yellow jackets (wasps, not meat bees) that have invaded my lawn. I was going to go with a spray of malathion but you guys got me thinking of a better way to go. I do not want to harm the worms down there. Lawn spray with Dawn solution?

[Soundguy]

clove oil works as well.

[Blackwater]

Interesting thread. As a kid, I learned early on that shooting the nests of wasps with my BB gun got you stung pretty regularly, so .... I finally quit. I was a slow learner, but thought it was tremendously funny when I shot the nest, and it finally fell down. I kept them in the freezer for fish bait (excellent bait for panfish and cats!). But after being stung enough, I finally decided I needed to change techniques. They seemed to always build their nests in places where I wanted to go, and stood a risk of being stung, like by the ladder to the upstairs part of our old hay barn, etc. So there was an ongoing war between me and these pesky (and STRONG!) wasps. I finally got a small cupful of gasoline, and eased up near enough to be certain (relatively, at least) of my aim, and I'd throw the cup at the nest, and it'd kill them on contact. A .44 mag. couldn't have killed them any faster. But occasionally, the splash didn't reach one or two, and I'd have to race for all I was worth to not get stung. Apparently, they kind'a resent having gas thrown on them! As a kid, this was great fun, and a good challenge to not get stung (a battle I sometimes lost), and I'd never heard of Dawn being a wasp killer. The peppermint oil must not agree with them, like gasoline??? But insects CAN be very fragile if you find the right stuff to cast upon them.

Thanks for the tip. You don't really want to throw gasoline in some places, like on your house, etc. This is one I'll try to remember. It's "wasp season" here right now, and may need to use it. Need to get some peppermint oil, though. I'll be looking for it next trip to town.

[725]

Just an aside for the nicotine users: At work I was occasionally called upon kill dangerous dogs, injured animals, etc. We injected nicotine via syringe or "capture dart" fired from a rifle. It was an almost instant death. We loved it, but it was as dangerous as all get out. Once command figured out how evil nicotine can be, they took it away from us. The 12 ga. with bird shot was safer, by far. Even in downtown Baltimore, we "dispatched" a variety of things with the 12 ga. and didn't have to worry about much unintended stuff. That capture dart was like a poorly aimed torpedo. Kind of went where you wanted it to, and packed a real lethal punch wherever it ended up.

[tommag]

I came home today to accidently discover the yellow jackets had built a nest under the siding by my door. They bit me 3 times. I think I showed great bravery and stoicism as I calmly somersaulted and cartwheeled across the street! No time for homemade sprays. I continued to the store and bought a can of spray. We had a truce for several years, but that truce was broken today.

[starbits]

Many years ago we had a swimming pool that the wasps used as a watering hole. One day Dad decided to clean the tiles at the water level. The tile cleaner was lethal on the wasps. In two days Dad filled a large garbage can half full of wasps.

Starbits

[10-x]

Away from flamables , a can of starter fluid and bic lighter works.

[XDROB]

Believe it or not, but Windex will kill bees and wasps pretty quick. It evaporates so quick it brings their body temp down so fast they don't survive.

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[Boolit_Head]

Away from flamables , a can of starter fluid and bic lighter works.

At least it's satisfying...

[gon2shoot]

OK, we have LOTs of red wasp. The wife is allergic and was stung twice last week, about $250 each doctors visit.
I made up some of your concoction and went to war. A good solid hit worked well (I always hit them again after they went down, I'm not squemish about overkill) but my cheapie spray bottle lost the trigger return spring very fast. I grabbed a pump up spray bottle, 1 1/2 gal. and went on the attack with an "assualt" bug killer.

[Hannibal]

UPDATE,.......

After 4 days of spraying those Mud Daubers the population has decreased to what seems single digits. Now I could be exaggerating on the numbers here, but if I didn't get at least 250 of those goobers I would be surprised. Right now I'm getting the newly hatched ones that haven't gotten there full color yet.

I spent a good part of a couple of afternoons with spray bottle in hand standing in front of the truck. The trucks we park with the hoods open, and.....they thought that all those nooks and crannies were just for them, they thought wrong.

I watered yesterday, had a few, fully mature come into the tree well area, and although they got pelted with the home brew they flew off never to return.

There was mention of just using the soap and water, hate to say it but that just doesn't work, I tried.

Something in that Peppermint oil is the key to making it work.

Found out that Tomato leaves don't much care to be sprayed, they just wither and die in 3 days. So I'll need to remember that for next year.

Funny how mother nature works, the local Lizards almost follow me around. It kills flies too and when I go after the wasps I get some flies in the process.

I've almost gone through the first little bottle of Peppermint oil, but I ordered more for the remainder of the year and a couple more for just a little bit more than what it costs me for the first bottle, and I ordered a 4oz bottle this time.

Pardon me if I've missed it, but WHERE are you finding Peppermint Oil? Peppermint Extract is everywhere I look. Peppermint Oil is rare as Hen's teeth around here.

[Finster101]

Be careful with peppermint extract or oil as it will burn rather well.

[Hannibal]

Indeed. The bottle of extract is 91% alcohol and 9% Peppermint oil, according to the label.

[snowwolfe]

I didnt understand the original post. How much Dawn liquid do you mix with 16 ounces of water?

Good timing. Had a small nest forming next to the front door so hosed it down. Later in the day was looking at the .22 rifle I keep in the workshop ready to go and thought hmmmmm.......
Grabbed a flash light and opened the action, dang barrel was packed shut. Went to our other garage and grabbed the 10/22 off the wall and same thing. After cleaning them both will tape the muzzles shut with black tape. Next I checked the pee hole on my outboard and it was also plugged!

[Grmps]

Mischocyttarus flavitarsis Paper Wasps

People give these and bees a bad reputation. I have lived and worked around these most of my life, taken nests down with a hammer, worked with my face inches away from their nest, had them land and crawl on me multiple times. I have never been stung by a wasp! I was bit by one once, that did get my attention.


Hornets and yellow jackets are a whole different story.