iaink

I just use those cans of spray foam to seal the entrance from a safe distance, then spray any that are returning from outside for a while, and then spray the foam into the (sealed) entrance to kill off the nest.

Wouldnt surprise me if the landlord does the same thing.

Is the hole they are using close to the ground and accessible then.


I was laying sod in our ditch at the weekend after the township dug it out, and stepped on a nest in the ground without realising it till I got stung I reaped my horrible revenge on the little buggers from afar. Its not a big drama. Found a nest in the cavity of the garage wall last month...

Jerseygirl

Do you notice the wasps coming to the pool for water?

We always have problems with wasp nests in the summer. It seems any surface on the outside of the house that gives them shelter they will start to build a nest. Any gap and they will get inside and build a nest. This summer due to the bad weather and being away from home...we haven't taken the cover off the pool. We've not had any problems with wasps this year.

A friend had wasps coming through a small hole in one of the bedroom walls. Although they were coming and going from the outside of the house they'd chewed their way through from the cavity wall into the room.

G77

The entrance to the nest is half way up the wall to the house through an old hole that was left by a previous cable installation. Sealing the hole from the outside is a very bad idea as they already have been in the house a couple of times - so they must have some kind of idea how to get in here, trapping them in there would only accelerate this no doubt and they'd find their way into the house

Not noticed them drinking from the pool - I doubt chlorine does them too much good

Jerseygirl

lol Yeah you would think it would kill them wouldn't you. We normally have a constant stream of the little buggers settling on the surface of the pool for a few minutes.

Greenhill

I used one of those wasp jet cans the other week (different brand but similar product). Really good if you can see the nest or you know you can hit it. The nest I found was somewhere behind a fascia board on the porch, I tried spraying the stuff in through the gap (and in the process soaked the area around their access point). But it didn't really work out that well.

That night, after dark, I just went back and pumped a load of caulking into the hole. A couple of nights later I did the same to a smaller hole after I spotted one or two coming in and out.

I definitely think the expanding spray foam would have been a lot better, I just didn't have a can handy but that stuff sticks to anything and soon hardens, a long quick squirt at night to seal the access points, kill most of the wasps and seal the rest of the in should do the trick

dinger24

Still say get the professionals in!
However in the UK you can get powder stuff and you blow this in the entrance this kills them, block the hole a couple of days later!
If you dont like them then offer the teenager down the street a few bucks

They do have a habit of returning to the same vicinity each year! So personally I would get out in the autum and have a day looking for likely entrances etc and fill them in!

Water by the pool - its not them drinking from the pool (huh! how dumb!) Its the Pina Collades they like

G77

They don't seem to sell the powder stuff here - we used that in the UK in a similar situation (got the next door neighbour to do it ) - that sorted them out.....

In hindsight I should have filled those holes up (or rather, the landlord should have) during the spring/winter.... This hole goes right through to behind the skirting board I believe, so they're somewhere between the outside wall and the bedroom skirting board....

iaink

You have to be carefull with that stuff, it expands enough that it will rip siding and fascia from the wall, warp window and door frames etc!

The foam spray kills the wasps very fast on contact too, so no time for them to escape by an alternate route if you go in fast enough. It does stink for a while though.

As you say though, you have to have a decent idea where the nest is before you attempt this.

If I was renting Id certainly let the landlord deal with it

G77

He should be around shortly to look at it - what worries me is if he tries to take care of it in his usual cheap manner (can't blame him I suppose) and then dissappears on holiday leaving a few thousand angry wasps

dinger24

Whoop Whoop!
Kill the lil .... bees things a ma boab things . . . .

Em a bit over excited I think!

G77

Landlord has been, says he doesn't think there's any way they can be inside the walls and must be inside the chimney.... Not convinced myself, but he did practically rebuild the house before we moved in....

He's got the foam stuff that Iain linked and is going to spray it in tonight - not overly happy about this, since we're the ones stuck in here and he's going away on holiday, but not sure what I can do about it seeing as it's his house....

Jerseygirl

What's at the bottom of the chimney...a fire...furnace?

G77

A fire that we don't use, that has a flute door that we keep closed. His theory is that the couple that we've found flying around the house somehow made their way through this closed door....

G77

I spoke to the landlord and told him I didn't want to risk it and that I'd pay for it myself to get it done properly.... Someone's coming tomorrow to put the dust down (the stuff you can get off the shelf in the UK) for $85....

Not sure why you can't buy that stuff here - must be a controlled substance

G77

Update on the wasps - the pest guys came yesterday and put the powder stuff around the hole, the wasps seem to have wised up to this and aren't leaving the nest now..... Can hear them going crazy in the walls now - just praying they don't chew their way out