Getting rid of Wasp nests.

[damienpryan]

I'm not sure why people think I'm an expert at getting rid of wasps because I'm a bee keeper.
But they don't stop asking!

I got wasps in a hole in the ground next door.
I was thinking of suiting up at night and pouring 3 litres of kerosene down the hole and covering with a wet towel. (Not lighting the kero!).
I don't want to use pesticides while I'm in my bee gear!.

Any other suggestions?

Cheers

Damien

[divemaster1963]

I use a 20 oz coke bottle with gas. Wait till dusk and watch the entrance till there is only one wasp in about 5 mins going in then walk up to it and insert the bottle in the entrance and walk away. They will be all dead in the morning. You don't even need the suit. I had to kill 7 nests this pass summer in the bee yard. In the morning just remove the bottle and seal the hole. If you have a friend that likes to fish the larvae is great bait.

John

[Richard M]

I'm not sure why people think I'm an expert at getting rid of wasps because I'm a bee keeper.
But they don't stop asking!

I got wasps in a hole in the ground next door.
I was thinking of suiting up at night and pouring 3 litres of kerosene down the hole and covering with a wet towel. (Not lighting the kero!).
I don't want to use pesticides while I'm in my bee gear!.

Any other suggestions?

Cheers

Damien

Hi Damien,

Yes Kerosene is the way to go.

Make sure you revisit after a few days as it isn't always effective if parts of the nest are in a void which is elevated and not effectively impacted by the vapour cloud.

Kero is better than petrol (gasoline) as it doesn't vapourise, so is more persistent.

And yes - DON'T light it - there are almost as many people hospitalised through trying to cremate wasp nests each year as there are hospitalised by wasp stings; difference being that wasp stings don't normally need years of skin grafts to fix up.

[max2]

3 litres of Kero? A pretty strong herbicide. have you tried plugging-up the hole and place a sheet of iron on top?

[iddee]

Our ground wasps, IE: yellow jackets, are gone with 8 ounces petrol. Haven't had it fail yet.

[awootton]

Bayer Ant and Wasp Dust ($18 from Bunnings).  Active ingredient is permethrin which is pretty non-toxic to humans.  Couple of good squirts of the powder into the nest entrance and walk away.  I usually wear a veil but probably not necessary.  Wasps carry the powder into the nest on their bodies and that's that.

[Michael Bush]

Soapy water works fine.  Vegetable oil works pretty well.  If it's above ground, spraying with water knocks them down and you can step on them...

[lomatia]

Very bad year for wasps here in Oz.

[Geoff]

  Travelled from Gippsland to Bendigo during the last week. They are here in Latrobe Valley as never before, where we had stop-overs in Melbourne they were around rubbish bins and after bugs on the front of the car and in Bendigo people watching sports events were being harassed by them. When I find a nest here I just go straight up and hit the entrance with Wasp and Ant powder, back off a bit and watch the results.