Wasp control?

[twstanley]

Does the collective wisdom of this board have any thoughts on controlling wasps? I can't find any nests under the eaves or around our house, but we always seem to have wasps hovering about, which drives my wife indoors as she is uncomfortable ( nearly terrified ) around them....

I have used a wasp trap in the past, it didn't catch many.

I put some gutter covers on in the last year or so, I am starting to wonder if they are nesting up underneath the gutter covers....I was banging on the gutters yesterday ( with a broom on a long handle ) to see if I could locate a nest under there by watching for them coming out after being disturbed, but I didn't have any luck. There is an old unused wood burning stove stack that has a screen around it, but the screen has large squares so they could be getting in there and nesting I suppose.

[Pat]

twstanley, You can get wasp and hornet spray in aersol cans. It has a special long range nozzle that shoots way out over 10 feet in a stream not a mist and with practice you get pretty good. While this is not a total solution, it sure feels good.

My wife too is afraid of anything resembling a wasp or hornet or mud dauber or... I swat them out of the air with my bare hand and either step on them or it barefoot quickly thump them in the head. Never got stung doing this for years but you got to be quick.

Not cost effective but it would be fun to buy a high powered green laser pointer (hundreds of $ or over a thousand for top of the line) to use to shoot the buggers with. The more powerful green laser pointers will pop a dark baloon or burn a hole in a black garbage sack. I suspect it could severely damage a flying insect. Light colored objects are not damaged as they reflect the beam.

I.m not sure about the optics of the compound eye and how it would handle a laser hit but smoking a body part should do the trick.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]