Wasps continue to return time and time because of pheromones. Not only are pheromones a part of their nest, but they’re also likely covering surrounding areas, and getting rid of the nest doesn’t necessarily get rid of the pheromones.
Wasps use pheromones to communicate and as a sort of GPS to hone in on their nest’s location while they’re flying abroad. To eliminate wasps’ desire to return to a specific area, get rid of the nest, and eradicate the lingering pheromones.
How Do I Keep Wasps From Returning?
First, you have to eliminate both the nest and the pheromones. Second, reduce the wasps’ ability to build a nest in the first place.
Getting rid of the pheromones requires little more than soap and water. If it’s a solid surface, scrub the area around where the nest was located to eliminate the pheromones.
Also, eliminate any trash, keep all garbage can lids closed, fill in any holes along the ground—in case you have to deal with ground wasps—remove all sources of food, and generally sanitize any areas that seem to be their favorite spots to nest.
What Attracts Wasps To My House?
Wasps are attracted to safety and security, the same as any animal or human being. They love the underside of eaves, sheds, the underneath of elevated homes and porches, and whatever else they can find to give them that sense of safety.
Wasps are also attracted to flowers as a source of food, rotten wood because it’s easy to use for nest-building supplies, and indoor shelters, such as barns, sheds, garages, or workshops.
How Do I Get Rid Of Wasps Permanently?
While you may be able to stop them from building their nests on your property, you’ll never get rid of wasps permanently—as in, never running into one when you’re on a casual stroll.
There are steps you can take to create a virtual insect meat grinder to kill them as they show up and hopefully, well before they begin gathering nest material.
- Clean Everything: Invest in a pressure washer. Mix mild soap into the water and pressure wash every visible surface that you can.
- Set Traps: Purchase wasp traps—they contain nectar-like attractants that lure in wasps and kill them—and set them throughout your property, especially in areas that are common for wasp nests.
- Treat with Insecticides: Do an annual treatment by spraying down areas that wasps prefer to congregate, like those listed above.
- DIY Wasp Traps: This age-old method still works wonders: Remove the cone-shaped section from the top of a coke bottle. Invert it and stick it back into the base of the bottle. Put sugar or honey on the bottom. The wasps will fly in and can’t get back out.
Does Killing Wasps Attract More?
This one is essentially a myth with a hint of truth. No, killing them doesn’t attract more wasps onto your property, however, the pheromones mentioned earlier certainly will.
Killing a wasp should be like killing a cockroach.
Once you’ve disposed of the dead wasps, clean the area with soap and water. The pheromones they created while they were alive are what attract more, not their dead bodies.
Why Do Wasps Keep Coming To Me?
Wasps are attracted to flowers because of their nectar—a good supply of food for wasps—and the aroma that flowers put off. Wasps like the aroma and it is considered an attractant for them.
If you happen to be wearing cologne, perfume, or some other flowery scent, wasps will be attracted to you as if you were a flower. Worst case scenario, you’re near their nest and they are simply in defense mode.
Defense for a wasp means aggression and aggression means pursuing you until you vacate the area and the threat to their nest and queen is eliminated.
What Is A Natural Way To Get Rid Of Wasps?
Insecticides didn’t always exist but natural remedies are older than time and work pretty effectively. DIY wasp traps and strong-smelling concoctions are great at driving wasps away without resorting to heavy chemicals and the stink that comes with them.
The DIY trap was discussed above but there is another natural remedy that will help as well. Wasps hate peppermint, citronella, spearmint, thyme, and eucalyptus.
You can combine several of these materials and saturate a wasp nest during the night, or very early in the morning, while the wasps are lethargic and largely immobile.
Apple cider vinegar is another natural remedy loathed by wasps. Like the essential oils, mix apple cider vinegar in a 50/50 solution with water and saturate their nests in the early morning hours or at night.
Other Ways To Deter Wasps
Timing and caution are everything. You can use garbage bags to cinch closed over a wasp nest at night, plant flowers that wasps hate, use dryer sheets to force them out, or use sliced cucumber.
Wasps hate the smell of dryer sheets. Placing them in and around objects where they’ve built or currently building a nest will drive them away. Wasps also hate specific flowers.
Some of these flowers are pretty and preferable in a garden so that they kill two birds with one stone. Geranium flowers and scented herbs serve as deterrents as wasps hate the smell.
Sliced cucumbers may not smell as strongly as a jar of pickles, but wasps hate them nonetheless. You can place them all around areas where wasps congregate to effectively drive them out.
Best Insecticides For Driving Away Wasps
Bob Vila recommends Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer. It’s a foaming spray that you can use at a good distance from the nest. It’s especially effective in the evening hours and late at night when wasps are no longer on their guard.
Ortho Home Defense Hornet and Wasp Killer is another good product that attacks the nervous system of the wasp and kills it quickly.
There are a host of methods—both natural and synthetic—to eliminate wasps and keep them from constantly returning to your home. It’s just a matter of being one step ahead of the wasps and preparing accordingly.