Category: Pest Control

How to get rid of wasps safely and stop them coming back

Have you found yourself hearing that unnerving buzz flitting around your ear? Seen the glimpse of a skinny yellow-and-black body? It can mean only one thing, it’s wasp season.

Your instant reaction might be to swat the irritant and get back to your BBQ in peace. But if you take any advice away from this piece, do not swat! Not only would it be unfair to these wasps who are actually a great source of gardening help – they’re pollinators and do a great job of controlling aphid. But also, when squashed they release a chemical alarm that signals to other wasps to attack. Not ideal.

So if you dream of enjoying your Pimms in the garden without been harassed by a swarm of wasps, try a few of these tips on how to get rid of wasps, and keep those little yellow-jackets at bay this summer.

Keep your food covered and bin clean

Wasps love nothing more than a good rummage around your bings. Make sure you empty and wash bins regularly, and keeping bins away from windows to avoid attracting wasps into your home.

Grow strong smelling plants

Smells that can be used to discourage wasps from certain areas include tomato stems, fresh mint, ground coffee and cloves,’ says

How to Wasp-Proof Your Backyard This Summer

Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets can put a serious damper on your outdoor fun. And since populations peak in late summer, now’s the time of year when you either deal with them or risk ruining a perfectly good afternoon nursing a seriously nasty welt.

Wasp Prevention

Many flying predators are quite territorial and will not start a new nest within a couple of hundred feet of an existing nest. You can work this to your advantage by hanging a fake wasp’s nest in a visible location early in the season

Early Intervention

In late spring and early summer, keep an eye (and an ear) out for new nests being built anywhere you might not want one: under railings, awnings, play equipment, eaves, overhangs, and in any other sheltered nooks or crannies near family spaces.

Tiny new nests of just a few egg cells can be knocked off right away and stepped on if the queen (the only mobile resident at that time of year) is away foraging. Even slightly larger but still small nests — those with few dozen egg cells — can be knocked off and destroyed using a bit more caution: Pick the coolest part of the day (sunrise is good) and dress in gloves, a high-necked top with long sleeves, long pants tucked into socks, and a head net, if you have access to one, or a kerchief worn snug over your hair.

Sometimes, you can just leave the nest alone. Wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets aren’t totally horrible. The predators hunt grubs, aphids, and houseflies — other pests that annoy at outdoor dinners and in your garden. Most wasps and hornets are generally uninterested in you and not particularly aggressive unless disturbed, and all of them will die come a hard frost or two in the fall; only the queen overwinters to start a brand new nest in the spring. So if the nest is in an out-of-the-way spot, and you don’t have curious pets that might disturb it, leave it alone and let nature take its course.

How to Get Rid of Wasps in Bushes

Wasps often build their nests within the protective cover of bushes or shrubs. As a result, the area around the bush becomes off-limits, because wasps vigorously defend their nests if they think the nest is in danger. Anybody passing by the bush becomes a possible target of painful stings. Get rid of wasps in bushes with a product containing pyrethrin, a natural chemical extracted from pyrethrin daisies. Pyrethrin is fast-acting, less toxic than pesticides and won’t harm the plant.

Inspect the nest from a safe distance during the day. Be sure you know exactly where the nest entrance is, and don’t attempt to spray the wasps if you aren’t sure of the location. Spray the wasps at night or early in the morning when temperatures are cool and most foraging wasps are settled in the nest.

Mix a pyrethrin insect spray concentrate at a rate of 3 to 5 tablespoons of concentrate in 1 gallon of water. Place the mixture in a clean pesticide sprayer. You can also use a premixed, ready-to-use spray. Light the nest safely with a lamp placed on the ground to the back or side of the nest. Never hold a flashlight in your hand, because the light shining in the entrance will agitate the wasps and provoke an attack.

Wear gloves, hat, boots and a bee veil or protective goggles. In addition, wear thick clothing, including long sleeves, sturdy pants and heavy socks. Line the inside of the pants with brown paper bags, and tuck the pants into your socks or boots. Stand at least 12 to 15 feet away from the nest, with the wind at your back. Aim the pyrethrin spray directly at the entrance to the nest. Continue to spray until the nest is saturated.

Things You Will Need

Pyrethrin insect spray

Pesticide sprayer

Lamp

Protective clothing

Brown paper bags

How to Get Rid of Wasps: Learn Everything About Them

Every householder experienced hard times getting rid of wasps in the house or outside. It is unbelievable that these insects appear in your life every spring and summer season.

I’ve tried plenty of wasp control products, including natural and non-chemical sprays and wasp traps. I have tried plenty of methods on how to deal with wasps and discovered TOP insect killers that will help you get rid of wasps outside and inside your house.

Besides, I have examined questions about how to distinguish different types of wasps and how to prevent their return to old nests. Take a look at my detailed guide on wasps and make a deliberate choice of the best killers to destroy these buzzing insects.

Wasps Identification

Probably, you are aware of the appearance of a classic wasp – it is an insect with black and yellow stripes. The length of the body of a wasp can range from 0.6 to 4 inches. There are wasps with four webbed wings as well as there exist wingless wasps.

Wasps Lifecycle

The wasps live two lives, I’d even say. The paradox is that the life cycle of wasps is pretty similar to how bees live. The only difference is about the female wasp. It lives alone in the winter period, then she creates the whole family again.

Get Rid of Wasps in Home & Backyard Using These Steps

Identify the kind of wasp

Before getting rid of the bees, you should know the species you’re dealing with. Bees and wasps often look the same, but the damage or threat they bring varies according to their kind. The treatment for each sting also differs.

Here are the usual types of bees and wasps you’ll encounter:

Ground bee – Ground bees are not harmful and never aggressive. Only female ground bees sting, and they will only sting when feeling threatened. They do not form hives but are often found nesting underground. The entrance to their nests is usually patches of bare soil.

Honey bee – The Honey be is a small bee with a barrel shaped body and a fury appearance, they usually live in trees or hollow spaces and their nest have a unique honey comb look and is a white or yellow colour.

Masonary bee – Masonry bees have a similar appearance to honey bees and get their name from the fact that they use mud, clay and other building materials in the construction of their nests.

Bumble Bee – There are over 250 species of bumble bee (genus Bombus). They have round bodies and a fuzzy, hairy appearance, they usually have a white and buff colour on their tails and live in very small colonies. There life span is around 28 days.

Yellowjacket – Yellowjackets are not bees, they are wasps. They are sometimes mistaken for bees because of their looks and their sting. The attacks of yellowjackets can be deadly for people who are allergic to their stings. They can also bite their target first before they sting.

Hornet – Hornet is the largest of the eusocial wasps, and they look similar to the yellowjacket. Their stings are considered more dangerous than those of bees. They usually build their paper nests in the shape of a teardrop.

If you find the hive inside your home, never block their entry point. Blocking will only encourage the bees to find another exit or entry point around your home. Here’s what you should do:

Step 1: Make sure you are physically protected. Wear bulky protective clothing before getting near the hive.

Step 2: Spray the hive with pesticide after sunset. This will lessen the possibility of getting stung.

Step 3: Check by morning if there’s any activity happening inside the hive. Spray pesticide again at dusk time, if necessary.

Step 4: When no other activities are observed, and you’re sure the bees are dead, you can remove the nest by placing a strong bag over the nest and removing it from it purchase. Although most species of bees will only use a nest for one season.

Conclusion

There’s a fine line between protecting the environment and protecting your family and home. In case you find the hive inside your walls or deep underground, it is better to seek the help of professional pest control. They are more knowledgeable about how to deal with these complicated situations.

How to get rid of those unwanted ants

A solitary ant scurrying across a kitchen counter is easy to squish. So is a small trail of ants.

But these little guys are scouts for hundreds, if not thousands of their nest mates who are waiting in lawns, walls, roofs, under floors and foundations to follow invisible scent trails inside. When the whole gang arrives they become more than a damp dish cloth and some aggressive wiping can handle.

In colder parts of the country ants go into a short hibernation. However, nests in or nearby houses may stay warm enough for foraging to continue throughout the winter months.

Ants make themselves at home anywhere they have access to adequate shelter and sustenance. The first step to remedying a home invasion is to make sure food residue and spills are attended to. Clean the kitchen, clean it well. Pay particular attention to your floor too, and make sure there aren’t any crumbs and scraps hiding in corners.

My flatmate’s fondness of leaving leftover pizza on the bench meant that for at least a month, we had a hell of a time getting rid of them.

Ant Bites: Everything There Is To Know, And Beyond

Ants are one of those insects who are habitual to living within a colony. They are generally peace-loving creatures who will not prefer to harm or disturb you unless they feel threatened by you. This is generally the case with every animal or insect out there in nature

When ants feel threatened, they usually let out a bite or sting which feels different than those of the other insects, in particular. Having said that, these bites can be quite dangerous and even toxic in case of ants of certain specific species. For example, red ant stings may not be too big an issue to deal with, but fire ant stings will definitely have you writhing in pain and agony

Overview of Ant Bites

As mentioned before, any bites may occur because the ant colony is feeling dominated or bullied by you, which will happen if you stumble upon their settlements unannounced. This is why it is important to take extra precautions while venturing out amidst nature.

What Is An Ant Bite or Ant Sting?

Ants don’t literally ‘bite’ you. They just let out a small drop of acidic venom off their mouths on to your skin which causes you to feel that blistering pain like a burn. This burning sensation lasts for a while or even longer depending on the type of ant you have been stung by.

Red Ant Stings:

As mentioned before, ants bite you only when you disturb them, or they feel threatened by your presence. Red ant stings do burn but only for a short while. They may leave a small swelling on the site of the bite, but nothing more than that.

Ant

Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants appear in the fossil record across the globe in considerable diversity during the latest Early Cretaceous and early Late Cretaceous, suggesting an earlier origin. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period, and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than 12,500 of an estimated total of 22,000 species have been classified. They are easily identified by their elbowed antennae and the distinctive node-like structure that forms their slender waists.

Ants form colonies that range in size from a few dozen predatory individuals living in small natural cavities to highly organised colonies that may occupy large territories and consist of millions of individuals. Larger colonies consist of various castes of sterile, wingless females, most of which are workers (ergates), as well as soldiers (dinergates) and other specialised groups. Nearly all ant colonies also have some fertile males called “drones” (aner) and one or more fertile females called “queens” (gynes). The colonies are described as superorganisms because the ants appear to operate as a unified entity, collectively working together to support the colony.

Ants have colonised almost every landmass on Earth. The only places lacking indigenous ants are Antarctica and a few remote or inhospitable islands. Ants thrive in most ecosystems and may form 15–25% of the terrestrial animal biomass. Their success in so many environments has been attributed to their social organisation and their ability to modify habitats, tap resources, and defend themselves. Their long co-evolution with other species has led to mimetic, commensal, parasitic, and mutualistic relationships.

Ant societies have division of labour, communication between individuals, and an ability to solve complex problems. These parallels with human societies have long been an inspiration and subject of study. Many human cultures make use of ants in cuisine, medication, and rituals. Some species are valued in their role as biological pest control agents. Their ability to exploit resources may bring ants into conflict with humans, however, as they can damage crops and invade buildings. Some species, such as the red imported fire ant (Solenopsis invicta), are regarded as invasive species, establishing themselves in areas where they have been introduced accidentally.

Collective intelligence: Ants and brain’s neurons

An individual ant is not very bright, but ants in a colony, operating as a collective, do remarkable things. A single neuron in the human brain can respond only to what the neurons connected to it are doing, but all of them together can be

“I’m interested in the kind of system where simple units together do behave in complicated ways,” she said. No one gives orders in an ant colony, yet each ant decides what to do next.

For instance, an ant may have several job descriptions. When the colony discovers a new source of food, an ant doing housekeeping duty may suddenly become a forager. Or if the colony’s territory size expands or contracts, patroller ants change the shape of their reconnaissance pattern to conform to the new realities. Since no one is in charge of an ant colony – including the misnamed “queen,” which is simply a breeder – how does each ant decide what to do?

This kind of undirected behavior is not unique to ants, Gordon said. How do birds flying in a flock know when to make a collective right turn? All anchovies and other schooling fish seem to turn in unison, yet no one fish is the leader.

All I need in life is this group where everyone pretends to be ants

“I am tired of bringing food to the Queen to justify my existence,” a poster writes. “When does it end? When can I have some of the food I bring home? When will I see the value of my labor?”

But there’s something special about the ant colony group. Yes, jokes and memes are exchanged. But there’s a unique earnestness to the interactions; it feels like a world. A user confesses that he’s in love with the Queen, and 120 commenters urge him to set aside his dalliance, remember his purpose, and get back to work. A member announces that a larva is missing; commenters split into search parties, some volunteer information, others ask for updates, and the larva is eventually found. It’s silly, but I’ll admit: I breathed a sigh of relief.

I don’t need to tell you that we’re living in stressful times, and while we’re all experiencing them together, their impacts on us, and the particular patchwork of ways they’ve upended each of our lives — our workplaces, our families, our own health — are unique to each of us. We’re experiencing a shared crisis alone.

Different things help different people stay sane. For me, the ant colony group is a reminder of the bigger things — bigger worlds, longer times — that surround the tragic and terrifying microcosm we’re currently in. I think about the ant hills on my lawn. I think of an ant, feet under the ground, standing before a crowd of fellow insects, somberly announcing “Death water came from the sky today. Many good workers lost. Press F.” I think of another ant, huddled with a group off to the side, asking in a hushed voice, “Alright, what’s our stance on allying with the red ants? Yea or nay?”

I know that’s not what’s happening, obviously. But in whatever non-English medium ants and anteaters and termites and fruit flies and everything else use to communicate, there are things going on out there. Things are happening, constantly, that are far beyond my understanding. The ants are marching on. It’s probably silly that that helps me get through each day, but it does all the same.