How to Keep Wasps Away From Your Home

Wasps are scary. They’re like a bee’s angrier, more aggressive second cousin. Just knowing that they have stingers makes us flee from their presence. Have you ever seen those videos of Japanese wasps on the internet? If that’s not enough to give you the creeps, nothing will. All jokes aside, wasps are an integral part of the ecosystem with functions and roles quite similar to bees. They do pollinate flowers, just to a lesser degree than bees. The main reason being that bees feed their young sugars from flowers. Wasps feed their young smaller insects. Because of this, wasps play a role in being a natural insecticide for crops around the world. That’s great, right? Well, it’s not so great when they’re around the house.

A sting from a wasp can elicit the same kinds of reactions that a bee sting can. They can cause an allergic reaction that cascades and progresses into something bigger. Also, unlike bees who essentially sacrifice themselves for the sting, wasps can sting multiple times. They often do. So in the interest of protecting the people in our home, it’s best to just keep them out. Here are some of the top ways you can keep wasps away.

Pest Control

The trick with wasps is to find the nests. Most wasp nests are fairly visible, appearing in corners and such. But some species of wasps prefer a dark and rather dry place to create their nest. This means that in barns, underneath houses, attics with the window open. There’s a myriad of places a wasp can seek refuge. Since their main job is to get small insects and feed them to their offspring, the pest control expert says you can find them wherever one would get the most food. In the home, it really would be in and around the trees and corners of one’s house. Out of all the home remedies out there, the best is always going to seek professional help. Why would one go around trying things that may or may not work? Best hire a pest control specialist to weed them out and take care of the problem before it gets worse.

Wasps Traps

Wasp traps are pretty cool. They’re the same as any other kind of bug or animal trap, just cooler looking. They work by having something enticing insides like a morsel of food or something sugary. The wasp can only access it through a one-way opening. Since wasps don’t have the analytical skills to judge whether or not they can get out of a DIY plastic 2L bottle contraption, they end up getting stuck. From there you can set it free further away or exterminate it. It’s up to you from there. These can also double as outside decorations. You line them up like patio lighting. You can alternate them along the same wire. You can treat it like a design project that doubles as a deadly trap!

Upkeep

General upkeep around the house is the best way to prevent a takeover from any insect. The more you let your home go to the wayside, the more and more bugs pop up. Ever notice that? This is why you need to maintain your home as often as possible. One simple solution is to patch up cracks and chips in the wood. Cracked wood is the perfect spot for a wasp to set up shop and build a nest. The rough and abrasive surface holds mud and other wasp’s nest material quite well. It’s the best scaffolding for that strange mud igloo they make on the side of a wall. If you patch it up and throw on a little bit of paint, there will be nothing for the wasps to build on. Their nest attempts will just slide off. Another thing you can do is close the outdoor bins. That simple trick can solve a lot of issues with a sudden influx of sting-happy critters.

Wasps, unfortunately, can be dangerous for some. Whether or not you have someone susceptible to their sting in your home, it’s a good idea to keep them out of the neighborhood. You’ll never know who might be allergic. Unfortunately, if they haven’t been to a doctor, they’d have to find out the hard way. Let’s avoid that.