Killing wasps in an underground nest-HEEEEEEEELP !

[hellymelly]

We have a nest in a bed next to the main path down to our garden.at the moment they are not interested in us but the pest control man said soon they will sting anyone walking past.I have a three year old,a five year old,and an allergy to the stings so they have to be killed.Problem is we also have lots of bees etc and are v.near a stream and river,and the standard poison is very toxic to water courses and takes many months to break down,so need some less toxic method of destruction.The nest is in an old mouse/rat hole and so no way of knowing quite how far down it might be or if there are other ways out.We are thinking boiling water?Would that do the job?

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Bit of a coincidence - we had one of these dealt with just today by pest control. We had the usual poison put in, so that's no help to you. However, we also have builders in at the moment, and when I was chatting to one of the guys the other day, he said that they used to inject expanding DIY foam into wasps nests in people's houses, and that that sorted them (they won't do it any more because of health and safety legislation). Obviously this is not something you can risk because of your allergy, but I thought I'd pass it on in case anyone else you know is feeling brave enough to try it. Poor you - wasps are little buggers. They've built three nests in our loft in the last fortnight.

We had one years ago - i was about 15 so can't remember exactly, but my dad poured petrol on it and set it alight. Not sure if that would cause contamination problems? Possibly worth talking to local envoironmental health?

Did you not ask the pest control man about getting rid of them?

the pest man was there to get rid of it but he couldn't find the entrance and he was worried about the pesticide powder getting all over the place and killing loads of honey and bumble bees.DH dressed up in a rather entertaining padded Carhartt all in one suit,rubber gloves ,surfing swim cap and wellies and pulled up the plant above the nest hoping the nest would come with it,plunged whole thing quickly into bucket of water (on advise of pest man,this was ll at night)but no wasps.Can now see the entrance hole clearly though.Mt brother suggested expanding foam,but I had slight horror image of the ground cracking open forcing hundreds of wasps into the air.(have vivid imagination).thought about petrol but no way of knowing how far down the nest is,so am worried about pouring loads of petrol into the ground.

DH dealt with one in our shed yesterday. He donned a wetsuit, jeans, gloves, boots, scarf, beanie and swimming goggles (looked a prize prat). He used expanding foam and then poured lighter fluid on it and set fire to it. There are still around 10 or 15 die hard wasps in the charred remains, buzzing and stumbling, over 24hrs later. They're hardcore.

perhaps an obvious suggestion, but why not just fill the hole in with dirt and then pack down as tightly as possible?

get the professionals in,they use a long rod and inject just enogh insecticide inot the nest. They all die in situ and dont come back

We've got an underground wasp nest in our garden. We put a small length of plastic pipe (about 8 inches wide diameter) around the entrance and used it to contain the poison (you puff it into the entrance to the nest at night when the wasps are all inside).
I would think that boiling water or petrol runs the risk of the wasps swarming out and stinging.

I did think earlybird,of doing that but as it is a tunnel they are nesting in it may have another way out.I think we(DH) will try a funnel,some hose and boiling water and if that fails then we'll have to get the pest man back again,but I really don't want the stuff filtering down into our stream when it rains.

How awful, I've blitzed four nests in the thatch just this week. I moved our masonry bees when they were going to be pummelled by the builders - but they are of course very placid - I literally excavated round them then picked up the entire nest with a minidigger and put it the other side of the garden - they didn't seem to mind.

If you put paving slabs over where you think they are they will create another exit point away from the path?

They might,but a nest anywhere in the garden is a danger for me because of my allergy,and I'm also scared of them stinging my small daughters and me not being able to go to them and help.They are fairly weeny wasps,quite strange actually.The pest man said they are more aggressive than the larger types!
I love mason bees by the way.They are so fab.And leaf cutter beas too,we lived on a boat prior to this house and the leaf cutter bees nested in the wood,they came in through an open window vent and would drop bits of rose leaf ,I thought I was going barmy,these little leaves on the kitchen counter...until I worked out who was bringing them in.

Would putting out loads of those hanging wasp catchers around the garden help?

We put some out whilst camping last year and caught thousands over a fortnight.

Not sure how environmentally friendly it was, but our gardeners filled the hole with petrol and set it alight. I did not even know until I spotted them from the balcony and went down to ask why the lawn was alight.

Right lets get this sorted.

Very early in the morning, before the wasps have started flyng, take a large 5 gallon bucket. Empty a whole can of ant powder into it.

Run up to the hole and slam the bucket upside down over the hole. The ant powder drops in the hole and all round it, leave the bucket over the ant powder and hole and angry wasps. Shovel plenty of soil round it to stop any escaping wasps. Tread down. Leave for 2 days.

The wasps will drag the powder into the hole and kill the queen and larvae and eggs.

Been beta,I hadn't read your post,but DH did this :- went out in the middle of the night with a large watering can full of boiling water,atatched a short length of hose to the can spout ,poked that into the hole ( a few wasps came crawling out to investigate at that point ,but not many) he then heaped earth around the hose to block the exit and poured the whole lot down.Dead.No more wasps apart from two or three forlorn ones who had crawled out,and no poison in the soil or anywhere in the garden.So a good result! He is going to dig out the nest now just to make sure there is absolutely no activity,but there isn't any sign of any wasps coming in and out.I feel quite sad at having to do this,but I can't risk getting stung and I haven't been able to go into the garden at all.It was surprisingly straightforward !

Ahhha that's easy, don't listen to these people with methords including pertrol!! Thats great fun but not very effective.

You only need 3 things.

1. Washing Up Detergent.
2. A garden hose.
3. And some fine wire mesh.

Place the mesh over the wasps entrance, weigh it down with a few large stones/rocks. Maybe a couple of bricks will do the job.

Make a small hole in the mesh and squirt in a GENEROUS amount of Washing Up Detergent, 1/3 of a bottle will do just fine.

Next place the hose in the entrance for 2-3 minutes and leave for a hour or so.

You are now wasp free! Easy!