Wasp swarm.....can you help??

[clare]

Hi guys,

For some reason my place attracts wasps-both the paper variety and now the much larger, more aggressive Euro type. I tried to set fire to the Euro nest the other night when all the wasps were asleep-but something fluid gushed out of the nest, put out my flare and I was set upon by off wasps! Having another go with a longer pole and metho drenched rag has sort of lost its appeal

Any suggestions please??

[Cruzi]

Baygon Surface Spray the nest, any wasps that come back die as well.

[Gingermick]

Dont walk past the tree and definitely don’t disturb it. But walking toward it with a flammable aerosol burning well and pointed at the buggers has worked for me in the past

[Ian Smith]

My old dad used to use the metho on the rag, but the trick is not to try burn the nest , at least not immediately.

The point, as I saw it, of the metho was a nice clean low temperature flame which, when held under the nest won't burn the house down and would disable the little buggers by burning off their wings. Just don't stand directly underneath - get a long pole.
If you think they are off when you poke 'em with a burning stick, just wait till they're on the ground, walking around, not able to fly.

But as Cruzi says a good spray with Baygon (or Mortein) will sort them out too

Not sure what the fluid was - a fire plan maybe - seems a bit odd for them to be storing water or whatever it was

Ian

[weisyboy]

drench it in baygo then set it on fire

[echnidna]

I had a euro wasp nest inside a weatherboard wall a few years ago so I setoff a spider bomb and dropped it inside the wall one evening, no wasps in the morning.

[Woodwould]

Try a garden sprayer full of meths and a cigarette lighter, but keep the flame on the entrance hole so you zap any fleeing wasps... or if the nest's in the ground, my favourite is pest anhiliater is ANFO.

[clare]

Wow, thanks so much everyone. Great info. I'll have a think about which method I'm brave enough to adopt. The swarm is on the underside of the bbq side table, so letting off a bomb wouldn't work, but maybe the other options will.
THANK YOU so much for taking the trouble to help though.

[glenn k]

I read about a farmer who mixed canned cat food with borax and placed it in a juice bottle with a flap cut at the base to stop other critters getting in. He did this because he couldn't find the nest, then one day he found dead wasps around a log and discovered a dead nest.
Have never done this but it sounds like a great idea. I think they go for sugar in spring and protien in Autum.

[MikeG]

Hi Clare
This site has some good information on European Wasps and what to do about them.

http://www.lga.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=283

Mike

[Buzza]

Get an expert, Euro Wasps can kill you. You only have to stumble trying to get away from them and they will come in thousands. I think I read on the Forums years back where someone first sprayed a paper wasp nest with a flammable content, then chucked a match into it. European Wasps can have a massive underground nest, and I saw one getting taken away in a council tip truck years back. Just be very, very careful.

[rrich]

I don't know about the Euro wasps but we have an aerosol product that shoots a stream 6-8 M. I just hit the nest after dark and by morning they are all dead.

[clare]

Thanks so much everyone. Since this nest is in the open with no entrance to just 'block off' with toxins etc I'm feeling I might get professional help. The wasps are big and scary. Thanks for the link too MikeG-it gave me the idea to contact my council since that's the advice for SA -might be here too.

So appreciate your help everyone.

[Barry_White]

Bunnings sell a wasp spray that shoots a stream four metres. Pretty deadly on paper wasps.

Don't know about European Wasps though and would be advised by the warnings from other posters.

[SPIRIT]

l killed a monster of a hive

flea powder 20 cm high of dead wasps the next day

always attack at night and use red plastic over the torch so they don't wake up