How do you make a homemade wasp spray, and how to you keep wasps away from your house for good? Let’s dive into the facts and discover the best ways to prevent wasps from building nests inside or near your house.
Whether you like them or hate them, wasps are important organisms for our ecosystem, and are actually beneficial for your garden. However, wasps have a nasty habit of stinging random people. Although wasps are considered beneficial for our ecosystem, they can also pose a danger if they decide to build a nest inside or near your house. In such case, there’s nothing else to do than removing their nest and/or exterminate the wasps before someone gets stung.
When looking for an effective wasp spray, you have several options to choose from, but the safest method is to make your own wasp spray at home. You can also use a bug zapper or hand a wasp nest replica in your yard, but whatever method you choose, be sure to always wear protective gear.
Tips before getting started
There are many ways to get rid of wasps from your property, but before getting started, it’s highly important that you weigh your best options before implementation, because some methods may harm your favorable plants and insects too.
Furthermore, you should consider hiring a professional extermination service if you’re the slightest insecure about doing it yourself.
#1 Be careful with the mixture
Some wasp sprays contain pyrethroid compound as their active ingredient, which is great for killing entire nests of wasps, but can harm your bushes when it comes in contact with your leaves.
Pyrethroids are also dubbed as prallethrin, lambda-cyhalothrin, allethrin or pyresin, so check the label of the wasp spray if you have evergreen plants in your lawn.
You can use a wasp spray that contains pyrethrin instead to avoid causing harm to your favorable plants such as the Southern Ag 10401 Natural Pyrethrin Concentrate.
Better yet, you can choose from a slew of organic options or simply make a wasp spray with a few common ingredients at home.
EcoSmart Natural is an organic wasp and hornet killer, and is made from an environmentally friendly plant-based formula, so it’s safe to use around your kids, pets, plants and you.
#2 Beneficial insects could be killed too
You may or may not be aware that not all insects are bad for your lawn. In fact, some are the good guys because they eat pest insects that would otherwise eat your plants.
Beneficial insects fall into three main categories—pollinators, predators, and parasitizers. They include ladybugs, green lacewings, praying mantises, ground and soldier beetles, and robber flies.
That said, the wasp spray you buy or make should be safe to use around beneficial insects, or else you risk losing their great benefits.
How to make your own wasp spray
One of the biggest reasons to use a homemade wasp killer spray is because you know exactly what’s in it. The formulation listed below is highly effective against killing wasps, is free from any harsh chemicals, and can be used both indoors and outdoors.
After you make this homemade wasp killing formula, put on a pair of gloves to prevent allergies if it gets in contact with your skin, and pour it into a spray bottle.
#1 Gather your ingredients
- Large mixing bowl
- 2 cups of apple cider vinegar
- 2 cups of sugar
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap
- 1 cup of water
- Whisk or similar stirring utensil
- 2-liter plastic soda bottle
- 16 oz. spray bottle (or pump sprayer for added safety)
#2 Mix vinegar, sugar, and water
Wasps eat other insects as well as sugars from nectar. They kill insects with their sting and chop them into bits before feeding their larvas. Wasps are also drawn to sugary items such as fizzy drinks and ripe fruits, which is why you’ll often see them in your garden or near foods.
This is why we want to imitate the smell of something sweet and sugary, by mixing the sugar with the vinegar.
Start by mixing two cups of sugar, two cups of apple cider vinegar, and one cup of water in a large bowl. You will have to dissolve the sugar completely, so mix or stir well until completely dissolved.
#3 Add liquid dish soap
You can use any liquid dish soap, but I prefer using Dawn. I used Dawn to make this mixture, and it came out well. Grab the bowl of mixture you made in the step above, and add roughly 1/4 to 1/2 cup liquid dish soap to it. Now, stir the mixture well, but be gentle as we don’t want any bubbles or foam on the surface.
Adding dish soap to the mixture offers two benefits—it restricts the wasp’s ability to fly, and drowns/suffocates them over time.
#4 Pour 4 cups of mixture into the soda bottle
This next step entails dividing the mixture into two parts—pour approximately four cups into a two-liter plastic soda bottle, and the remaining into a 16-ounce clean spray bottle.
Top up the spray bottle with two tablespoons of liquid dish soap, and a half cup of water. The mixture in the soda bottle will serve as a wasp trap, whereas the one in the spray bottle will work as a wasp spray.
Place the wasp trap (soda bottle) in an open area that’s easy to access by the wasps, but away from entrances.
You can even hang the bottle with a string on a branch of a tree, fence or railing. The more bottles you place in your garden, the more wasps you can catch.
The spray bottle should be with you anytime you’re in the yard, so that you can spray the wasps wherever you see them.
#5 Replace the trap once overcrowded or no longer effective
The trap mixture will not work to attract wasps if it becomes overcrowded, so replace the mixture if it has too many wasps stuck to it.
Readymade wasp deterrent
If you don’t have the time to make a wasp spray at home, but still would like to use a natural solution, then the Get Lost wasp deterrent is highly effective.
It simulates a real wasp nest, and is effective at keeping wasps away within a 200 feet radius from where it is hung.
This wasp deterrent is made from water resistant cotton and bamboo fiber, and measures 8.5 inches in diameter, and 11 inches in height.
Best way to protect yourself against wasp stings
Regardless of what method of solution you use to get rid of wasps, you should always protect yourself, because they will sting you once they feel bothered.
Adding to this, you should kill wasps when they’re the least active, which is generally during the night or early in the morning.
RELIANCER Complete Bee Keeper Suit
If your yard is plagued with wasp nests, then it’s highly recommended that you wear the RELIANCER Beekeeping Suit full body suit when tackling them.
This suit can be ordered in a variety of sizes, and comes with a mesh head that offers clear visibility. It is made from cotton-polyester combination which is durable, breathable and safe, and it’s a one-piece design that includes gloves.
BURHAIR Professional Beekeeping Suit Jacket
The BURHAIR Professional Beekeping Suit Jacket features a hoodie type design that is breathable as well. The round hood is detachable, and offers great visibility.
Additionally, the BURHAIR Professional Beekeping jackets comes with a large pocket and it’s available in multiple sizes.
What kills wasps instantly?
Whether you have several wasp nests in your yard or a single wasp inside your house, you have to be ready to kill the wasps instantly.
#1 Flyswatter
A flyswatter is a basic tool you can use to kill wasps instantly. There’s a certain technique to using a fly swatter, where you first take aim at the wasp, and then swat as hard and quick as possible.
You can buy the Foxany fly swatter for just under $10. This flexible swatter features a wide paddle, and a pole that can be extended to 25-inches. It is made from PVC, is lightweight, and comes with a non-slip grip.
#2 Vacuum
An easy way to get rid of wasps is simply by sucking them up with your vacuum cleaner. Great chances are that you have a vacuum cleaner at home, so attach the hose, and suck the adult wasps into the vacuum.
However, there’s downsides to using a vacuum for wasps—you will likely get stung as you have to get close to the nest, and you will have to use some other technique to completely destroy the nest.
If you don’t have a vacuum hose, you can use the Holikme vacuum kit as a long 25-inch nozzle hose attachment.
#3 Bug zapper
Why not kill wasps instantly, and have some fun too? And you can do this with a powerful bug zapper. The ZAP IT! Bug Zapper allows you to easily catch and kill wasps, and is a cordless device that comes with an extra large surface area.
It features an inner metal grating, and contains several protective layers to reduce shock. The Black and Decker bug zapper requires two AA batteries, which are probably readily available in your home.
#4 BUG-A-SALT gun
The BUG-A-SALT gun is yet another fun way to wasps instantly by simply shooting at them. It’s easy to operate, where you simply load table salt into the hopper, cock the gun by sliding it towards you, slide the handle all the way forward, release the safety, take aim through the pop-up sight, and pull the trigger.
This gun is not to be used by kids, and should never been pointed at anyone, but should be used to kill pests and insects only.
Are wasps beneficial for your garden?
Not all types of wasps are pests, so think twice before using any of the aforementioned methods to get rid of them from your property.
Contrary to popular myth, wasps such as fig wasps can serve as great pollinators in your garden. Pest control is another area where you can benefit from wasps, as they’re good at targeting caterpillars, flies, aphids in your yard.
Beneficial wasps include braconids, ichneumonids and pteromalids, tiphiids/scoliids, eulopids.
How to keep wasps away from your house
#1 Check entry points
There are several ways to keep wasps away from your home, starting with sealing any entry points. To do this, you first have to check and determine their point on entry into your home such as torn screens, unsealed vents, cracks around the windows and door frames, and open dampers.
#2 Remove food sources
Wasps are attracted to many different types of foods, particularly those rich in protein. Therefore, you should avoid leaving picnic scraps, open garbage containers, pet food or even uncovered compost piles in your yard.
Wasps in the summer months are attracted to sugary foods, so clear your yard from sweet food sources such as fruit juices, cans of pop, and fallen apples.
#3 Watch what you wear
This means perfumes too, because wasps are attracted to sweet smells too, so avoid wearing perfumes or other strong scents. You should also not wear floral patterns, because the last thing you want is to look like is a big flower, and attract curious wasps looking for nectar.