Wasps...How do you deal with them?

Hooray for the last couple of common sense posts Mirren and LeCrepescule Just stop having hysterics around them if you keep still they will fly off they are not really interested in you they are just busy going about their business They only sting if frightened and what’s more frightening than a human jumping up and down, screaming and waving their arms around

I’m not sure you do have to threaten them to have them sting you. We’ve loads of wasps this year (butterflies too, incidentally) and know several people who’ve been stung while sitting in their gardens minding their own business. I usually just try to avoid them, but we have a very active nest in our garden wall and I’m debating now whether to call pest control in. I was hoping we could live and let live, but they seem to be getting bolder and we’ve to keep our windows shut to keep them out.

Ignore them and let them be!
They're an important part of the ecosystem and food chain and do not deserve extermination any more than bees , butterflies or any other creatures.
Unless you are allergic even a sting really isn't a big deal .

We’ve just sold our garden table and chairs as eating outside is not a pleasure! I understand that they are pollinators and eat greeenfly, and it’s alleged they don’t sting unless threatened but I’ve been stung for absolutely no reason, and I forgot how much it hurts! So not a fan. I avoid them if possible but have been known to kill them if they’re in the house and won’t leave.

JaneJudge

Thank you for all your suggestions. As I've been reminded they are pollinators I will not kill them but I'm interested in these waspinators (fake nests) they look pretty cute too, so when I'm at the wholesalers I'll see if they have any and I'll look for some citronella candles too.

I have used a tweedy looking sock which is a lot cheaper than purchasing a trap. We have found a very large nest in a bush next to the tree which has just been chopped down. It will have to go as it is only a foot away from a path on the way to the veg garden.

Just leave them alone! You have to really threaten a wasp to make it sting you. They’re vital pollinators so stop acting as if they’re the enemy 😬

In the house ordinary fly spray is effective: it clogs up their breathing.

Wasps are also useful in the garden, they apparently feed on the greenfly. I leave them if i can.
Unfortunately, we had a nest very near our back door and used the pest control to deal with them. Was too close for comfort for the grandchildren and us.

I personally have deveoped a unique, innovative & very proactive method of wasp warfare.
I swear a bit (Sometimes it's a very rude swear!) I also wave my hands in a panicky fashion & run like a twit, scaring the dog. Strangly this well-thought-out method, doesn't seem to be effective at all? 😶

Haven’t tried this yet myself, but a friend swears by this method: slice of lemon, studded with cloves in a dish or bowl. Just leave it out and they don’t venture near it apparently?!

The wasp drowning in the beer reminded me of an episode of Midsomer Murders!

I rescue bees but not wasps.

I feel like I'm in that episode with Mr Bean and the bee where he is trying to have a picnic

I'm OK with wasps and don't have any problem with them in small numbers. Of course, I wouldn't want to be chased down and stung by them!

I rescued one a few days back when I came out of the cubicle in the public loo and there was a struggling one next to the sink so I took a paper napkin I had in my pocket from being in the cafe 1/2 before and said quietly ''I won't hurt you'' and it slowly walked onto the paper and I walked it outside next to the lamp post in the shade, on the pavement.

It's the females that sting because they have the ovipositor; the males are harmless. I'm not sure if this one was male or female, but I'm glad I tried to save it!

Wasps can't really understand human language, but they have good memories for faces, so if he sees me again, he'd probably recognise me!

This reminds me of an early Eddie Izard sketch.
Where yer Dad (who is working with the wasps/bees tells you to stand still!
Not likely

I have actually told bees to buzz off when they accidentally fly in and on occasion it has worked🤗

When out with friends recently I was told off for leaving a wasp to drown in my beer glass.
What a way to go, though, keepingquiet

Thank you for all your suggestions. As I've been reminded they are pollinators I will not kill them but I'm interested in these waspinators (fake nests) they look pretty cute too, so when I'm at the wholesalers I'll see if they have any and I'll look for some citronella candles too.

I hate them, there were lots of them at a holiday park and I was told not to run ,stand still they wouldn't bother with me....so I did and got stung on the neck,,,so now I use fly spray or whatever spray is handy or a rolled up newspaper....

I got the professionals in last week when I found a wasps nest in a large shrub that I was cutting back.
He sprayed them with a chemical which killed them instantly. They don't treat wasps like bees, he told me, hence killing them off, which seemed a shame.
He told me home treatment is not as effective as the products he has at his disposal and often need several treatments as other posters have mentioned.

We’ve recently sprayed a wasps nest in an air brick in our bungalow it took two treatments then finished off with ant powder.
Our third wasps nest in different places in six years.

I go into a blind panic. If I get the chance to kill. I do!

David49

A plastic drinks bottle, cut the top 1/3 off, invert it inside the bottom part put a sugary liquid in the bottom.

Wasps go in but can’t find a way out, works a treat.

Also add the same quantity of apply cider vinegar to the sugar and water. The smell of the vinegar will deter bees as they hate the smell but will attract the wasps………..saw this only the other day and will be making one shortly as my soft fruits are ripening and ready to harvest.

I have seen three wasps this year, one had dived into a fallen apple and was drinking the juice, so beware of picking fallen apples. The other two have been so busy, always pollinating my raspberries

I don`t like a wasp nest to am watchful for the tiny little starter nests that hang down from a shed or garage roof. They are easy to deal with but generally I don`t kill wasps, I do avoid being outside to be hassled by them, normally towards the end of september

They are wonderful pollinators and we need them

It must be different areas as here on the East coast I haven’t seen a wasp this year lots of bees and ladybirds but no wasps
But I usually let them bee (🤣) although I will swipe and kill them if they are a nuisance to me I try and let them be if they let me be

agnurse

Fake wasp nests can be helpful. I understand wasps are territorial and if they believe there's already a nest in an area, they will leave.

This is our chosen method, we hang the “waspinator” by our dining area outside.
It works. .

Naf Off. if there’s a wasp in the house I spray it in the room with a window open, and the wasp always departs quickly. If I’m outside I spray it on my T-shirt and they leave me alone.