How to discourage/kill, Wasp/Mud daubers

[Lionrose]

How to discourage/kill, Wasp/Mud daubers and the likes from building nest on the eves of the house? They seem to be everywhere!

Our house has a metal roof (green) it was put on over the existing roof with runner boards so there is a space between the metal roof and the old roof. Best I can tell, this is where the wasp are making there nest.

What can I do to discourage them? What can I do to kill the ones that have taken up homesteading there already?

Would it hurt anything if I used gas or kerosene in a pump/sprayer and sprayed up into the space? Would it kill them and/or discourage any others. I think it would kill them but would it linger and keep discouraging them? Would Kerosene be better than gas isn’t it oil based? And might linger longer to keep them away longer? I am asking I don’t know.

Also don’t know what all the con’s would be to spraying gas/kerosene on the eves of the house sure wouldn’t want to create a fire hazard. Would the flammable parts evaporate enough to not be fire hazard?

They are getting really bad. I have 5 nest of the things now. Usually a nest don’t bother me to much, I just leave it alone and they leave us alone. But these nest are in bad places one is right outside the back door another couple are on the carport.

Over the last couple months I have used 5-6 cans of different brands of the wasp and hornet spray (sprays up to 15-20 foot suppose to kill nest and eggs ect…) seems to work for about a week or two then seems they are back in double the #’s and in same places.

I guess what I am hoping is that someone has fought this battle in the past an can tell me what I need to do to get rid of and discourage them on a more permanent basis.

I am scared to death the grandbaby (18 months) is going to step on one or get stung in a bad place. I have been stung once and that was enough I still have a sore where it hit me, they have got to go.
Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom and experiences with me on the subject any and all help will be most appreciated.

Thanks so much Lionrose

[Ken Scharabok]

I put an electric bug zapper in the shop. Lots of dead muddaubers under it.

[BigBoy]

I sure would not spray gasoline in there.
I had a problem with red wasp's that nothing would kill, not even gasoline. I finally found some foaming 20 ft wasp spray that stuck to their wings so they could not fly. When they fell I stepped on'em.

[tillandsia]

From Mother Earth News:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natur..._August/Wasps_

The mud dauber's tendency to build nests on manmade structures and its peculiar habit of buzzing loudly as it works are unfortunate. For those reasons alone, countless nests end up crushed under the butt end of a broomstick or soaked in insecticide. Too bad, because mud daubers are among the meekest of wasps—you virtually have to pick one up and squeeze it to make it sting—and are effective predators of household spiders. One species, in fact—the blue mud dauber ( Chal-byion califomicum )— specializes in capturing black widow spiders. (This dauber is also known as the blue burglar for its habit of breaking into other dauber nests, tossing out all the larvae and spiders.) Other types of daubers prey on cabbage loopers and other garden pests. In short, mud daubers are good wasps to have around.

I personally would leave them alone, and teach the child not to mess with any bugs.

[gccrook]

Yes. The mud dauber is the least of anyone's worries. My oldest is afraid of them, only because they seem so brazen as to fly near you. I have them by the hundreds in my barn and even in the addition to the house that is not totally closed in yet. They will occasionally run right into to me, but I have yet to be stung by one. I even brush them away with my hand, and have not been stung. We usually clean out the most obvious nest, because they are a nuisance, but it is impossible to get rid of every single one. The most annoying one was the one they built in the muffler of my ATV. Only a few days of not using it, and it was almost completely plugged. The problem wasps are the hornets, or yellow jackets that are agressive when near their nest. I have only been stung once by them, because I did not see the nest in the ground, and was right over it.

[manfred]

I don't know how to discourage wasps but they seem to be many in one year and then not very many for a few years. I've learned to leave them alone and I think of them as friends, believe it or not! Their main diet is spiders and I also have never been stung by one.
I can say though that my chickens eat a lot of them. Catching them as they fly near the ground. (They don't seem to tell their friends as more continue to fly near the ground every day. )

[Thumbbuddy]

Make sure the chimney is clear of muddauber nests inside because a friend of mine and his wife nearly died when they broke loose in the winter and blocked the chimney, took them 2 months to clean the soot from the oil burner which was all through the house.

[topside1]

How about spraying espanding window foam insulation into the sections of the roof that they inhabit, end of story...John

[Lynne]

Originally Posted by tillandsia

From Mother Earth News:
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Natur..._August/Wasps_

I personally would leave them alone, and teach the child not to mess with any bugs.

I have blue mud daubers, does that mean that I have black widows?

Still there are some places they don't need to build for example in the tack and feed rooms I sprinkle half a box of mothballs around on the floors once a year and it keeps them out. The other half box I sprinkle on my path where the neighbors dog does his business, keeps him away awhile too.
I wouldn't use it in the home though.

[Country Doc]

All I do is use the pressure washer to wash them off. The sting is very mild. They don't attack , but I stepped on one barefoot once. Not worth the cost to use insecticides.

[Beeman]

The only way to not have wasps and mud daubers on your house is to not have a house.

Why would anyone sparay gas or kerosene on their house? Why not just spray water? Wash away the nests with a hose and nozzle. This will be a forever ongoing battle between man and insect and I know who the winner will be.

[tamatik]

I recently seen on the news..a new product..seemed simple to me..Apparently wasps/hornets don,t like other wasps/hornets near their nests.these 2 ladies just hung a "bag" up beside the nest..the bag was generally the size of a good sized nest..maybe 6 " long and 4 " across..the bag was grey.dark/brown whatever color a nest is..Once the wasps see they are not alone in the neighbourhood they leave..These 2 ladies now sell the bag for $10..but it very well could have been a paperbag or stiff cloth/canvas.just looked like a baloon or inverted footaball.easy enuf to make..

gord in BC

[chamoisee]

WD40 kills them.

I would leave them alone. If you kill them all off, you're going to have FLIES to deal with. That's right, they hunt flies all day long. Just try not to leave any protein (food scraps, cat/dog food, meat) near the doors of your house or places where you'll be a lot. More often than not they leave you alone unless you step on the are run around trying to swat them or shoo thm away (just aggravates them).

[Jeff54321]

Kill all of the wasps and you will have a whole new set of problems. Wasps (like everything else) have a role to play and the destruction of the wasps, or any thing else, upsets the natural balance and then the real troubles begin. Wasps do tremendous pest control in the garden and without them the garden will suffer.

I would do all that I could to live with them and kill only if absolutely necessary. Such as when they build a nest in a human traffic area and then become defensive. That scenario is clearly a problem.

As for Mud Daubers, I have never heard of them being a problem.

[Ken Scharabok]

Fine, but.... The ones in my shop apparently are male as they actively try to fill any holes they find (no matter now minute) and like to build their nests inside equipment, such as electrical motors, or in storage cabinets, such as for nuts and screws, to where you cannot open up the desired drawer.

I'd rather live with the black widow spiders. LOTS less problems.

If you are a fan of them you are welcome to come and live trap all you want. In the meantime I'm going to fry them - and they do make a most satisifying noise when they hit the electrical grid in the bug zapper.

[PyroDon]

3M 77 spray adheasive works great for downig wasps hornets and even bubble bees in doors . but its hard to best a good old bic lighter and can of starter fluid for dealing with them out in the open
Those big red buggers are down right mean
One got me right on the nipple went from flat chested to a B cup the wife threatened to get me a training bra . I was thinking of maybe raising them and marketing them as temp breast enlargement shoot some of those gals in california might pay big money .

[chamoisee]

LMAO!!!!! Shoot, it'd be sight less painful and cheaper than the surgery!

[arabian knight]

I get the can of wasp killer and spray the heck out of the area. Gets them gone in a hurry. And the residue keeps them form coming back for awhile at least. Don't want anything like those pesky things around at all. Flies I can deal with. no biggy. gnats and other no see'ems I use my bug zapper on ALL night long and they just get there zapping all night long cool....Also makes a neat nite light for my critters. And my horses and others get use to that noise and such as it gets on a sizzling bugs all night

[Lionrose]

Ok you have convinced me to leave the mud daubers alone ONLY since there not in a really bad place.
Ok so I won’t use gas either.

But the red wasp by the back door and well house have got to go.
There mean and will hit you for no reason.
Walking to the well house from the back door, witch we do often. Our holding tank gets full and then turns itself off.
Has to be manually turned back on.

Topside:
Partner and I did think of that but my thought was the stuff is always so messy partner said it cuts off easy when its dry and yeah it dose. Still I think it would be to much to try and do all the eve’s.

Country Doc:
Using the water is not an option really we don’t have it to spare.

Ken Scharabok:
That I think we have one out in the storage shed I’ll have to go dig it out can’t hurt hang it by the back door.

Manfred:
Interesting for sure. My chickens eat them too, when they can catch them. But they can’t keep um away from there nest by the back door or the well house, wish they could though.

Thumbbuddy:
GREAT tip. Thanks

Lynne:
I agree there are some places they don’t need to build.
If the mothballs deters them I might try tying some up in something like plastic netting onions come in, or old pantyhose material and and then just pin them up every so many feet between the metal roof and old roof near edge. I will try it by the back door first see what happens.

Beeman:
My partner has a wall plate that she inherited from her dear grandmother it hangs on our living room wall. Every time some one says something like you did with a bit of an SA tone lol we just point to it. The plate reads in bold black letters:
No One Likes A Smart A**! I’m pointing at it now. It makes every one laugh.
(just given ya some love there Beeman)
I was thinking maybe kerosene being oil based might linger well after being applied and actually deter them from coming back to the same place. I would think anything flammable would evaporate rather quickly. And I would only be spraying a 6” strip at edge of eve where the two roofs met. Seemed logical to me still dose. Might do a test area where there is a nest between house and well house.

Tamatik:
I am cking into this could it really be that simple, really.

Chamoisee:
I didn’t know WD40 would kill them.
We have FLIES I have fly traps hanging in the trees around the house it really helps keep them back from the house they were really bad when we moved in so was the wasp and daubers.
I don’t know maybe it’s the heat but the Red Wasp that are between house and well house are mean and aggressive. They must go.

Jeff54321:
I don’t want to kill all the wasps or mud daubers just the ones living in the eve of my house doubt it will upset the natural balance of things. There are plenty more around that are not in the eve of my house.

Ken Scharabok:
DITO! What he said.

PyroDon:
Interesting. Indeed the one’s here are mean too. Sorry about your err hum nipple, sounds painful.

Arabian Knight:
I have used many cans of the spray. They keep coming back to same place in less than a week last time. Very aggravating.

Thanks to all for the ideas and info, you all are so nice.

Rose