Insect Invasion

lorie d.

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For the past 2 or 3 weeks I've had a problem with black wasps getting inside my house. This morning I killed wasp number 7. :shocked: I have no idea how these wasps are getting in, but they always seem to be behind the blinds in my kitchen window. Once they come out in the open where I can reach them, I hit them with a fly swatter. That isn't enough to kill them so I have to quickly find something to crush them with, and I have to make a grinding motion...there's a lot of crunching noise. Fortunately, while all this is going on the wasps never try to go after me the way bees do. Now that I've been dealing with wasps, when I have to hit a fly that's sitting on my counter I end up dismembering it. :lol: I want to find a spray for outside that will kill all insects including the ones that usually crawl.
 

susanm9006

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The simplest spray for the wasps on your windows is a dish soap and water spray. It will stop them immediately from flying and will kill them in minutes. But I would also go looking for an indoor nest. It’s likely in either your basement or attic. I had a yellow jacket nest in my basement where they came in through a tiny hole made by electrical conduit, but check the ceiling near any vent pipes.

Do they look like this?
2820B91E-B19D-46DE-A124-E700FED0E769.jpeg
 

nurseangel

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I'm with susanm9006 susanm9006 . There was a nest in my office when I worked at the prison. They lived in the ceiling, somewhere around the lighting panel. I think they came back to the same nest every year.
 

susanm9006

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Of these are the same as pictured, yellow jackets, they do not return to the same nest, but the queen may build a new indoor nest next spring. The good news is that you live in Minnesota and bees and wasps of all kind go dormant around 50 degrees. I had hundreds flying around in the basement for a couple summer months but once the cooler weather came we were able to spray and remove the nest.
 

Kflowers

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You can make a spray with Dawn dish detergent and water 3/4 detergent to 1/4 water use a bottle with a good spray handle, that has a good 5 -6 foot spray range. Spray them good. They'll drop and still be moving when they hit the floor but then you can stomp them. Also, you will not have had to spray poison in your house, nor get too close to them with the swatter. The house will smell a bit like the detergent. This will also kill roaches with a direct hit but it takes more and a bit longer.

You may have an opening in your chimney casing, might want to get that looked at. Warn your chimney sweep when he comes that they may be in the chimney you don't want him falling off the ladder.

Or and this happened to me - yellow jackets had chewed through the outside wall and built a nest on the inside wall behind a bookcase. The exterminator said they didn't like to live indoors as it usually killed them in 24-48 hours. I said I hadn't invited them and they were still alive. He got rid of them.

Point being, look behind all your furniture and pictures on the walls. But take you spray bottle with you. Do not throw the bottle at them, it's a temptation, but it doesn't work. You have to spray them. Test the spray in the sink before you use it EACH time. Soap can clog the sprayer.

Chose whichever detergent you like the smell of best. We like the pink one, but the blue is nice also.
 

nurseangel

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I apologize if this has already been said, but if you find the source, wait until dark to make your attack. That way, you'll have a better chance of getting them all while they are at the nest. In the day, they are out and about, doing whatever stinging insects do.
 
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lorie d.

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Thank you for your responses. I especially like the suggestions about using a detergent and water mixture to kill the wasps. I did buy some some wasp spray but I really didn't want to use it in the kitchen, especially on the counters or over the sink. I actually haven't had a wasp inside for about a week now so maybe the problem has ended. :yess: Earlier this summer, a neighbor found a wasp next over my front door and knocked it down so this might be the source, but I still don't know how they got in since I seldom use that door. I will use your suggestions to check possible areas where wasps could enter.
 

Kflowers

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Just soak them good when you go after them. The detergent wipes right off the wall, ceiling, and floor. When they hit the ground you'll need to stomp them, so wear shoes. Okay, you don't need to stomp them, but I wanted it done, now, as fast as possible. Didn't want to leave them around for the cats to get stung while thinking they were cat toys. Seen that, pissed the cat off and she smashed it to death with one blow.
 
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lorie d.

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UPDATE:
I started having problems with these wasps getting into my house again on Sunday and this year it's even worse. In only seven days I've killed nine of these insects using the detergent and water solution that was given here with really good results. But this is really a nuisance, for example, last night I was in the middle of making a salad for supper when I saw another wasp crawling out from under the refrigerator. I started spraying and the wasp started flying, finally it landed on top of the refrigerator where I finished spraying and finally killed it. But then I had soap and water dripping down the front of the refrigerator that had to be cleaned up before I could finish making the salad. :argh: I think there could possibly be a hive under the siding on my house because I can see something weird that kind of looks like leaves sticking out of a corner. I haven't been able to have an exterminator come out here yet to check things out.
 

game misconduct

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UPDATE:
I started having problems with these wasps getting into my house again on Sunday and this year it's even worse. In only seven days I've killed nine of these insects using the detergent and water solution that was given here with really good results. But this is really a nuisance, for example, last night I was in the middle of making a salad for supper when I saw another wasp crawling out from under the refrigerator. I started spraying and the wasp started flying, finally it landed on top of the refrigerator where I finished spraying and finally killed it. But then I had soap and water dripping down the front of the refrigerator that had to be cleaned up before I could finish making the salad. :argh: I think there could possibly be a hive under the siding on my house because I can see something weird that kind of looks like leaves sticking out of a corner. I haven't been able to have an exterminator come out here yet to check things out.
carefull if your gonna mess with a nest of yellow jackets etc you have no idea how large that nest can be can be the entire wall of the house.
 

Kflowers

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Use your phone to take pictures all around your house. That way you can actually get a good look at what is there. Those nasties and yellow jackets can and will chew right through the wood to get inside.
 

susanm9006

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You could try spraying the lower siding which soap and water but in all likelihood they are deep inside your siding, or as I dealt with, inside your block foundation. Mine came into the house via a tine hole caused by electric conduit that ran through this block. If you have a basement I would check to see if have any flying around down there. And if you can spot a hole or a likely nest on the exterior there are powders like Sevin that can be puffed inside the hole. But in any case once the weather gets colder like 50’s you want to clear it out and seal any holes.
 

Kflowers

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you can use stronger stuff as susannm9005 suggests in areas where the cats don't go. Very few cats actually eat dead wasps. As always with cats, it's possible.
 
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lorie d.

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My house is on a cement slab. My neighbor and I found holes in the sides of the sidewalk in front of my house which is attached to this slab. Last Wednesday we sprayed insecticide into the holes in case there was a hive in there. We might have been right about that because there are less wasps around in general, and only one of them has gotten inside my house in the last few days. But I'm still working on this problem. Also, I have some Sevin but isn't that only for plants?
 

susanm9006

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My house is on a cement slab. My neighbor and I found holes in the sides of the sidewalk in front of my house which is attached to this slab. Last Wednesday we sprayed insecticide into the holes in case there was a hive in there. We might have been right about that because there are less wasps around in general, and only one of them has gotten inside my house in the last few days. But I'm still working on this problem. Also, I have some Sevin but isn't that only for plants?
It also kills wasps - put some in something that you can puff into the hole. A child’s medicine syringe, the old fashioned red plastic ketchup squeeze bottles etc work. The Sevin worked far better for me than insect spray did.
 
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lorie d.

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I had an exterminator come out to my house. He looked around and found a pipe under the sink with a hole in it. He strongly felt this is where the wasps are going in and out. He also sprayed the window sill area and under the cupboards inside, outside he sprayed by the window and door. I plan to get the hole in the pipe and the holes in the front sidewalk fixed. Hopefully the wasp problem will be solved!
 

Kflowers

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until the holes are fixed, duct tape should slow the wasps down when they try to come in.
 
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