Skip pesticides and try natural wasp repellents.
Read on to discover many natural ways to get rid of these pesky insects.
To prevent wasps from returning, remain diligent in your treatments to mask the scent.
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Spray the mixture on established nests or places you’ve seen wasp nests.
Toss Food Scraps
Get rid of any food scraps or crumbs outside in your yard.
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Wasps also love sugar, so completely clean out any soda cans you store outdoors for recycling.
Seal Trash Cans
Trash cans containing old food scraps or liquid attract wasps.
Seal trash bins to avoid new visitors, including your recycling bins.
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Compost bins can also attract wasps, so ensure yours is well-sealed.
You could also move the composting indoors if you’ve got the option to’t keep wasps away.
Plant these varieties near your home, especially where you have previously seen wasps.
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Flowering plants likemarigolds,geraniums, orpennyroyalsalso deter wasps.
Use Soap and Water
Soap and water help eliminate small wasp nests.
Add 2 tablespoons of dish soap and water to a spray bottle and shake well.
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Then, spray the soap-water mixture on the nest.
The mixture will suffocate the wasps, killing them instantly.
It’s best to spray nests after dusk when all the wasps have come home for the night.
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This key in of decoy nest looks like the key in of nest made by bald-faced hornets orpaper wasps.
Some say it works like a charm, while others say it doesn’t discourage wasps.
Do not make the mixture too soapy.
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Respray it frequently since it loses effectiveness over time.
It’s effective on contact and temporarily removes a wasp or two from the area.
There are families of parasitic wasps used for biological pest control.
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These types of wasps are tiny and look nothing like social wasps.
They are also generally harmless, do not sting, and are not a threat to humans.
Vinegar, cinnamon, coffee grounds, and sliced cucumber also repel them.
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To keep wasps from returning, make your home less enticing.
Keep your doors or windows closed.
Do not keep food outside.
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Keep garbage cans tightly sealed.
Leave out wasp traps.
Remove nests when wasps are least active at dawn.Fill in holes in the ground sinceyellow jacketsoften make ground nests.
The Spruce / Jordan Provost
Wasps are most active in July.
They usually first start appearing in spring and continue through late fall.
Controlling Wasps, Hornets, and Yellowjackets.
The Spruce / Letícia Almeida
Controlling Wasps, Bees and Hornets Around Your Home.University of New Hampshire Extension.
Yellowjackets and other social wasps.University of California.
Getting rid of wasps nests.Michigan State University Extension.
The Spruce / Michelle Becker
