[diyntn]

We have a bad problem with wasps building under our deck. I am removing the decking and have already gotten stung. I have covered the top in plastic and bombed (just a bug bomb, couldn't find a wasp bomb) to no avail. They still are swarming underneath.
I have managed to get 1/2 of the decking off. But the nests are still under there. I think I'm gonna attack it from afar better. A long pipe as a pry bar, rather than the standard pry bar.
Two questions:

1-do you have any suggestions on how to kill them before I take the decking off?

2-Is there anything that I can do as I redeck this thing, to prevent them from getting this bad again? We were thinking maybe putting landscape cloth underneath the decking planks. ?? I dunno, just shootin in the wind there.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[vsheetz]

I used to live where wasps were common to get under the eaves of the house and such - I kept a couple spray cans of wasp killer spray, which would shoot a directed spray 6' or better. Knocked them right down.

Long term keeping them from coming back I dunno - maybe the commercial exterminator services.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

For a insecticide bomb to be effective the entire are must be tented in, sides & all. Longer pry bar just means it will take them about 1 second longer to sting you
How far off the ground is the deck?

They will usually not fly in between the planks
They would have to crawl down - most will not do that
So enclosing the sides of the deck will eliminate their ability to fly in
Butt the new boards as close together as possible
As they dry they will leave a small gap for water drainage

 

[rwa]

you could paint the bottom side of your deck blue

 

[diyntn]

you could paint the bottom side of your deck blue

why?

 

[Thurman]

I have a deck that is four (4) feet off the ground and have the wasp problem every year when it gets hot. I have one of those foggers that works off electricity, some work off the small propane tanks. The bug zapper liquid that goes in this machine will kill the wasps. The bottom of my deck is enclosed with lattice and I wait until just before dusk, and it's not windy, as this seems to be when they come home. I fog this area really good, walking around to ensure good coverage, the fog comes up between the spaces in the decking boards as it fogs, and gets any living creature under there. Yes, I have to do it every two-three weeks, but it's the only thing I've found that will kill them. I spray my bushes near the house to keep down mosquitoes and other stuff also. Good Luck, David Please post your general location.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

you could paint the bottom side of your deck blue

why?

Refer to his avatar :laughing:

I have a fogger, works great
Neighbors thought my house was on fire one year

 

[diyntn]

Refer to his avatar :laughing:

Oh..LOL..I see.
I have finally, with the help of 3 people, (I got stung once) got the boards removed. OMG....It wasn't a few wasp nests, it was a wasp INFESTATION>...

There were no less than 25-30 nests under there, most still "LIVE". I can't believe we haven't been stung more.
We didn't go out there a whole lot anyways.
So, I did get all the old boards off.
Now, I'm just troubled with how to make sure I've done all I can to prevent this recurring. It must be location. It's on a side of the house with no shade and gets a lot of sun. They must love that setup.

 

[Blondesense]

you could paint the bottom side of your deck blue

There is an old wives tale that says if you paint your eaves sky blue wasps will not build nests under them. The idea being they see the sky blue paint as sky and not somewhere to build a nest.
No idea if it is effective or not.

 

[diyntn]

There is an old wives tale that says if you paint your eaves sky blue wasps will not build nests under them. The idea being they see the sky blue paint as sky and not somewhere to build a nest.
No idea if it is effective or not.

You know, seems like I've heard that before, but had forgotten.
But..under the deck it's dark...
maybe dark clouds might keep em away.
:wink:

But, I've read a lot online about this and it appears this is an ongoing problem.
A few are not a problem, but an INFESTATION like we had has got to be stopped before it get's that bad again.
Guess it's going to take me just hunkering down and looking underneath the deck on occasion.....

 

[rwa]

another thing I have heard thru the years is to mix lime in the paint

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Well the back of my house will be blue - maybe find out

 

[Yoyizit]

If you knock the nest down they will abandon it within a morning.

A small torch or candle at the end of a 16' piece of thin lumber will do wonders for them. They don't see or think that well, believe me, so they will never think to follow the board. Don't try this with yellow jackets, though.

They fly with their stinger down so if you bat them out of the air be sure to strike from above. They fly slowly. If they then land on soft earth stepping on them usually only works temporarily.

If you jam a 2x4 into their nest it will immobilize most of them until you remove the 2x. Then they will be looking for revenge and most of them will be perfectly capable of flight. Half the fun of this is watching the bystanders scatter (and you along with them).

If you get stung under your eye it will take a day or so for the swelling to subside.

 

[DUDE!]

I try to use the garden hose, longer range, under a deck could be tough though, not sure if same with wasps, but they ( can't find they) say the bee's dont' return to same nest each year, might be why you had so many nests.

If stung on eye lid, takes couple days for swelling to go down.

 

[Blondesense]

I thought someone here mentioned cold weather but I don't see it now.
They do seem to be sluggish or less active when it is cold so you may want to plan your major annual maintenance attack when the temp is in the 50's.

If you want to kill as many as possible you might also consider waiting until late dusk when they have all returned for the night. That way you get most if not all of them rather than having a lot of homeless guys buzzing around after you destroy their hive.


If they are yellow jackets, Move.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

I've had no problem getting rid of yellow jackets
One place they were in the ground
Dumped some gas down the hole & tossed a match
--not recommended for under your deck-- :laughing:

Other then that I just use the same spray
After a couple days they are either all dead or have moved
A skunk ripped apart the log after that

 

[gma2rjc]

Last summer two kids were playing with a R.C. car in my back yard. The older boy ran the car into a small bush next to the deck. Yellow Jackets started swarming from the nest underneath.

The boys came running in the house and some of the bees followed them in. One little guy had 3 stings and the other had 2.

Where the controller was left laying on the deck, the bees swarmed around it for over an hour.

We never had a problem with them before that, except when someone was eating outside.

In a week or so, I'm going to cover the deck and the ground around it with big sheets of plastic. At night, I'll seal it up and set off some bug bombs. Hopefully it works.

 

[Yoyizit]

"With honey bees the toxic dose (LD50) of the venom is estimated to be 8.6 stings per pound of body weight."

I hate yellow jackets. They fly too fast to swat out of the air, they're aggressive, they'll follow you at least 100', and if you try to pick them up by pinching their wings together you'll likely get stung because they are very flexible at the waist.

But, here's a trick.
I was at an outside table in a restaurant, and for some reason there were yellow jackets attracted to the table surface.
You simply cover them with a paper napkin and they become helpless.
Their stinger always points down, so with the tip of one finger you can crunch them or kill them, your choice.
If you crunch them, they spend the rest of the day repairing circuitry, fixing vexing software errors, trying to get new parts, etc., so they are pretty well occupied with internal matters. Or they just croak

 

[shumakerscott]

Canadian trick

I was told by my buddy to hang a salmon carcus with a bucket of water under it. The wasps will gorge on the fish and then fall into the bucket and die. Not tested by me just a tip. dorf dude...

 

[Yoyizit]

I was told by my buddy to hang a salmon carcus with a bucket of water under it. The wasps will gorge on the fish and then fall into the bucket and die. Not tested by me just a tip. dorf dude...

It's carcass, Herr Shumaker.