3 wasps suddenly appeared in our bathroom. We killed them. Some time later, another one appeared. We killed it. We stuffed the area around the inset light fixture in the ceiling with paper and blocked the use of the switch to turn on the light and saw no more wasps. Then, I saw one fly through the house, checked the stuffing in the light, and the stuffing had moved a bit, making a small opening. We've made the stuffing more thicker with no holes available for any more entry. My question: how do I get rid of whatever wasp situation is in the attic?
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1Is there access to attic for a person? Pest control company is probably the best if you do not want the job yourself. Most wasps are not out to get you, if left alone, start attacking their nest and they might get pissed.– crip659Feb 4 at 19:56
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I get a few every summer. They are easy pickings when they blunder into the house, I just wait for them to land on a window and crush them. Bees, I'll try to let out. Otherwise, if they stay out of the house, I don't bother them, they don't bother me.– EcnerwalFeb 4 at 22:11
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Had a similar problem in the first house I bought. Kept finding yellowjackets in one room bouncing off the windows on the inside; ended up seeing there was a hole where a window was installed on the second story and that was where they were quite visibly entering. Silicone caulked the hole and spent the next two weeks killing them so I didn't need to open up the ceiling. Worked well.– UnhandledExcepSeanFeb 4 at 23:48
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1I would suggest that if they are making a beeline for the attic, they may have just started a nest. So, you need to find the nest and physically destroy it. You could block the holes, but they may find another way to get up there.– Rohit GuptaFeb 5 at 2:01
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They'll chew through paper quit happily - that's what they make their nests out of, wood chewed down into paper; so ready-made paper has already had half the work done. They'll love it.– TetsujinFeb 5 at 8:35
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2 Answers
We had a situation like that years ago with wasps in the attic and we didn't now how they were getting in. We got a few foggers for wasps, covered the attic vents to outside and set off the foggers in the attic through the entry point. After a few minutes, from the outside, we could see wasps leaving the attic through a small hole in the facia. A few days later, we checked the attic and no activity but a lot of dead wasps. We were then able to fix the hole and no more wasps.
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6Standard warning: Foggers ARE toxic to animals other than insects. I know someone who darned near killed themselves by going back in to grab the keys they forgot after setting off a fogger. If you use one, the precautions stated on the label are an absolute minimum.– keshlamFeb 4 at 22:12
A caulking gun and caulk should solve the problem of:
- Wasps transiting into the house through a crack or hole between the house and the attic.
With considerably less risk of burning the house down than "stuffing paper into light fixtures" and no particular need for neurotoxins. Paper is simply building material to a wasp, they chew through it without trouble and use it to build more nest, so it's a particularly ineffective way to block wasps.
Wasps that enter your space are quite easily killed by purely mechanical means. If they have a nest in a problematic area, poison might be justified, but for a whopping 4 wasps...no need. Just block the hole properly so they don't keep wandering in.
