Wasps!

[rodger.]

I have some wasps getting in (and I assume making a nest) behind a small roof overhang on the front of my home.

They are wiggling in through a brick mortar joint, and heading up under the eave. I have used a full can of foam, as well as some insect dust with 0 effect.

I may break down and call an exterminator. Any ideas?

[minorhero]

They make foam that has insecticide in it so as they eat the stuff they die. I saw it at home depot a while back. Also buy some wasp killer stuff. The kind thats liquid and squirt some of that up there. And finally theres always the option to ignore them. They won't eat your house and there will always be something around like this. The most an exterminator will do is squirt more poison in there under a bit of pressure which the can of wasp killer is going to get you already. 

[Tpt life]

Northern clime? Wait until winter kills them. Plug the holes with mortar caulk early next spring. 

[Mick S]

Also, wait until dusk to spray the wasp killer up there - once they've returned to the nest and calmed down for the night.

[Marmotjr]

I've also seen this done with a shop vac.  I'm not sure if you can reach this part of your house easily from the ground though, the pics are a little confusing to me in that regard, but I'm guessing from the angles and the plants, its about head height?

Build a quick and dirty frame to hold up the shop vac hose/tube right up to the opening they are using.  Turn it on and run away.  Wait a while till they stop swarming and are sucked in, then spray some wasp spray into the shop vac hose.   Keep it running and pop the hose off and spray some more into the barrel.  Slap a piece of duct tape over the opening and then you can turn it off.   I'd wear something heavy like carharts just in case, unless you want to spring for a bee/wasp suit.  

This should have removed most of the wasps from the nest, and then you can use the fillers as mentioned above.  If you don't get the wasps out first, they may try to find a new path out of their nest, and that may be into the house, or through another hole.   

[Tpt life]

This is a heater vent clearance. I do not like the thought of bug spray in there. Just me. That is why I would wait it out. 

[Bankstick]

Not much you can do,  IMHO.  Not sure about the insecticide in the foam.  Check the label.  Spraying in the vent shouldn't hurt anything or anyone.  Air movement should be directed outside.  I don't think they will go away.  Winter will push them deeper to find warm places.  We have yellow jackets in the ground.  Winter doesn't faze them. My wife sprays the hole when we see them.  I am taking shots for wasp and white faced hornet venom.  Had a severe reaction about 15 years ago to some sort of bee but these are what the tests showed.  Never had any reaction before in my lifetime.

[minorhero]

33 minutes ago, Marmotjr said:

I've also seen this done with a shop vac.  I'm not sure if you can reach this part of your house easily from the ground though, the pics are a little confusing to me in that regard, but I'm guessing from the angles and the plants, its about head height?

Build a quick and dirty frame to hold up the shop vac hose/tube right up to the opening they are using.  Turn it on and run away.  Wait a while till they stop swarming and are sucked in, then spray some wasp spray into the shop vac hose.   Keep it running and pop the hose off and spray some more into the barrel.  Slap a piece of duct tape over the opening and then you can turn it off.   I'd wear something heavy like carharts just in case, unless you want to spring for a bee/wasp suit.  

This should have removed most of the wasps from the nest, and then you can use the fillers as mentioned above.  If you don't get the wasps out first, they may try to find a new path out of their nest, and that may be into the house, or through another hole.   

Ok I am changing my advice, do this instead. Its hilarious. The only additional thing I would recommend is to video tape the whole thing, then share it here if you would be so kind ;P

[wdwerker]

Stuff a little steel wool in cracks before you foam them. Rodents won't chew it, maybe it will piss off the bugs too !

[Marmotjr]

1 hour ago, minorhero said:

Ok I am changing my advice, do this instead. Its hilarious. The only additional thing I would recommend is to video tape the whole thing, then share it here if you would be so kind ;P

I've seen it doe IRL, and there are countless videos of people doing it.  A couple pro exterminators that post online use this technique to clean out the hives before removing them, helps save nasty surprises later.

Beat wasp video I saw was taking a quadcopter up near the hive and letting the blades chop up the wasps as they swarmed on it.  And then he chopped away at the hive with it too. 

[Tpt life]

3 hours ago, Bankstick said:

Not much you can do,  IMHO.  Not sure about the insecticide in the foam.  Check the label.  Spraying in the vent shouldn't hurt anything or anyone.  Air movement should be directed outside.  I don't think they will go away.  Winter will push them deeper to find warm places.  We have yellow jackets in the ground.  Winter doesn't faze them. My wife sprays the hole when we see them.  I am taking shots for wasp and white faced hornet venom.  Had a severe reaction about 15 years ago to some sort of bee but these are what the tests showed.  Never had any reaction before in my lifetime.

Dual wall pipe draws in on the exterior pipe. Wasps congregate, leaving most of the mass to die on the outside and far fewer (and much weaker) to deal with after winter. 

[Tom King]

3 hours ago, Marmotjr said:

I've also seen this done with a shop vac.  I'm not sure if you can reach this part of your house easily from the ground though, the pics are a little confusing to me in that regard, but I'm guessing from the angles and the plants, its about head height?

Build a quick and dirty frame to hold up the shop vac hose/tube right up to the opening they are using.  Turn it on and run away.  Wait a while till they stop swarming and are sucked in, then spray some wasp spray into the shop vac hose.   Keep it running and pop the hose off and spray some more into the barrel.  Slap a piece of duct tape over the opening and then you can turn it off.   I'd wear something heavy like carharts just in case, unless you want to spring for a bee/wasp suit.  

This should have removed most of the wasps from the nest, and then you can use the fillers as mentioned above.  If you don't get the wasps out first, they may try to find a new path out of their nest, and that may be into the house, or through another hole.   

I just soak a paper towel with acetone, suck that in, turn the vac off, leave it, and it turns the vac into a big Killing Jar.  I did that once, and left it over the weekend, and it still smelled like acetone on Monday. They aren't smart enough to crawl back out the hose.  All wasps were dead.    I have a bunch of extra extensions for shop vac wands, and get about ten feet away.

[Marmotjr]

42 minutes ago, Tom King said:

I just soak a paper towel with acetone, suck that in, turn the vac off, leave it, and it turns the vac into a big Killing Jar.  I did that once, and left it over the weekend, and it still smelled like acetone on Monday. They aren't smart enough to crawl back out the hose.  All wasps were dead.    I have a bunch of extra extensions for shop vac wands, and get about ten feet away.

Just check the material that your bin is made out of.  I use Acetone vapors to smooth ABS 3d prints, and it will leave the print a lumpy mess if you leave it exposed to the vapors for too long.  I doubt shop vac bins are ABS, but there a few in the family that Acetone is a solvent for.  Quick google search will tell you. 

[Tom King]

Yeah, I use acetone to smooth, and polish golf club ferrules.  The Rigid vac was not empty when I sucked the paper towel in, so I figured it wouldn't be resting on the plastic anyway.  That same vac has been used for several years since then, with no ill effects.   Good point about being careful with Acetone.  Carburetor cleaner will dissolve some plastics too.

[Denette]

Hope you get your wasps killed, Rodger!

 

I'm just popping in to say that whenever I'm in the shop and a wasp flies in, I spray shellac on it.  It's aerosol and it's handy.  They sink like a rock and waddle away.  I feel evil.

[rodger.]

Well, I'm giving the shop vac method a try. Seems to be working fairly well. The attraction to return to the nest must be very strong, as they are willing to risk flying in front of the vac, even after buzzing around it to check it out.

Been running about an hour, and I've got at least two dozen wasps sucked up.

 

[rodger.]

When I'm done sucking them up, I think I'll just put the whole vac in a plastic bag and tie it off for a few days. That should do the trick just fine.

Clearly, I'm not going to get them all. Is the next step to just seal it up?

[Marmotjr]

30 minutes ago, rodger. said:

When I'm done sucking them up, I think I'll just put the whole vac in a plastic bag and tie it off for a few days. That should do the trick just fine.

Clearly, I'm not going to get them all. Is the next step to just seal it up?

Might want to bang on the wall with a rubber mallet or something if you feel brave enough, try to piss off the rest inside.  They'll come out to attack get sucked in.  Don't forget to run away quickly!

Yeah, I'd just seal it up with something, after spraying some wasp killer up inside of it (as long as it doesn't get into the duct work like C mentioned).  Hopefully there won't be enough left to mount a counter offensive. 

[rodger.]

7 minutes ago, Marmotjr said:

Might want to bang on the wall with a rubber mallet or something if you feel brave enough, try to piss off the rest inside.  They'll come out to attack get sucked in.  Don't forget to run away quickly!

Yeah, I'd just seal it up with something, after spraying some wasp killer up inside of it (as long as it doesn't get into the duct work like C mentioned).  Hopefully there won't be enough left to mount a counter offensive. 

I banged the wall, but no one came out to get me. I'll leave it run for a bit longer and then remove it, seal off the hose, and pack it up for the night. May need a 2nd round tomorrow.

[treeslayer]

45 minutes ago, rodger. said:

I think I'll just put the whole vac in a plastic bag and tie it off for a few days

put the bag in the freezer, that will take care of them.

[rodger.]

6 minutes ago, Lester Burnham said:

I do the same, but I use spray poly. 

 

This SOB was in the shop last summer, that light brown color on the top is sawdust that got stuck to the poly. Biggest hornet I've ever seen. Not a fan.

Holy ! That's a huge hornet!

[RichardA]

Be thankful that the big ones didn't come in with him.

[Tom King]

I don't think leaving them in a bag for a few days will kill them.

[rodger.]

23 minutes ago, Tom King said:

I don't think leaving them in a bag for a few days will kill them.

Uh oh! 

My daughter (6) loves bugs and animals. I think I will need to release them somewhere a long way from my home. I know this seems silly, but she has been following me like a shadow for this whole process to ensure I don't kill any! LOL.

[wdwerker]

Has she been stung by one yet ? Sometimes the only way we learn is by personal experience. If she still voices that opinion after being stung then it has some validity. Maybe you could dispose of them after bedtime ?