Wasps in soffet vent

BarraOG

Hi,

I have wasps entering and leaving my house through a vent on the soffet. Got wasp foam and have a long straw attachment for it. Was thinking of spraying into the vent tonight. Is this safe in you opinion as I can’t see the nest itself?

Regards,
Barry

Apiarist

Not safe. I would recommend either wait until winter when all wasps are dead, or call a professional exterminator.

Also, do you have a picture of those wasps? If they are actually honey bees, the strategy is different as bees do not die out in winter.

BarraOG

victor8600 wrote: »

Not safe. I would recommend either wait until winter when all wasps are dead, or call a professional exterminator.

Also, do you have a picture of those wasps? If they are actually honey bees, the strategy is different as bees do not die out in winter.

Found the wasp nest in the attic. It’s built on the inside of the roof and is about two foot wide it starts just next to the vent. Attic isn’t floored. I was hoping to paint the house soon

Apiarist

Does the nest look like this?

BarraOG

victor8600 wrote: »

Does the nest look like this?

Went closer to it with a light and it looks smaller now. Attaching a picture of it. Can I attack this with the foam - following the instructions on the can?

Apiarist

Yes, it seems like a wasp nest.

BarraOG wrote: »

Can I attack this with the foam - following the instructions on the can?

It is dangerous. Think about it -- you are going to operate either on the roof, or standing on attic rafters. Wasps will not die immediately, some of them may try to attack you and you will have to move away quickly which is difficult when you are on the roof or in the unfloored attic.

Can you just let them be until winter and remove the empty nest then? If you want to paint the house, why are wasps a problem? Do they prevent you from painting?

BarraOG

victor8600 wrote: »

Yes, it seems like a wasp nest.



It is dangerous. Think about it -- you are going to operate either on the roof, or standing on attic rafters. Wasps will not die immediately, some of them may try to attack you and you will have to move away quickly which is difficult when you are on the roof or in the unfloored attic.

Can you just let them be until winter and remove the empty nest then? If you want to paint the house, why are wasps a problem? Do they prevent you from painting?

I have an old door which I could put down in the attic to get me within 2 meters. This leads to an upstairs room. I need to clean the gutters and fascias too - and I can’t do that with the nest still there.

FrancieBrady

I used a powder rather than a foam. It had a direct able spout on it and I sprayed it into the vent and at the nest. Worked in minutes, the wasps take the powder into the nest.

Make sure you wear protection in case they get angry.

https://www.handyhardware.ie/product/63570/Rentokil-Wasp-Killer-Powder-150g?gclid=CjwKCAjwg-DpBRBbEiwAEV1_-Krsz1G1lOdq4DxBZ8fxPVkOfIh5_xgSG8KIlOYlrYFW_FnqbEK74hoCEnMQAvD_BwE

Apiarist

Well, if you are set to try, then you could delay it for couple of days. In that time, put a wasp trap somewhere in the attic. This should kill some of them, making it safer.

The trap is easy to make from a 2l drink bottle. Google diy wasp trap.

listermint

Read the other wasp thread in this very channel. It's only reopened the last two days....

the_pen_turner

I would get someone is or at least borrow a bee suit. Wasps are vicious buggers

policarp

BarraOG wrote: »

Hi,

I have wasps entering and leaving my house through a vent on the soffet. Got wasp foam and have a long straw attachment for it. Was thinking of spraying into the vent tonight. Is this safe in you opinion as I can’t see the nest itself?

Regards,
Barry

Set a few wasp traps around the area.
It might not trap them all but you will
feel a little bit safer.

Stigura

I see this all the time. I'm a now retired Pest Controller. €40.00. I'd have had it done and dusted in five minutes. But, you want to stand on a door?


Favourite story: A butcher once told me he had mice, getting at his parrots seed. I quoted him forty, and I'll deal with the mice.

He looked at me as if I had my face on upside down and said, almost in disbelief; " Oh, no! I'll go to B&Q and get some stuff! "

Few weeks later, I asked him how he was getting on with his mice.

He whined; " They ate through my wiring! It's gonna cost me two grand!!! "

And I'm like:

BarraOG

Thought I'd update you on what happened.

I needed to get rid of the wasps since I was power-washing and painting the gable end of the house. They became aggressive when I came near them with the power-washer. There was also lots of them coming into the kitchen. I caught hundreds in wasp traps in the garden where we ate but they wouldn't go near a trap if I sat it near the nest entrance for some reason.

Anyway the nest was huge with lots of small entrance holes on the surface and I could see a number of wasps crawling on the surface. I covered myself as best as I could and went up into the attic when it was dark. I sprayed the nest with nest destroying foam and covered as much as possible - emptying the entire can. Took about 10 seconds in total before I was gone. 24 hours later the activity was reduced and the holes on the surface seemed to be gone. I still couldn't power-wash in peace, so the next evening I sprayed the nest again with a new can, but again it didn't kill the nest.

I then got the entrance powder stuff and went at the nest from outside. I puffed the powder a few time onto the soffet entrance. And repeated the process the following night. Next day we spotted a queen wasp in the garden and the nest was now dead.

Meantime my parents also found a large nest in their attic. Sprayed that with foam but it didn't completely destroy the nest. Had to climb roof and powder the entrance which finished them off. Thankfully I never got stung.

listermint

I find the foam crap. The powder works everytime.


What I've done in the past is taken my paint spray compressor and load the air feed with powder put the air feed up to the nest and turn the compressor on. It puff's the entire nest in powder. Dead in 1 day.