Erk.... there's a wasp nest outside my back door....

[moriah]

... and I'm very allergic.

I didn't even notice it until today, when I was coming back in the house when it started sprinkling. There were about a dozen of them on the nest. I do have an Epi-Pen, but I would rather not have to use it.

Obviously it would be incrdedibly stupid for me to attempt to get rid of the nest myself, but can a layman do it? Or do I need to call an exterminator?

[Taverner]

1. KILL IT! KILL IT!

Wasps are evil

If we ever were to offer species for extinction, I'd offer these guys up in a minute.

[crispini]

6. Actually, wasps are beneficial insects that prey on other insects.

That said, they do pack a powerful sting, even if you're not allergic. I keep mine around but they're not in stinging distance. The OP should definitely enlist help getting rid of hers!

[Kali]

2. You can do it easy after dark, but if you are highly allergic

I would try to get a friend or neighbor to do it.

http://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-wasps.htm

I would scrape it off an crush it good inside a paper bag. Actually I would leave it since I am not allergic, unless they started getting aggressive. We have almost tame harvester ants in the yard - they seem to know us, unlike other nests out away from the house! (worse sting in my opinion)

[SeattleGirl]

There is a spray you can get that will kill the wasps and destroy the

nest. The best thing is, you can stand far back from it and the spray is powerful enough that it will hit the target.

I'd go get some right away and get rid of those nasty buggers.

[PeaceNikki]

3. I'd move.

[Zodiak]

4. Entomologist here

DO NOT attempt this if you are allergic to wasp stings. There is no reason why a person should even take a 1% chance with their life knowingly. People do die from alaphylactic shock. Get a friend who likes this sort of thing to do it.

Having said that, there is also no reason why one must use a fancy spray to get rid of a wasp nest. Not unless, of course, you already have the spray. But save your money if you can because those sprays rarely work as well as a good spraybottle and jar of dishwashing soap. I usually dress up pretty tightly....wearing a shirt on my head "ninja style" and sunglasses. Bees and wasps can home in on the carbon dioxide you breathe, so they tend to go for the face if you attack their nest.

You take a jar of water with about a tablespoon of dishwashing soap in it, and you hurl the dishsoap out of the jar at it...like a cannon. Then you take the spraybottle with soapy water and spray all of the individuals you see crawling/flying around. There shouldn't be many, and one spray knocks em daown. Two sprays and they are effectively dead.

The reason this works so well is that soapy water immediately enters their little insect trachea and cut off their oxygen supply. Unlike many other insects, wasps have a VERY high metabolic rate, and are incapacitated immediately with a good spray of soapy water. A can of RAID could never even come close to matching the time it takes for soapy water to kill any of these buggers. We are talking FAST!

Ok...at this point, you should have the nest drenched and all of the wasps you can see sprayed. Leave it be for a day, and come back to it the next day and repeat the procedure.

On the first day, you will get 95% of them. The next day, you will get all but one or two. After the next day, get rid of the nest and thoroughly clean the area where it was, or it will attract a new foundatrix and you will have to do it all over again.

I have "done" dozens of nests this way, big and small. I have never been stung while doing it.

But that still does not mean you need to do it. Get a friend.

Oh wait....these are yellowjackets, right? Paper wasps? If not, disregard everything in my post except the part about getting someone else to do it.

[moriah]

7. They look like paper wasps...

.... at least, the nest does.

But I thought yellowjackets were different from paper wasps -- I thought yellowjackets were shorter, more like bees.

Looking online, the nest looks like a paper wasp's nest -- there's no enclosure around the "honeycomb"-type shape. And from what I recall the wasps themselves were more elongated than a yellow-jacket, more like the picture of a paper wasp.

Dunno.... I don't really care to go back out there to investigate closer....

[Blue_Tires]

9. good advice

what do you suggest for really high (20+ foot) awnings? garden hose gun or leave it alone?

[femmocrat]

5. It's easy... I'm the designated wasp-killer in our household.

Buy one of those aerosol sprays that shoots 50 feet. Wait until it's almost dark and the wasps are settled in for the night.

Wear long sleeves and long pants. Stand as far away as you can and spray the nest until it's good and soaked. Then run like hell for your front door. Do not go anywhere near the back door!

The next morning you can go out and knock down the nest with a long pole or broom handle or something like that. They'll be dead and the stragglers will be gone.

If I lived nearby, I would do it for you. If you're scared, ask someone to do it for you. Good luck!

[applegrove]

8. I called the exterminator and was really pleased with their service. Landlord got the bill though.