Wasps are so scary. And so are WASPS, but that’s a whole nother subject

Dear Home-Ec 101,

We’ve always had a problem with wasps (mud-daubers…are they the same?)….however, they seem to be much worse, and it seems they’ve arrived early…what can I do to get rid of them…or at least keep them to a minimum.

Our back deck, back doors, and the back yard area, in general, are swarming. What’s out back? Pool, dogs, lawn furniture, grill, and a trellis with gardenia (not yet flowering), hyacinth (flowered), petunia’s (flowering), and tomato plants….nothing different than last year.

HELP!!!

Signed,

Terrified in Tennessee

Ivy says:

I hate wasps. With a passion. Supposedly they eat lots of bad garden pests, but I don’t care. If they all suddenly dropped off the face of the planet, I would not be crying about it.

I figured since we had such a long run of cold this year in Tennessee, they would not be so bad, but I was very wrong. The wasps are here, and in fuller force than normal.  It’s terrible.

Fortunately, I ran across a site not too long ago called How to Get Rid of Stuff.  It’s a fab little site that has ways to get rid of all kinds of undesirable things, wasps included.

They suggest making sure all your garbage is picked up and tied up. Wasps apparently love garbage. Who knew? You should fill in any holes in your yard. If you’re outside and would like to keep them away, set a can of tuna or dog food fairly far away to try to draw them away.

Go to the site for methods of destroying their nests. They have some great methods there. I always end up getting a wasp nest under my deck, so every year I have to get my husband to go out there and kill them. Make sure you’re going on your wasp killing missions at night, as they are more active during the daytime hours.

My mother says to paint the underside of my deck a light blue color to dissuade them from building there, but it seems like too much drama for me. (My deck is about 10 feet up from the ground.) If you are having trouble with wasps building under your deck, you might try the light blue trick.

Oh, and I looked up mud daubers for you. Indeed, they are a type of wasp.  I was never sure about that, myself. Just to ick you out, here’s a picture:

Ack. Good luck getting rid of your wasps! Perhaps this might freak them out and make them leave? Or maybe putting little tiny wasp heads on stakes might help. Let us know what works!

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