Wasps in Wall: Treat or Let Be?


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Old 08-21-17, 02:57 PM
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Exclamation Wasps in Wall: Treat or Let Be?

A few days ago I discovered wasps had eaten a hole into my attached garage, on the wall that is shared with my house. Looking closer I also found a main entry point from the outside, where there are about 4-6 wasps flying in and out at any given time.

My understanding is if I have this treated, all the wasps and larvae will mostly die and be left in the wall to rot. Alternatively, it seems like I could consider letting nature run its course, and then plug up the entry points in the late fall. In theory (in my mind anyway) this would mean that no rotting wasps etc. would be left in the house, only the empty paper nest, more or less.

Is leaving it alone just not an option? Do they continue to expand the nest at this point in the season, or has all the damage already been done?

For reference, from a climate standpoint, I live in Central NY

Thanks in advance!
 
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Old 08-22-17, 03:05 AM
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Personally I'd want the wasps gone asap. I doubt rotting wasp corpses would be an issue [unlike a rodent]
 
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Old 08-22-17, 03:51 AM
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I would not want them there, Did a google search and came up with many ideas on how to remove but none on weather to leave nest. try this search.
wasp nest in wall, leave or remove
 
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Old 08-22-17, 04:55 AM
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Wasps really don’t have much of a nest or much larvae as do honey bees, yellow jackets, etc. I wouldn’t hesitate to treat.

At dusk, while you can still see but when they should mostly be in there, I’d hold a wasp spray aerosol right against the opening so as to get the jet spray directly into the void space. Standing back and spraying at an opening won’t do it. If the paper nest is exposed such as under a soffit, then standing back will work, but not when an entry/exit point is involved. Wear glasses/goggles to prevent splash back from aerosol; protect your skin from potential stings.

Do not cover up the opening until long after you are sure that the activity has been stopped. Wouldn’t be unusual to have to treat again at some point. Covering up the opening too soon could really backfire.

Assuming that it is not honeybees, then yes, winter will solve your problem.
 
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Old 08-22-17, 07:42 AM
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Thanks everyone. The exterminator is coming tonight, so we'll see what happens.

I was tempted to DIY but, at least in NY state, you can't even buy the powder that is recommended to treat the holes after a fog spray. In fact, I couldn't find a fog spray available either. So in this case I'll have to leave it to professionals...
 
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Old 08-22-17, 12:26 PM
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Thanks for the update. NY state is very limiting on what is available to residents. My state of PA allows us to do and work with whatever the federal laws allow which keeps it simple. Some other states add their own more restrictive laws.

Anyway, glad you’re issue will be resolved soon.
 
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Old 08-22-17, 01:11 PM
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I had a football size nest that got into our bathroom exhaust vent and I was able to get upstream and use one of those room fogger.

After removal there was still a few larvae crawling but it was a god offal stinking mess, glad to have them gone.
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