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Old 14-06-2007, 10:20 PM posted to rec.gardens
Sheldon[_1_] Sheldon[_1_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2006
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Default Wasps building nest in my attic

bslu wrote:
I have a bay window extending out over my deck and I have noticed
wasps regularly entering and exiting the ventilation space between the
gutter and the shingles. My wife, not a big fan of insects/wasps,
told me to get in the attic and do some spraying or else, which I
promptly did last fall (she may be small but she can pack a mean
bite, wife not wasps). After venturing into the attic and finding a
half dozen or so paper wasps nest (all small but some about 2 inches
in diameter), I sprayed them all and then returned later to knock down
the dead nest. The spring, the wasps are back and the wife is not to
happy about it. I ventured up in the attic again to doing some killing
and found that a lot of the nest were in the same general location as
last fall. Is there anything I can put in the attic to repel the
wasps? I read about Sevin dust but am unsure if that would work as a
repellent. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.


Sometimes setting off insecticide bombs inside the attic will
eliminate the problem... and most insects winter in the ground so if
you treat the ground all around your house perimeter by drenching with
the proper inscticide that can work too and often the basement walls
and any crawl space areas as well, often all treatments are employed
simultaneously... I don't suggest doing this yourself, contract a
reputable exterminator. Usually an exterminating company will
guarantee their work so they will return to retreat at no additional
charge, but you may need to sign up for a yearly progarm.

Many years ago I had an infestation of carpenter bees that had just
started in the soffit area of my attic, at least it was the first I
noticed them. The exterminator I contracted squirted some sort of
white powder into each hole with a rubber bulb syringe and plugged
them with ordinary bottle corks. It took three treatments to finally
eliminate them. I'm talking like forty years ago, back then the use
of potent insecticides was much more liberal, there were practically
no controls. If I remember correctly the entire carpenter bee job
cost $75, today it would cost more for an exterminator just to come to
your house.

Here is some info: http://doyourownpestcontrol.com/wasp.htm

Good luck.