On Tue, 26 Aug 2008 01:48:58 -0500, Marie Dodge wrote:

Why would soap kill them in seconds when it's not a poison? Have you
done this yourself with wasps or is this something you read on an
organic site selling "magic soaps?"

The soap makes the water wetter. It soaks into their skin and they die.
I think maybe they breath through their skin and this makes them drown.
I don't know what happens, just that the soap kills them, and they are
dead. And you don't need special soap for aphids or white flies. Because
my friend is worried about chemicals, we used Dr. Bronners on her iris's,
and gave them a quick wipe between fingers. Also we misted her mint and
rosemary, with now fear of using them in the future. The white fly
infestation is now gone.
Now, about the wasps. My job is construction. Many times, when working
at someones house, I will encounter a wasp nest. Someone showed me the
soapy water trick many years ago. Fill a pan or large bowl with soapy
water. Fling it on the wasp nest. Done.

stonerfish