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Wasp removal: Any pest control company will suffice?

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Mar 23, 2009
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Wasp removal: Any pest control company will suffice?

There are several wasp nests around the house. I think some may be mud wasps. Are most pest control companies able to remove these, or is this a speciality thing?

One issue is that the nests are just under the overhang of the roof over the second floor, so very high up.

I live in Scarborough if anyone has any recommendations for a good wasp control company.
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Newbie
Oct 15, 2020
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Tilbury Ontario
From what you describe. All you need is a tall ladder and a broom handle to knock the nests down or a pressure washer to blast them away. Now is a good time while wasps are dormant.
Anybody with a tall ladder or GOOD pressure washer should be able to do this.
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littlebigguy wrote: From what you describe. All you need is a tall ladder and a broom handle to knock the nests down or a pressure washer to blast them away. Now is a good time while wasps are dormant.
Anybody with a tall ladder or GOOD pressure washer should be able to do this.
Good point. I don't have either. Maybe I'll try my tallest ladder and a broom handle. Hmm...
Jr. Member
May 9, 2014
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I use a telescoping golf ball retriever when I up on a 8’ ladder.

I knocked down a nest this winter with the kids in the local park with snowballs. I don’t think I saw any dormant wasps inside.
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So you guys were right. With my medium sized ladder and two broom sticks taped to each other I was able to knock down 3 wasp nests. I saw a total of one mud dauber come out of the area near one mud dauber nest, but I think it may have just been coincidence since the nest didn't seem active.

A fourth nest was a regular wasp nest and about 6 inches across. I couldn't reach with that ladder or a somewhat longer one either. However, luckily it was over my 2nd floor window so I just went upstairs with that trusty double broom handle, opened up the window, and knocked the nest down from there.

I have found a fifth nest which again I suspect is inactive. However, that will have to be another day. It's just under the roof on the second floor over a balcony so I'll have to bring a ladder up there to get that knocked down.

My wife did say she some wasps flying around yesterday, so either they're coming from a neighbour's house, or else they're from another nest somewhere I haven't found yet.
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Jul 7, 2017
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EugW wrote: My wife did say she some wasps flying around yesterday, so either they're coming from a neighbour's house, or else they're from another nest somewhere I haven't found yet.
May be queens starting their colonies. At the end of the season, the new queens disperse and hibernate (old nest just dies away, as do the workers and old queen). They come out in spring to forage as they need to build a nest and lay eggs and raise the first batch of workers by themselves. If you can trap a queen now, it'll save you the bother of trapping thousands in late summer.

Wasps generally don't reuse/keep inhabiting the same nest as honey bees do (of which I (deliberately) have 2 hives in my backyard).
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thriftshopper wrote: May be queens starting their colonies. At the end of the season, the new queens disperse and hibernate (old nest just dies away, as do the workers and old queen). They come out in spring to forage as they need to build a nest and lay eggs and raise the first batch of workers by themselves. If you can trap a queen now, it'll save you the bother of trapping thousands in late summer.

Wasps generally don't reuse/keep inhabiting the same nest as honey bees do (of which I (deliberately) have 2 hives in my backyard).
Interesting. Thanks for the info.
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Mar 17, 2004
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There is also a product called "one shot" that claims to shoot up to 10 feet. I have used it and I could reach the first floor eves of my house with it. It kills on contact.

Another thing I've done when I had a wasp nest under my porch is I got a shop vac, put in an inch or so of water and dish detergent, just a little bit or it foams up too much. Then tape the hose near the opening of the wasp nest. Turn it on for a few hours and walk away. When you come back you'll have a bucket of dead wasps.
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Jun 25, 2008
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Oni-kun wrote: There is also a product called "one shot" that claims to shoot up to 10 feet. I have used it and I could reach the first floor eves of my house with it. It kills on contact.
I've used the Raid Wasp & Hornet Bug Killer which sprays a LONG way (5.7m, so almost 19 feet) and it works great.
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Feb 4, 2015
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MikeMontrealer wrote: I've used the Raid Wasp & Hornet Bug Killer which sprays a LONG way (5.7m, so almost 19 feet) and it works great.
Same here. Just be mindful of wind and people nearby with the spray.

Also used jet setting on hose and was able to reach overhang just under roof [2 storey house]
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Aug 5, 2008
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Wasps generally start a new nest each season, so I always focus on catching them early if they start building nests in or around our yard. I wouldn't worry about old nests.

They say that wasps actually do not like to build new nests close to another one, so leaving those old nests may have been smarter. Although... If there are as many as you have, maybe that last "rule" is just a myth.
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Oni-kun wrote: There is also a product called "one shot" that claims to shoot up to 10 feet. I have used it and I could reach the first floor eves of my house with it. It kills on contact.

Another thing I've done when I had a wasp nest under my porch is I got a shop vac, put in an inch or so of water and dish detergent, just a little bit or it foams up too much. Then tape the hose near the opening of the wasp nest. Turn it on for a few hours and walk away. When you come back you'll have a bucket of dead wasps.
MikeMontrealer wrote: I've used the Raid Wasp & Hornet Bug Killer which sprays a LONG way (5.7m, so almost 19 feet) and it works great.
The jet spray/streams work very well, if you can get at the nest (ground dwellers are a PITA). Best time to use is in the evening, or after sunset and/or it's cool and the wasps are all home and resting. They won't/can't rouse easily to defend. If you have a red filter for your flash light (wasps, and bees, can't see red), all the better as they can't see you or the light. I'd ave that for the huge nests such as yellow jackets. The tiny ones used by the European paper wasp and other small nesters can just as easily (and cheaply) be blasted away by hose.
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junkmail2002 wrote: They say that wasps actually do not like to build new nests close to another one, so leaving those old nests may have been smarter. Although... If there are as many as you have, maybe that last "rule" is just a myth.
That might work for territorial wasps, and I think the bigger the nest, the more territorial they are. Those decoys are said to work for yellow jackets and the ones with the huge nests, not the "small nesters" such as the European Paper Wasp that has been introduced to the west coast. Their nests are tiny and they seem very tolerant of neighbouring colonies.
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