Boric acid
In a calm environment, wasps never attack, but in an incomprehensible situation, the insect can perceive a person’s movement as aggression. Simply removing the nest and taking it out of the room will not work. Wasps will defend their home and attack. Therefore, we have to look for methods that will effectively and painlessly help get rid of the wasp family.
Popular insecticides (Dichlorvos, Delta Zone, Get) are not always convenient to use due to their characteristic chemical odor. In contrast, boric acid is a simple, affordable and safe means of combating wasps. Boric acid began to be used as an insecticidal drug several decades ago.
Boric acid against wasps
Boric acid is widely used against wasps due to a number of advantages:
- The drug is freely available in pharmacies and specialty stores. You can purchase it in the form of a white powder (packaging – 10 g) or in the form of a 3% solution. There is no special purpose required for purchase;
- Harmlessness. Despite the fact that acid is included in the group of insecticides, special conditions are not required to poison wasps. By the nature of its effect on the human body, boric acid is a useful product. It is actively used for medical purposes: for disinfection, as an anti-inflammatory agent;
- Performance. The destruction of the insect occurs immediately after the composition penetrates through the integument into the internal organs;
- No pungent odor compared to other aerosol-type chemicals (for example, Dichlorvos).
The principle of action of boric acid is that after a wasp enters the body, the insides are completely burned out. It is used in its pure form as a poison or as an integral component of traps and baits.
Modern devices
Some experts suggest using ultrasound to get rid of wasps and protect yourself from their attacks. The fumigator operates from an electrical network with minimal energy consumption or batteries.
A device that looks like a radio emits waves at a certain frequency. Ultrasound is not felt by humans; it causes insects to feel anxious, worried, and forced to fly away from unfavorable territory. The wasp repeller begins to have maximum effect on insects after continuous operation for 14 days. If a nest has been established on the territory, the pests will hasten to leave it.
An ultrasonic repeller is used to get rid of rodents, flies, mosquitoes, dogs, birds, which often raises many questions among consumers. How can one and the same device act on insects and animals with equal efficiency, having a couple of modes of changing frequencies. The effect of the proposed devices is questionable and has not been officially confirmed. Ultrasound does not pass through walls and is ineffective if the nest is located there.
Wasp repellers
Devices for repelling wasps on the modern market:
- Jobar;
- Air comfort;
- X-BIRD;
- Riddex.
The range of action of the electric fumigator is from several meters to a kilometer, according to manufacturers. The average price of an ultrasonic repeller is 1000 rubles.
The most effective means of combating wasps are insecticides in combination with traps, baits, and physical methods of destruction. You can eradicate pests without much effort in a few hours, but you need to know what to be afraid of wasps. You can scare away plants with a strong smell - basil, geranium, peppermint, and acrid smoke.
Poison for wasps boric acid
Boric acid for ants
The use of poison in its pure form is quite rare, since the wasps need to be attracted to the substance. Boric acid does not have a pronounced aroma, which means that a wasp will not easily fall for the product. In addition, it is important to know that the concentrated solution is prepared based on alcohol. The pungent alcohol smell repels insects.
Ground wasp
Boric acid can be used as a poison in its pure form without additional equipment against earth wasps. They make their nests in holes in the soil. To destroy a hive, you need to take 1 bucket of water and dilute 0.1 kg (10 packages) of boric acid powder in it. This solution needs to be filled with the entrance and the space around it.
Recipes and instructions for use
The effect of the drug on bedbugs is possible only by contact.
It should get on the body of insects, lead to drying of their tissues and subsequent death. To do this, the powder is used in dry form, scattered in places where parasites are expected to move. The powder should be sprinkled between walls, baseboards and other horizontal surfaces where bedbugs may be present. You can make traps by pouring large piles of powder with flour in the places where insects follow. Baits in the form of a mixture of powder and egg yolk are ineffective when fighting bedbugs, since they drink human blood and do not show interest in food.
A mixture of acid and egg does not affect bedbugs, since they are not interested in food.
One of the recipes will help enhance the effect of using boric acid:
- Combine naphthalene (25 g), turpentine and kerosene (100 ml each). Apply to places where the movement of blood-sucking parasites has been observed, and ventilate the room well.
- Pour dry wormwood (100 g) with one liter of alcohol and leave in a dark place for 4 weeks. Treat surfaces on which bed bugs move.
- Wipe crevices, sockets, baseboards, and entrance doors with vinegar essence in situations where bed bugs live among neighbors. A substance with a pungent odor will repel parasites and become an obstacle to their relocation to a new apartment.
In September 2021, a paper by one researcher was published in the Journal of Economic Entomology. In it, entomologist professor Kobi Shala argues that boric acid is only effective when it penetrates their body.
After conducting experiments with the substance, it turned out that when bloodsuckers were exposed externally to dry powder, their mortality rate was 33%. With multiple increases in poison concentration, losses increased by 10%, and only among hungry males. More than 85% of well-fed individuals experienced negative effects on their body.
Eating acid also made it possible, for which special feeders with blood and poison were prepared. A portion of blood containing 0.5% of the substance helped destroy up to 80% of bedbugs within a week. When the concentration increased to 1%, all individuals died within 4 days.
Reviews from people who tried to fight bed bugs using the product in question indicate such disadvantages of the product as:
- long wait for insects to receive a lethal dose of the substance;
- no toxic effect on larvae;
- the need to sprinkle powder almost throughout the entire room, which gives the apartment an untidy appearance and increases the risk of the substance entering the human body through the respiratory tract, by contact.
Boric acid should be used as part of a comprehensive active bed bug control program. To get quick results and eliminate outbreaks of insects, you should resort to the services of a team of exterminators.
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Wasp bait with boric acid
The hardest part of getting rid of wasps is getting their attention. You need to act cunningly, using bait. Braga, kvass and beer are suitable for these purposes, as well as any aromatic and sweet fermented drinks: compotes, honey with water, watermelon juice. When choosing bait, it is worth considering that it should not attract beneficial honey plants - bees. Therefore, there is no need to choose fresh jam and sugar syrup; bees are indifferent to fermentation products. To enhance the fermentation process, you can add fruit to the sweet liquid and leave the mixture in the sun. Boric acid powder should be added to the liquid at the rate of 10 g per 1 liter. It is not worth increasing the concentration, as the bait will taste bitter and this will scare away the wasps.
Wasp bait with boric acid
Boric acid against ants in the garden
Pieces of raw meat can be used as bait. They are impregnated with a concentrate (3%) of boric acid and laid out near the nest and in the intended habitats. Meat bait is especially effective in early spring, as it helps get rid of larvae, because adult wasps feed their offspring with protein foods.
Important! The bait should be located out of the reach of children and animals.
Prevention
Reproduction of wasps can be prevented by following preventive measures:
- Empty hives must be destroyed and the attachment site must be disinfected with potassium permanganate or peroxide. Wasps very often occupy old houses;
- Conduct an audit of fruit stocks, remove rotting specimens;
- Inspect the cracks in the wall, ceiling, floor, and, if possible, seal them with sealant and other building mixtures;
- Carry out preventive insecticidal treatment before moving into the house;
- Carry out general cleaning;
- Periodically rearrange things and furniture; wasps love secluded corners where no one looks in or disturbs them.
Boric acid greatly simplifies the fight against wasp nests in a summer cottage. In some cases of mass colonization of wasps, after treatment with boric acid, additional treatment is carried out with more aggressive chemicals.
Worth considering! Strong insecticides are more toxic and can harm not only wasps, but also people and animals. Therefore, it is necessary to observe safety precautions when processing. To avoid the risk of poisoning, you should seek help from specialists.
Wasp trap with boric acid
Boric acid for tomatoes
In a situation where the number of wasps on a personal plot grows exponentially, but their nest cannot be detected, an effective control measure is to make a trap. You can make it yourself or purchase it in a store. The design of the trap is primitive and does not require special knowledge. The secret to the success of this remedy lies in the behavior of insects. Once in a confined space, they lose their bearings and remain imprisoned forever.
The trap can be made from an ordinary plastic bottle. The neck is cut off and the narrow side is inserted into the bottle. The joint of the edges is wrapped with tape or tape. A couple of holes are made along the edges to thread the thread (or twine). This is necessary in order to hang the structure. Beer or jam is poured into the trap, to which boric acid powder is added. Conventionally, the distance from the neck to the bottom of the bottle should be divided in half and the liquid should be poured halfway. Wasps fly into the trap through a narrow neck, eat the poisoned treat and cannot get out. As a result of poisoning, they die inside the trap.
Wasp trap with boric acid
You need to clean and change the fluid at least once every 2 days. The process of destroying a swarm of wasps using a trap takes a long time, since individuals fall into the bottle one at a time. To enhance the effect, boric acid should be used to lubricate the trap and entrances from the outside. Even if the insect changes its mind about flying inside, it can touch the poison from the outside. This will be enough to destroy it. The main point of this method is to catch all the worker wasps. Then the queen and larvae will remain in the nest. It is not difficult to destroy the hive in this situation, since there is no one left to attack the nest. The hive can be drowned or burned.
If some wasps can get out of the trap, then there is no harm in it. They ate the poison anyway, which means they won’t survive. In addition, they become carriers of poison for their family, so the hive will be infected.
Must be taken into account! The trap is effective in very confined spaces. For boric acid to work against wasps in a trap, it must be taken into account that the coverage area of 1 trap is 500 m2. Based on this, several prepared structures need to be evenly distributed over larger areas.
For those who do not want to spend time and effort making traps, devices have been invented that are available for purchase in hardware stores and online stores:
- WASP TRAP is an egg-shaped trap with an unusual design of entrances (they are buried inward and directed upward, so the wasp does not see the exit out when entering the trap). The upper part is translucent, the lower part is multi-colored (the bait is placed there). There is a mount for hanging on a tree.
- Swissino is a similar cylindrical trap.
- GUARDn CARE is a strangely shaped trap with a large number of entrances of different diameters located at different levels.
Wasp trap GUARDn CARE
The essence of homemade and purchased traps is the same, so their effectiveness is at the same level. The gardener chooses what he likes best in appearance.
Another trap option is a glue trap. It is less effective, as it is suitable for single destruction of wasps. For manufacturing you will need a thick sheet of cardboard and glue (for example, RATRAP, ALT). The glue is applied in a generous layer onto the paper base, and the bait is placed on top. Wasps fly up to feed and stick to the adhesive base.
Which remedies are most effective?
There are different methods of dealing with wasps. This is the well-known universal “enemy” of many pests, Dichlorvos, and the folk remedy boric acid, and numerous, different types of chemical-based preparations. It is recommended to select a method of destruction based on where the wasp nest is located and what size it is.
GET against wasps
Its advantages: high level of toxicity, no odor, safe for processing for humans. Sold in the form of a concentrate (100 ml in a bottle). Ratio of product and water: 100 ml per 2 liters of liquid. To destroy a nest located on a branch, fill a thick bag with the product and immerse the entire structure created by the wasps in it, after which the edge is secured with tape. Duration of exposure – 2 days.
In a hollow or in the soil, processing is easier. In this case, it is enough to fill the nest with the solution, and then plug the inlet with poisoned matter. Baits are also prepared. Popular recipe: 1 bottle of product per 1 liter of product (jam, beer or kvass). All that remains is to pour the mixture into containers and place it near the nest.
Boric acid for preparing baits
This is another means of getting rid of wasps. Its advantages: universal; highly effective; is inexpensive; non-toxic to humans; there is no smell. Available in powder form. The bait is prepared from the same products as in the case of the GET preparation: beer, kvass, jam. The components are mixed and poured into containers, and then placed around the nest.
An auxiliary measure is to treat the meat with a solution based on boric acid. The product is placed as close as possible to the wasp habitat. You can use a substance similar in structure and properties - borax.
Application of Dichlorvos
This is another effective remedy for getting rid of wasps. Dichlorvos is offered in aerosol form. The main component is a substance from the pyrethroid group. Previously, Dichlorvos contained organophosphorus compounds. The treatment is carried out in closed clothing, always at night, when the wasps are inactive and are in the nest. The procedure is repeated several times; a single spraying is not enough to destroy all individuals, since after each approach only a portion of the pests die.
Delta Zone
Gets rid of various insects, including hornets/wasps. It does not have a pronounced odor, which makes the drug suitable for bait. In terms of effectiveness, the product is similar to the substance GET. Sold in the form of a concentrate (100 ml in a bottle).
Tetrix
Country of origin: Holland. The drug represents a group of professional products. This means that it is characterized by a high level of toxicity. Tetrix is not sold in the public domain, this is its difference from products like Mosquitol, etc. However, if you manage to get Tetrix, it will be possible to remove wasps in a short time. It is recommended to work in a protective suit and respirator. Contact of the substance with plantings should also be avoided.
Karbofos
This is another popular universal remedy. Its advantages: affordable price, relatively high level of efficiency. Karbofos is offered in the form of powder and concentrate. It cannot be used as bait, since the smell will interfere with attracting wasps. The concentrate is diluted with water 1:10, for example, 100 ml per 1 liter of liquid. The nest is immersed in a thick bag filled with a poisonous solution, and its edge is closed. An alternative method of killing wasps is the standard spraying procedure (carried out repeatedly).
Glue for traps
This is a non-toxic product that acts differently than the insecticide-based preparations discussed above: the surface (cardboard) is treated with an adhesive and left close to the nest. Bait is placed in the center of the site, using a product that wasps love (watermelon, meat). Examples of adhesives: ALT, Kapkan.
Interesting video: How to get rid of wasps yourself
