Ground wasps are the popular name for some species of wasps that live in the sand, underground. These include sand, road, and digging. These species do not build nests, they live separately, they build holes in the ground to find prey for laying eggs. People call ground wasps paper wasps, which have chosen thickets of grass, stacked tree branches, various mounds, and old stumps to locate their nest.
Description of appearance
Wasps set up nests in the ground for several reasons - there is no suitable place in the immediate area, an overly attractive rodent burrow or an abandoned anthill has been discovered. Externally, ground wasps in the country are no different from those that set up a hive under the roof of the house, in the attic, balcony, or tree.
Characteristic features are a bright striped color with yellow-black stripes, thin wings, a small head, and small antennae. And also the presence of a sting, which the insect uses for self-defense during the hunting process when obtaining food. A photo of a ground wasp is presented below, and next to it is a representative of paper wasps that do not live in the soil.
Who are earth hornets
Since hornets are a subspecies of true wasps, they can also be classified as land wasps. Unlike the “ground” hornet, the earth hornet is often aggressive - in fact, this is their main difference.
On a note. Since hornets are larger than ordinary bees, and ground bees are also aggressive, their danger is quite significant - a larger amount of poison compared to other species, aggressiveness, as well as the possibility of a group attack by these insects can cause anaphylactic shock and even death in the victim. Like common hornets, ground hornets prey on other insects such as flies, spiders and beetles.
Vespiary
Wasps in the ground build the same hive as on the surface. The building material is wood - tree bark, wooden fences, outbuildings. The insect spits out a special secretion, waits until the top layer softens, then scrapes it off with its powerful jaws. Carries it to the nest, digests it with saliva, resulting in a sticky elastic mass.
Inside there are numerous honeycombs arranged in several rows. The outer layers of the nest are more fragile, the material resembles toilet paper. The nest expands as the number of the family increases. The average size of a ground wasp hive is the size of an apple. In some cases, they can reach a diameter of 50 cm or more. Takes the shape of a sphere.
Interesting!
True ground wasps dig holes in the ground to find chafer larvae and other potential victims. They paralyze with poison, lay an egg on the abdomen, climb out, and bury the entrance. After a few hours, a larva appears and lives on the victim’s body, feeding on its entrails. In this way, the female provides the larva with favorable development conditions, but she herself no longer takes part in raising the calf.
Ground wasps
Mechanical disposal
How to remove a beehive from a balcony? What to do if wasps have built a nest under the roof? To do this, there are several effective methods that can be used to quickly destroy a wasp nest and remove them from the house. Prevent these insects from coming back. First, you can protect yourself from the harm they can cause.
Hands can be protected with long rubber gloves, and clothing should be tight and as closed as possible. You can protect your face with a special beekeeping hat with a mesh, or come up with your own homemade version.
You need to choose the right time of day - it would be ideal to go on such a “hunt” in the evening, at night, when they are least active.
If it is noticed that wasps make their home in the spring, early summer, then it is not recommended to debug their destruction until later, when their colony becomes numerous and it will be difficult to find out how many wasps are in the nest.
Fire
Fire should only be used as a last resort. Everything is done quickly and efficiently. Wear protective clothing, wait until dark, take a bucket, kindle, matches, and approach the nest from a safe distance. When you are completely sure that these insects are sleeping, you can begin to neutralize this colony.
To carry out everything safely, you can take an unnecessary rag, throw it over the cocoon, throw it into a bucket, quickly set it on fire, and then move some distance away, since some individuals can fly out and behave aggressively.
Water
They remove the wasp nest using water, mainly on the balcony. There are two ways to do this: the first method requires boiling water, the other you can simply put plain water in a bucket. You can throw a plastic bag over it and destroy the hive in water by immersing it completely, while pressing it down with something heavy so that it does not float up and the wasps do not get out.
Everything should be done quickly. You cannot leave these insects in the bag for a long time - they can chew through the polyethylene and get out. It is best to remove this bucket from the house immediately.
Traps
How to destroy a wasp nest under the roof? This is very difficult to do with the help of fire, water, access to it is difficult. Then you can destroy the wasp hive using special traps. There are such options on sale, or you can make them yourself. Using this method, you can lure them out of the hive and destroy them by falling into a prepared trap.
What to do if wasps have built a nest under the roof - use this ideal option. It won't be hard to do it yourself:
- To do this, prepare a clean plastic bottle.
- Its neck needs to be cut off along with a small part of the bottle, placing it in it with the back side.
- To prevent the neck from falling inward, you can secure it to the bottle with tape.
- Wipe the walls of the trap with sunflower oil so that individual individuals cannot get out.
It is necessary to place bait in this trap, which will attract wasps to it by the smell carried around. In early spring, it can be prepared from meat waste and offal, but it is worth remembering that such a “delicacy” has an unpleasant odor. In summer and autumn, you can pour sweet syrup into a bottle, which attracts wasps into it.
Don't use honey - it will attract bees. The bait in the trap must be changed regularly, washed, filled, and filled with new bait. As they decompose, dead individuals release an odor that repels the living.
It is worth remembering that catching all the individuals is difficult, time-consuming, and unsafe, but if you manage to lure the queen into this trap, then it will be easier to destroy the colony, and removing a wasp nest on the balcony will be much easier.
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It can only be lured in early spring - it is not so active or aggressive. There are special traps on sale that have poisonous bait. It needs to be changed as it becomes filled with insects. Due to the chemicals it contains, it must be hung away from your own home.
Vacuum cleaner
There is a simple option - remove the hive using a vacuum cleaner. This can only be done if the vacuum cleaner is a washing model. Pour soapy water into the reservoir, make sure that the hose is long enough and the grille is shallow, which will prevent insects from flying out.
Carefully bring the end of the hose to the hole in the socket and turn it on. If they get into water with soap, it will be difficult for them to get out and they will die there. Before you remove a wasp's nest in your dacha, be sure to make sure that no one is left there, all its inhabitants have died.
Behavior, lifestyle
By mid-summer, a wasp swarm numbers hundreds of thousands of adults. Each wasp performs its own functions:
- some build a nest;
- others forage for food;
- still others look after the larvae.
At the head is the uterus, which is exclusively engaged in the reproduction of offspring. Adults feed on flower nectar, fruit and vegetable juices, and honey. The larvae require protein food to feed them. For their sake, working females kill insects and circle around meat and fish products.
Ground wasps on the site become extremely active towards the end of summer and beginning of autumn. They often enter the house, circle in the yard, and do not allow them to work in peace in the garden. Insects are aggressive, the slightest movement of the hand in their direction is regarded as a threat, and they rush to attack. Accidentally finding a person near a nest can result in numerous bites from an entire swarm.
Interesting!
Ground wasps communicate with each other by making special sounds and signals. The insect notifies others about danger, threat, and the presence of food. In a matter of minutes, a whole swarm appears.
What does it look like
The black wasp is slightly larger in size than its usual yellow relatives and reaches 1.5-5 cm in length. They have a dark head and chest, the abdomen can be covered with spots or stripes of yellow, white, purple, which depends on the type of pompilid.
The wings are smoky and when folded are located parallel to the body. The legs of earth wasps are thin and long, equipped with ridges for digging. The head has eyes and antennae. The body is covered with thin short hairs.
Pompylids have a very powerful sting that easily penetrates the shell of insects or larvae. Black individuals move feverishly, performing zigzags; they constantly flap their wings. Such dashes are periodically replaced by short flights. Wasps feed on nectar, while the larvae are fed on the prepared body of a spider or other insect.
Bite danger
Wasps that live in the ground bite quite hard. At the site of the attack, swelling, swelling, redness, and a local increase in temperature immediately appear. As the wound heals, itching is felt. With a normal reaction of the body and proper first aid, the ground wasp bite goes away within 3-5 days. The bruise completely disappears within a week. To reduce painful symptoms, folk remedies are used in the form of compresses, lotions, soda paste, and laundry soap.
If you are bitten by a ground wasp, you must wash the wound to remove any remaining poison and disinfect the wound. Use medical alcohol, ammonia, as well as any alcohol tincture based on medicinal herbs - valerian, motherwort, glod, calendula.
Antiallergic ointments for wasp stings
On a note!
In field conditions, they are treated with the juice of plantain, celandine, and dandelion. And also vodka, lemon, cucumber juice, rubbed with a slice of fresh potato. Or they moisten the sore spot with their own saliva.
Ground wasp venom causes an allergic reaction of varying intensity. If the bite site thickens and increases in diameter by more than 10 mm, we are talking about a severe allergy that needs to be treated with antihistamines and antiallergic ointments. They use drops, tablets for oral administration - Claritin, Fenistil, Diazolin, Elcet, Supravtin, as well as ointments for treating the affected area - Fenistil gel, Psilo balm, Elokom, Betamethasone, etc.
A severe allergic reaction is accompanied by a general deterioration in health - weakness, malaise, headache, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, vomiting, impaired coordination of movement, laryngeal swelling, decreased blood pressure. Symptoms develop within 5-20 minutes after a ground wasp bite. Emergency assistance is required, administration of Adrenaline, antihistamines, hospitalization for several days.
Destruction of wasp nests: means and methods of control
If we talk about how to destroy a wasp nest on a balcony, you need to understand that globally the implementation is expressed in 2 ways:
Self-harassment of wasps
An unusual option for how to get rid of a wasp nest on a balcony would be a couple of ordinary plastic bottles with a narrow neck. Each of them will need to be cut in half and connected so that the narrow neck of the “funnel” is directed towards the bottom of the second part. Then the bottles are filled one third with a sweet solution (honey, sugared water, etc.) and hung near the problem area. Having smelled the sweet aroma, insects will be drawn to its source, but after entering the bottle they will no longer be able to fly out.
The third method is classic, but not suitable for all cases. If you are interested in how to get rid of a wasp nest in the attic, on the balcony (or anywhere else), attached to the surface by a small stem-twig, then a regular plastic bag pre-treated with household chemicals will come to your aid. Carefully cover the socket with it, cut the retainer (leg) and tighten the neck. Send the resulting “bag with a gift” straight into the oven.
There is an opinion that the destruction of wasp nests should be done at night. Allegedly, at this time the insects will not be able to react properly because they are in a state of sleep. However, this statement is only partly true. In the first 1-1.5 minutes, the pests may not touch you, but then, if you do not protect yourself properly, the question of how to get rid of wasps on the balcony or in the attic will very soon develop into the question of how to escape from their stings angry owners.
Therefore, if you do not want unnecessary problems and injuries among the environment, it will be much more practical and safer to entrust the destruction of wasps to services specializing in this matter, such as the Unified Sanitary Service.
2. Destruction of the wasp nest by specialists
Turning to professionals is not only the simplest solution, but also the most far-sighted one. Firstly, who, if not qualified exterminators, knows how to get rid of wasps on the balcony, in the attic, etc. Secondly, calling specialists will protect you from the threats described above. And finally, thirdly, calling the Unified Sanitary Service is a benefit. Once you dial our number (8(495)255-38-53) you will save:
As you can see, the benefits are obvious. Therefore, don’t hesitate, call, and the question of how to remove a wasp’s nest from your home will no longer cause you any problems.
How to get rid of earth wasps
If there are no allergy sufferers in the family, the nest is located in a place that is safe for humans, and there is no point in fighting earth wasps. They attack only in case of danger, a threat to their own life or larvae. With their presence they help fight many pests of garden and vegetable crops. At the end of autumn, the swarm disappears and the nest becomes empty. Working individuals, the old queen die, young fertilized females look for places to winter in the wood.
If there is a danger to humans, there are several ways to remove wasps from the ground: destroy the nest, or reduce the number of insects in the area. The procedure for getting rid of the hive should be carried out in the evening, when the whole family returns to the nest to spend the night, or early in the morning, when the insects have not yet had time to fly away.
- You can destroy a wasp nest in the ground by burning it. They douse it with a flammable substance - kerosene, gasoline, machine oil, and set it on fire.
- You can destroy a nest in the ground with water. Pour a bucket of boiled water into the hole. If necessary, repeat the procedure again the next day.
- A nest that becomes empty in the fall needs to be dug up. Destroyed in any way. This is required so that a new swarm does not settle there in the spring. Wasps have the ability to return to their original place.
- Another extermination option is to drive an aspen stake into the nest. The interior is damaged and the family is forced to relocate. But there is a possibility that they will settle in the immediate vicinity.
Getting rid of earthen wasps on your own site is quite simple; the whole difficulty lies in observing safety measures. In case of incorrect actions or mistakes, a person is subjected to numerous bites. Everything needs to be done as quickly and clearly as possible. Wear a protective suit, head net, helmet or beekeeper uniform.
On a note!
To reduce the number of insects, traps made of plastic bottles are placed on the site. Cut off the neck, turn it inside, secure it with tape, adhesive tape, and staples. Pour honey, jam, kvass, beer, juice, lemonade inside, and add a piece of meat. One trap can catch several dozen wasps per day.
What to do if wasps have settled on the balcony?
There can be no question of a peaceful neighborhood with insects that have built a nest on a balcony or loggia. The territory is too small, so the residents will nest nearby. And the wasps will not like this. Predators will regularly sting people, seeing them as a potential threat. The choice in this situation is small: do not open the balcony door until late autumn or destroy the invaders.
The first thing you have to do is determine the location of the wasp's nest on the balcony. It can be located:
- under the ceiling;
- on the wall;
- behind the casing;
- from the outside.
In each case, you will have to act, taking into account the nuances of housing placement.
Traps
A universal option is to make a trap with poisoned bait. You will need an empty tin can or a cut plastic bottle. Bait made from kvass, compote or beer is poured into the container. The insecticide is first diluted in the liquid. These agents have a wide spectrum of action. They affect insects by contact and intestinal means. Substances in the form of a concentrate or powder are easily dissolved in liquid.
Advice. Choose an odorless product, otherwise the bait will not attract wasps.
One of the inexpensive and effective insecticides is boric acid. The powder is odorless, being a medicine, it is safe for humans. For 100 ml of sweet bait you will need half a teaspoon of boric acid. To prevent the wasps from drowning in the trap, but carrying poison to the nest, you will need to install ladders made of sticks. The mechanism of destruction is simple: adult individuals die after eating the poison, and the larvae and the uterus receive the toxin through contact. The only drawback of the method is that you have to wait 7-10 days for the insects to die.
Chemical insecticides
In a multi-story building, some methods, such as burning the nest, are not available. But there are modern effective drugs that can be used without fear. The most convenient form of release is wasp nest aerosol. Thanks to the powerful jet, treatment can be carried out at a distance from the insects’ home. The drug is able to penetrate into hard-to-reach places - behind the casing, in cracks or behind the baseboard. With its help it is easy to process a nest built on the outside of the balcony.
- Aerosol Dr. Klausa - active substances cypermethrin, tetramethrin and piperonyl butoxide. The combination of insecticides makes the product highly toxic to flying insects. It penetrates the chitinous cover and blocks the nerve impulses of the wasps. Adults die within a few minutes from paralysis of all organs. Processing takes place with windows and doors closed. The room is ventilated after 15 minutes.
- Dichlorvos is a product proven over decades of use. Since Soviet times, the formula of the active substance has changed. Modern products use pyrethroid compounds. One cylinder is enough to exterminate stinging insects on the balcony. The advantage of dichlorvos is its affordable price.
- Mosquitol aerosol against wasp nests - a drug designed specifically for the destruction of flying insects in non-residential premises and on the street. A powerful tool that allows you to deal with the nest in a few minutes. The active ingredients - bioallethrin and cypermethrin - belong to the second generation pyrethroids. The two-component formulation is designed specifically to combat stinging insects - wasps and hornets. High pressure allows you to spray the can from a distance of 6 m.
Spraying a self-prepared solution of insecticides will be no less effective. Preparations based on microcapsules - Delta Zone, Minap 22, Get, ensure the effectiveness of the composition in any conditions. The prepared solution is poured into a container and sprayed as a spray.
Mechanical method
A nest built on the ceiling of a balcony can be destroyed without chemicals. All you need is a bucket filled with water. At night, when the whole family gathers in the house, the nest is immersed in water. To secure the bucket pressed to the ceiling, you will need a stepladder. The structure should stand for several hours. This time is enough for the insects to drown. Before you remove the bucket, it is better to be on the safe side. You can check for live wasps by hitting the dish with a stick. If there is no humming or buzzing, all the insects are dead.
Remedy for earthen wasps
Chemical methods of combating ground wasps
Dangerous cohabitants can be poisoned with special drugs. Use boric acid or broad-spectrum insecticides.
- Gel baits are laid out on the site, designed to destroy ants and rodents - Great Warrior, Fas, etc.
- Dilute a bag of boric acid - 10 g, 1 liter of water, mix thoroughly until completely dissolved, add 1 tbsp. spoon into the bait - jam, honey, juice, etc., sprinkle pieces of fruit, meat, fish with powder.
- Fill the nest with insecticides, crush the top soil at the entrance to the hole, and add it to the bait. It is better to use odorless preparations so as not to repel insects. Effective products - Lambda Zone, Get, Delta Zone, as well as any dusts in powder form - Clean House, Baygot, Trianon, Super Fas.
The poison enters the body of insects through contact and intestinal routes. Disrupts the functioning of the nervous system, causing paralysis and death. Complete destruction of the family is observed within a week. You can destroy a hive without much effort. The advantage of poisonous baits is that wasps drag them into the nest, feed the queen and larvae. Removing pests using poison in a summer cottage requires caution.
Stinging insects are an unpleasant neighborhood in the countryside
Living outside the city requires close proximity to nature. Wasps are traditional inhabitants of summer cottages. They are our allies in the fight against garden pests. Each predator catches and gives 20-30 small insects to feed its offspring. Unfortunately, wasps not only help, but also cause harm.
- Insects spoil the harvest, especially berries - raspberries, grapes.
- Aggressive predators threaten the health of children and the elderly.
- Wasps often become carriers of intestinal infections. They feed on garbage dumps and animal corpses, and then settle on food.
Arriving at the site in the summer, the owners may see an unpleasant surprise in the form of a structure above the entrance to the house or under the roof of an outdoor toilet. It’s not worth taking risks in such a situation; you need to quickly decide how to get rid of the wasp’s nest in the country. Chemicals will be an indispensable means for quick and guaranteed destruction. You can use one of the described aerosols. This option has several advantages:
- The products are intended for use indoors and outdoors.
- They are highly toxic to flying insects.
- Can be used against nests located at a height of up to 3-5 m.
Attention. For safety reasons, it is not recommended to spray chemicals from stairs. If an insect attacks you unexpectedly, you may fall and get injured.
After destroying the inhabitants, the paper honeycombs must be knocked down with any tool and burned along with the corpses of the wasps.
A less safe, but equally effective method is to use a bag of insecticide. You will need a large, thick plastic bag, tape and one of the insect repellent concentrates. Any chemical is poured inside the bag:
- Executioner;
- Cucaracha;
- Karbofos;
- Sinuzan;
- Get.
Polyethylene is put on the nest, its neck is secured with tape. Everything must fit tightly so that the inhabitants of the house do not break free. It is recommended to leave the package for several hours. After this, as in the case of the bucket, it is worth checking the effectiveness of the work. By knocking on the nest, you can verify the death of the wasps. At the point of attachment, the structure is knocked down and disposed of together with the bag.
Attention. This method is dangerous, it requires courage and skill. Protective equipment will be required. People who are allergic to wasp stings should not destroy them.
Folk remedies
The safest folk remedy for fighting wasps is a trap. They are sold in stores or prepared independently. In order to complete this trap, you will need an empty plastic bottle. A third of the bottle is cut off from the top and placed neck down in the cut-off part. The bottom is filled with something sweet, or better yet, fermented jam, beer, spoiled apples. However, experienced summer residents fear that these products, in addition to wasps, may also attract bees. To complete the production of the bait, you should add a poison to it that does not have a pungent odor for insects.- This is a rather dangerous method, so you should not use it without special clothing. Take the insecticide, pour it into a strong plastic bag and firmly put it on the nest. Glue the edges to the surface on which the nest is built. The package should be removed after a few days, first by knocking next to it. After the nest is removed, the area where it was located should be treated with an insecticide.
Which remedy is the most effective?
One of the most effective ways to exterminate wasps in a summer cottage is to use products based on honey and fly agaric. Pour 100 g of honey into the glass and fill the remaining space with crushed fly agaric caps. The product must be boiled for 3 minutes.
The cooled bait should be placed under the bushes. It is important to carry out the entire procedure only with gloves. As soon as the insects die and stop appearing on the site, the poison is removed.
You can get rid of unwanted neighbors using a vacuum cleaner. A prerequisite is the presence of a wide hose. The mesh of the vacuum cleaner should be thick so that wasps cannot escape. The hose is attached near the entrance to the hole. A soap solution is poured into the vacuum cleaner. Within 30 min. need to suck in insects.
Thus, to get rid of earth wasps and protect yourself and others from them, there are many ways. Some are easy and simple to implement, others require increased care, such as setting a nest on fire. In any case, they are all effective, and the gardener decides which one to choose!
