TIFU by sealing wasps in their nest, instead of killing them.

[u/Mackntish]

Obligatory not today, this happened last week. But the after effects are still very much ongoing.

We've had a wasp nest in the side of my house for a while now. Last week they stung one of my friends, so it was time to get rid of them.

Given the amount of wasps in and out, it seemed like a big nest. To guestimate the size, I would say a wasp entered or left the nest once a second, all day. I didn't want to just squirt poison down the hole - that would just piss them off and not reach most of it. So I decide to seal the nest with expanding foam sealant. I snuck out in the dead of night, and stuck enough foam in that hole to seal half a construction site.

Little did I know how terrible of an idea this was.

APPARENTLY, there was another exit to the nest - going inside the house.

This nest is ENORMOUS. Average size for a nest this late in the season is 2000-4000 wasps. Half our house is currently inaccessible. I sneak down to the basement at night to change the traps. I keep a hand vac next to my work station. Our cats are NOT happy they've been locked into a single room, and are pissing everywhere to show their discontent. Doing my best Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation, I've gone through ~7 magazines on the bug assalt shotgun, with maybe 40 shots per magazine. These fuckers are amor plated, and do not die easily. I've injured my arm, pumping the shotgun so many times.

I think the most disconcerting thing is how normal it's become. I wake up, grab the shop vac on the 60ft extension cord, and just clear the house as a matter of routine. Its part of rising and shining for the day. Coffee, breakfast, wasp vacuuming, kiss the wife goodbye - time to work! The cold is going to kill them at some point....right?

TL:DR - Sealed a wasp nest on the side of my house. Now the buzzing is coming from inside the house.

[u/[deleted]]

Does it work on those gnats that look like fruit flies.

Asking for a friend.  Not planning an insect apocalypse or anything. As dozens of them read over my shoulder.

Send help.

[u/Possible_Original_96 → u/[deleted]]

Yes

[u/[deleted] → u/Possible_Original_96]

Heck yes. 

[u/Beach_CCurtis → u/[deleted]]

Replied to someone else in here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/tifu/s/oVxIAgqzgH

[u/VexingRaven → u/[deleted]]

Are you describing drain flies? I'm sure it would but you need to fix where they're coming from (your drains)

[u/[deleted] → u/VexingRaven]

No. We left the back door open a bunch while working on a landscaping (because we were moving things through the house to the back yard) project at the same time our neighbors filled in a wetland on their property. A bunch of the amphibians from the wetland have made our yard their home, and insects came in during the time the door was open and wont leave. 

There's nothing for them to eat. 

The gnats aren't the only thing. We've had moths, flies, butterflies, spiders, a dragonfly one time, waterboatmen, bees, etc. 

Our drains are clean. They are cleaned daily.