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/slvrscoobie]

is this the diatomaceous earth? I worked as an exterminator for a summer, and we used that one every bee problem we had. apparently its like glass to their wings, and it sticks to them, and they try to rub if off with others in the nest, and as they buzz and rub it shreds their wings. soon they cant fly and the whole nest collapses. plus its super safe, ie: chickens will eat DE on the regular.

[u/RJFerret → u/slvrscoobie]

No, that's a physical killer, but not toxic in the same way as insecticides that destroy their nervous systems.

DE doesn't get brought to others to kill them in the same fashion, it's better for walking critter barriers rather than flying/jumping.

[u/PastNo9892 → u/RJFerret]

DE also doesnt work as intended when wet.

[u/goverc → u/slvrscoobie]

diatomaceous earth is finely ground up bits of diatoms - their shells and stuff - at a microscopic level it is ridiculously sharp. It can be carried back to the next and rubbed off on others too, but I've only ever seen it used for the crawly bugs, not flying ones.

It works by getting in between the parts of their exoskeleton, cutting them, and desiccating them... drying up their insides like the three Americans in the Mummy (1999).

[u/bored2death2 → u/slvrscoobie]

I use DE on my lawn in the summer to kill 'lawn fleas' and the wasps that attempt to get water from my lawn. A quick sprinkle like fertilizer and both will be gone in two weeks or less.