Friday, June 4, 2010

Wasps!!! Part Three: Is this the end?


Recessed lights covered with painters tape

It’s been two weeks since I’ve seen a yellow jacket or paper wasp in my house. That doesn’t mean that every time I hear a certain kind of buzz or bump  I don’t cringe. I do. And then I sit (depending on the position I am when I hear the sound, I stand) perfectly still until I determine the location of the sound. For now, most of the buzzing has been outside.

I Taped and Still They Came

Nothing I did earlier stopped the invasion. Taping the recessed lighting did nothing. And, yes, I heard the skeptisim in the pest control guy's voice when I first told him that I believed that they were coming from the lights; he indulged me, and in the process, I was proven wrong. The first warm day, there was a yellow jacket in the house. So, I did another inspection of the outside and remembered an area I had seen paper wasps flying in and out of, but at the time I didn’t think it led to the interior of the house.

Now, I didn't care.

At all.

I sprayed.

Then, I began to look for other areas that could be exploited. Unfortunately, I found a lot places that could be potential openings and I sprayed them ALL. I guess a more permanent fix would be caulking (mortar fix) or tuck pointing, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

And then I took an extra step; the painter’s tape previously used on the recessed lights now tape parts of the windows. Yes, I went that far!! Another pest control guy thought that they may be coming into the house by squeezing through a closed window. I didn’t believe that at all! Now, I’ve suspended my disbelief and I sprayed the areas around the windows.

Later, after  taping the windows, I found a wasp trapped between the untaped storm window and screen of the storm door. The storm window was closed, so I left the wasp to die. It didn’t, at least not by my benign neglect. When I looked later in the day, the wasp was gone. This made the pest control guy's statement that they may be coming in through a closed window plausible.

If you have any ideas on wasp control and abatement, please let me know! It’s not for me; think of the wasps who need a better, healthier place to live.

How I live now...blue painters tape on windows


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