Wasps are natural predators that sting hard and repeatedly, causing extreme pain and even proving fatal in certain cases. Once they find a cozy spot and make a nest, you’ll find it difficult to drive them away. By investing a little time and effort, you can make your home as unfriendly as possible to wasps.
To keep wasps away from your balcony, keep it clean. Secure the garbage bins, grow wasp repelling plants, and wipe down structures with essential oil mixtures. Make your own wasp trap or hang a fake wasp nest that mimics a real one. Avoid floral scents, and spray a home-made wasp-repellent instead.
Once you learn what really attracts wasps and what repels them, it becomes pretty straightforward to steer clear of them. Read on for the nine simple steps through which you can keep your balcony wasp-free.
1. Clean and Declutter the Balcony
Clean your balcony daily and mop up any spills. Remove clutter that you have accumulated over time. Check for holes and cracks in the walls, siding edges, overhangs or eaves and seal them with silicone, caulk or metal screens. Any hole left unplugged is an invitation for wasps to make their nest.
If wasps end up making a nest on your property, this video clearly shows you how to get rid of the wasp abode safely:
2. Put Unused Food Away
Avoid eating in your balcony during peak wasp seasons, which usually starts in July and lasts till September. But if you must have your meal outdoors, make sure you don’t leave anything behind. Exposed foods, especially fruits, juices, sodas, meat scraps, and sweet dishes attract wasps. Sweep the balcony clean of crumbs and wipe up any soda or juice spills.
Unused bird and pet food can also attract wasps. If food is leftover in your pet’s bowl, keep those leftovers off the balcony.
3. Secure Garbage Bins
Decaying food and vegetable waste inside the bin give off smells that pull wasps towards your home. Waste bins in the balcony are a sure draw for wasps. Never leave garbage bins open; secure them with strong lids that keep the smells locked in. Keep garbage bins away from the balcony.
Rotting leaves and biodegradable waste also attract wasps. If you have a compost pile in your yard, consider moving it away from the balcony or move it indoors.
4. Grow Wasp Repelling Plants
Don’t fill your balcony with pots of flowering plants or those that give off a sweet smell. The nectar in the flowers will attract not just wasps but also bees and other insects.
Instead, grow wasp-repelling plants. Eucalyptus, spearmint, pennyroyal, thyme, and citronella produce strong-smelling oily substances that act as wasp deterrents. Plant these herbs in pots and place them in your balcony to keep the wasps away. As a bonus, these plants will also keep mosquitoes at bay.
Wormwood is another effective wasp-repelling plant, but it may be poisonous to small animals and people. If you have pets or small children at home, avoid using the plant.
5. Spray Essential Oil Mixtures in the Balcony
Mix some drops of geranium, clove and lemongrass essential oils with water and soap. These oils contain ingredients that act as strong wasp repellents. To make a wasp-repellent using these items,
- Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spritz on structures in the balcony, along the ledges, and under the eaves.
- Sprinkle this mixture on the balcony floor and mop every day.
If you have a large balcony, select areas where you have noticed wasps before, and spray around those spots.
6. Make Your Own Wasp Trap
Wasp traps lure wasps into a container filled with sugar water. These traps are almost impossible to escape for those small insects.
Wasp traps are available for purchase offline and online, such as the NANSI Outdoor Wasp Trap. But if you’d rather make one yourself at home, go ahead. It will take you a mere 10 minutes. All you need is:
- An empty 2-liter soda bottle
- Duct tape
- Scissors
- Soda or maple syrup
To make your own wasp trap, follow these steps:
- Cut the top off the 2-liter soda bottle.
- Pour a little soda or maple syrup-water mixture into the bottle.
- Place the head upside-down on the bottle, and secure it in place with duct tape.
- Place the trap in the balcony.
- After the bottle gets filled with wasps, discard it, and make a new trap.
The sweet liquid inside the trap attracts wasps, but once they swoop into the bottle, they cannot escape due to the funnel-like design of the bottle.
7. Hang a Fake Wasp Nest
Wasps are strongly territorial, so if they believe there’s a wasp nest in a particular place, they will avoid coming there. The Wasp Nest Decoy by Mood Lab is a fake wasp nest that mimics a real one so effectively that it tricks wasps into staying away. Hang this in your balcony to keep wasps away without using any harmful chemicals.
8. Avoid Wearing Perfume When Outdoors
Floral scents of fragrances draw wasps towards you. Soaps, shampoos, colognes, perfumes, and deodorants contain such scents. Go easy on such products or avoid using them altogether if you plan to stay outdoors for long. As an added protection, wear clothes that cover your body as much as possible.
9. Spray Wasp Repellent on Your Clothes
People who are strongly allergic to wasp bites must take extra precautions when outside. Mix lemongrass, thyme, and spearmint essential oils with water to make your own non-toxic wasp repellent. The ingredients in these oils have a strong, anti-wasp odor. Pour the mixture into a spray bottle and spray it on yourself and your children at regular intervals if you’re spending a lot of time outside. This wasp repellent is safe to spray on pets too.
How to Deal With Trespasser Wasps
Not all of the anti-wasp measures mentioned above will work for everybody. Experiment with them all and stick to one that works the best. While you’re still experimenting, you may need a quick, temporary fix to deal with an errant wasp or two buzzing around your balcony. Here are a couple of ways in which you can tackle them:
Spray a Soap and Water Solution
Pour some water in a spray bottle and add in two tablespoons of dish soap. Mix the two well and spray the liquid directly onto the wasps flitting around. The soap causes the wasps’ breathing pores to clog.
Use a Peppermint Oil Wasp Killer
Chemical wasp killers harm the environment. Instead, use a peppermint-oil based wasp spray to destroy wasps before they bite. The EcoSMART Wasp & Hornet Spray is a safe and effective product.
Conclusion
As summers grow hotter, wasps come out in full force. This is actually part of nature’s plan to maintain the planet’s ecological balance. Wasps play an important role as predators that keep other insect populations in check. But they can be annoying when you want to spend a quiet day outdoors. Because they can sting repeatedly, wasps pose a huge danger to those allergic to their bites.
There are different products and ways in which you can kill wasps and other insects, but they are often made from harmful chemicals that can damage the environment. If you don’t want to kill the insects and would be quite content with them not visiting your place, use natural anti-wasp products or techniques. By using one or a combination of the above-mentioned tips, you can effectively keep wasps away.
