How to Kill Wasps

The wasps buzzing around your deck are only the ones you can see. Every one of them flies back to a nest, and as long as that nest is there, more keep coming. Swatting them one at a time only makes them defensive. Killing wasps for good means treating the nest, at the right time and from a safe distance. Here is how to do it.

Why wasps keep coming back

A wasp colony works from a single nest. Workers spend the day foraging and return to it at night, and the nest keeps producing new wasps all season. That is why a few dead wasps change nothing: the colony simply replaces them. Treat the nest while the colony is home and you take out the source instead of the symptoms. (Know what you are dealing with first: Do all bees and wasps sting?)

How to kill wasps at the nest

Wait until before sunrise or after sunset, when wasps are least active and most of the colony is inside. Stand upwind at a safe distance and never directly beneath the nest. Final Hex reaches up to 15 feet, so you can stay back and still hit the nest, and it gives fast knockdown on paper wasps, yellowjackets, hornets and mud daubers with botanically derived ingredients. Spray until the nest is fully saturated, then watch it over the next day and reapply if you still see activity. Once nothing is coming or going, carefully take the nest down and throw it away. Do not spray in wind or rain. Keep the spray off plants and test a small area first, since it can stain some surfaces. Final Hex is flammable, so keep it away from heat and open flame. If you are allergic to stings or the nest is out of reach, call a professional.

Kill wasps at the nest, step by step

• Find the nest: follow the wasps back to where they come and go.
• Time it right: treat before sunrise or after sunset, when the colony is home and least active.
• Stand back: spray Final Hex from upwind, up to 15 feet away, and never from beneath the nest.
• Soak it: spray until the nest is fully saturated.
• Finish the job: reapply if activity continues, then remove and discard the nest once it is quiet.

Related: How to get rid of a wasp nest and How to get rid of yellowjackets.

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