Monday, January 19, 2009

How to get rid of wasps


Yellow jacket wasps (the type that stung me) are the most aggressive and territorial. Now I have to get rid of three nests...ugh!

I don't like wasps for many reasons. They are mean to bees and they are mean to humans for no reason. Unlike bees, I don't know what good a wasp does for the world. (update: I just read wikipedia and some other links...apparently they keep pest populations down...but so do birds and they are nicer!)

Last night at around 2AM, I was cold and put on a freshly laundered pair of socks. A wasp that was hiding inside my sock for the week (I think it got in there when I had put my clothes outside to dry) stung me repeatedly. I don't have health insurance and I wasn't sure what it was that had bitten me so badly. So in my terrified state, I assumed I was bitten by a black widow and prepared for my death (really...I actually sat down and wrote a Will out!). Fortunately, the stupid wasp emerged from the sock and I gave it a fitting death (I usually subscribe to the non-violence philosophy...but the moral of the story is don't mess with me!). I tried to get the stinger out and it was so painful that I just stuck some antiseptic on it and let it stay. All night I have had a few stingers in my foot. And I've had nightmares of hordes of bees attacking me. Fortunately, I am not allergic to bee/wasp/hornet stings and I am still alive.

This morning I went hunting around the garden to find my almost murderer's friends. There are about three giant wasp nests...which is an improvement over the one I saw about two months ago. They never hurt me, so I didn't see the need to do anything to them. Well, that's certainly changed.

After doing quite a bit of research, I found this site to be the most helpful. Tonight I am going wasp-hunting. Maybe my will will come in handy after all!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I remember this Indian remedy for a wasp-bite. My grandpa used it on me when I was a kid. It relieves the pain and helps take out the sting.

1) Take some grounded (fine) salt and mix with mitti-ka -tel (Kerosene Oil) and rub on the wound for 5-7 mins. This gives instant relief. Also drink cold-water along with it.

2) If you do not have mitti-ka-tel (Kerosene Oil), mix salt with a drop of water and rub for 5-7 mins. Also drink cold-water along with it.

3) Rub around the wound with an iron-rod or iron-key (or anything made of iron) dipped in Kerosene Oil.

pragzz said...

Thanks dude...I don't have kerosene, but I'll try the rest...

Anonymous said...

even an iron key or iron anything which is slightly warmed by rubbing works really well, this is first hand experienced bee-stung individual speaking....