Yellow Jackets in my wall

[ghostrunner]

Just a little Wart flavor on this one -

We've had these buzzing around in our wall apparently for a few weeks. I've never heard them, but my wife and kids have. I've kind of been of the mind not to worry about it since they're not actually coming indoors, but that's probably dumb on my part. My wife on the other hand has been anxious as [expletive] about it. We had the exterminator come out a second time and it didn't seem to do anything. So she makes some vocal worry about it which means I need to do something, though she won't say that outright.

Anyway, I go online and find a way to deal with it. You pour a couple inches of water mixed up with dish soap in a shop vac, and then using a ladder or something tall and stable you tie the hose and tubes up to it, with the end of the nozzle fixed up against the point of entry. Turn it on and let it run for a few hours. I do this and text my wife that I've done it, pleased to report that it's working. I can see yellow jackets getting sucked in every few minutes. Well, it turns out this wasn't very smart either and I shouldn't have done it when she was out. In fairness I was supposedly allergic to bees as a kid, though I'm still not sure it was true. I'm instructed to get my ass to the fire station if I'm stung.

So anyway - caught one wasp and 45 yellow jackets. No more buzzing and no visible activity around the hole they've been using. Major success. So, later I check again, come back in and say - "hey, doesn't seem like anything's going on out there."

"Mm"

"Do you feel better?"

"Yeah."

[Arthur Dent]

I've kind of been of the mind not to worry about it ... My wife on the other hand has been anxious as [expletive] about it. We had the exterminator come out a second time and it didn't seem to do anything. So she makes some vocal worry about it which means I need to do something, though she won't say that outright.

Ha. Grrr.

Similar thing with some specs now and again that may or may not be roach poop. Every cleaning day, "I think we may have roaches!" Mind you, I haven't seen an actual roach in the house in like six months, which I feel is a quality record in Austin. Also, there are some tiny ants around sometimes. Why can't we just live with these non-problems?

[Tambourine Man]

For all your tiny ant needs. I rarely see them and woke up one day to find a very steady stream of them that lead to a spoon in my sink with peanut butter still on it. I took a month of constant battle, but the Terro eventually worked.

[Arthur Dent]

Where do you put it?

[Tambourine Man]

Where do you put it?

Put a drop on thin cardboard and try to trace the ant stream to where they're entering. In my case they were coming through a thin gap between my baseboard and kitchen wall, so it was easy to find. I set about three cardboard pieces right on the edge of the counter they were headed to. They'd disappear for a few days at a time, but I always kept them baited. They'll comeback. Rinse, repeat...One day they just stopped coming back. It's disgusting watching them eat that stuff up.

[TimeForGuinness]

Ants, mix Borax with sugar & water...and leave it out...after a few days, you should be good.

[Diddy]

Peppermint oil works better on ants and it's not a toxic chemical if your worried about such things.

[wart57]

Just a little Wart flavor on this one -

We've had these buzzing around in our wall apparently for a few weeks. I've never heard them, but my wife and kids have. I've kind of been of the mind not to worry about it since they're not actually coming indoors, but that's probably dumb on my part. My wife on the other hand has been anxious as [expletive] about it. We had the exterminator come out a second time and it didn't seem to do anything. So she makes some vocal worry about it which means I need to do something, though she won't say that outright.

Anyway, I go online and find a way to deal with it. You pour a couple inches of water mixed up with dish soap in a shop vac, and then using a ladder or something tall and stable you tie the hose and tubes up to it, with the end of the nozzle fixed up against the point of entry. Turn it on and let it run for a few hours. I do this and text my wife that I've done it, pleased to report that it's working. I can see yellow jackets getting sucked in every few minutes. Well, it turns out this wasn't very smart either and I shouldn't have done it when she was out. In fairness I was supposedly allergic to bees as a kid, though I'm still not sure it was true. I'm instructed to get my ass to the fire station if I'm stung.

So anyway - caught one wasp and 45 yellow jackets. No more buzzing and no visible activity around the hole they've been using. Major success. So, later I check again, come back in and say - "hey, doesn't seem like anything's going on out there."

"Mm"

"Do you feel better?"

"Yeah."

I have no idea what it would be like to be married to someone who doesn't tell me outright what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, and how it needs to be done, and I better damn well enjoy doing all these things that need to be done.