wasp nest in veggie garden

[mountaindweller]

Under my cucumbers there is a wasp nest. While I'm not afraid of them there are too many and we all got stung.
When I, against any buddhist principles pour boiling water in the nest then my cucumbers will die and they are bearing well. Any suggestions?

[keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.)]

A can of wd-40 and a lighter. Makes one heck of a wasp flamethrower. Burn thier wings off before they can sting you. Best to do it at night so you can get them all while they are sleeping.

[khoomeizhi]

how cool is it getting at night? just before/at dawn is generally when they're least active. cool weather + gloves + toss them in a very cold cooler = easily crushed adults + however many delicious wasp brood you can extract.

[richardw]

i found a nest about a week ago,all i did was poked the end of the hose in to it and turned the water on just enough to flood the nest,ive seen no life coming from it since

[steev]

Spray deodorant also makes a pretty good flame-thrower, as I remember from college days. Myself, I don't regard cucumbers much better than wasps, so I'd likely leave them be; wasps are pretty good predators of things like caterpillers, so I tend to figure they earn their place, being mostly annual nesters.

[mountaindweller]

Maybe I don't do anything as they are predators we had a lot of caterpillars this year, at least as long as they don't get more. I actually can harvest the cucumbers only with slow movements.
(For cucumber salad or the potato salad, they are not that bad)

[logrus9]

This might sound silly, but if you want to preserve the wasps it might work for you.

At night cover the nest with a jar that has a string tied to it. In the morning pick the cucumbers and when everyone is out of the area pull the string and release the wasps. Repeat as needed.

[steev]

Silly, amusing, creative, and effective.

[mountaindweller]

I know what helps, simply pick the cucumbers slowly and they won't sting.

[paquebot]

Wasps are very intelligent and are quick to determine which is something to be concerned about or something to ignore. Only exception which I have found are bald-faced hornets which are difficult to tame. Yellow jackets, both domestic and imported, will both eventually recognize you as something to not be feared. Regular hornets, the type which build a comb-like nest under eaves, are very easy to tame and are very effective garden predators. I once went over a cabbage plant very carefully to remove all worms. A hornet came right behind me and I told her that there was nothing left but the odor. She did not believe me and explored every inch of that plant and suddenly dropped to the ground grasping a huge worm. I should have known better than to doubt her!

Martin

[Deleted]

They didn't come back to the same place, where they have been nesting for years, after I split a stack of cedarwood logs.

They are apparently attracted by pheromones and turned away by strong smells.

[steev]

I had a small row of bush-beans, once, and was watching wasps hunting caterpillars. One found prey too large for it to carry off; it waited until another wasp came; they bit the caterpillar in half, and each flew off carrying half.

[12540dumont]

Well, sweeping is out. I was sweeping the patio and got stung. Also moving trays of tomatoes into the barn. Also got stung. I get tons of wasps in the Fagiolina del Trasimeno. I have found the trick is to pick very very very early, and leave them alone after 10 a.m. They start kind of slow at 9, but boy by 10 they are a force to be reckoned with.

[philagardener]

Here on the East coast, wasps and yellow jackets seem to get really cranky when it is super dry (which sounds like CA is right now). Worst yellow jackets I have experienced were after a September hurricane had dried everything to a crisp. They were just mean and would wander around and sting anything that moved, including me!

[zeedman]

Long-bodied wasps (such as paper wasps & mud daubers) are fairly docile - even if you are near their nest, they will generally buzz you as a warning, rather than sting. You would almost have to grab one to get stung, and since they feed on garden pests, they are good to have around.

The short-bodied wasps (such as yellow jackets & hornets) are generally the most aggressive. They also tend to have nests with a high population (especially in late summer) which compounds the risk. They are irritated easily, and if you come near their nest, be prepared to get stung. Same goes for hornets. But as Paquebot mentioned, those wasps are also highly effective insect predators. I've watched them hunting caterpillars, and since there are many wasps on my property, there are almost no caterpillars in my garden. They will go after aphids too, if the population gets high, so they are part of my strategy for keeping aphids down. In my garden, I move slowly if they are working the area (especially around cowpeas & yardlongs) and have been stung there only once... when I inadvertently grabbed a wasp while picking the yardlong bean it was sitting on.

So I only deal with wasp nests if they are located in a high traffic area, or where they might sting my grandchildren. If the nest is in the ground, I go out at night with rubbing alcohol, a lighter, and something large enough & sturdy enough to stamp down over the hole (such as a metal bowl or bucket). Pour the alcohol into the hole, light it, and quickly press the bowl/bucket into the dirt to make a tight seal. The burning alcohol will exhaust the oxygen, and leave alcohol fumes behind. This will kill the entire nest, and the bucket can be removed in a day or two. The alcohol leaves no lingering toxins, so it is safe for a vegetable garden.

If the nest is in a structure (they like cracks in the foundation) then I use a shop vacuum, with the nozzle propped up just below the entrance to the nest... do not put the nozzle where it visibly blocks the entrance, or the wasps may find an alternative path. Put the nozzle in position at night & turn the switch on, but do not turn the vacuum on (by plugging in the cord) until later the next day, after most of the workers have left to forage. The noise will cause the yellow jackets to swarm, so avoid the area after turning on the vacuum. As the wasps emerge, they get sucked in. So do the returning workers. Left in place until sunset, the vacuum will suck up the majority of the workers; but a second treatment may be necessary as more workers hatch. Usually after this second treatment, there are not enough workers left to sustain the nest, and the nest dies. This is a great way to eliminate them without poison.

To eliminate a hornet nest, I use a solid stream of water to destroy the nest. Any nozzle that has a stream powerful enough to break up the paper nest will work; I have a blunt nozzle used to clean the driveway, that just attaches to a garden hose, but a pressure washer would work too. The stream must be strong enough to destroy the nest from a safe distance. Do this at night - preferably a cool night, since the wasps will be sluggish at lower temperatures. If a light must be used, prop it up on the opposite side of the nest from where you are standing. Spray until the hanging nest has been completely knocked down, and further break up any large fragments on the ground. In my suburban location, there is no need to do anything further... birds & small mammals will eat the exposed grubs, and the nest will be dead.