Perhaps you heard the buzzing first or saw one or two wasps hanging around, but soon enough, you discovered the nest in your vent. Now, what can you do? No one wants to get stung by wasps, which, unlike their cousins, the bees, don’t lose their stingers after the attack. Wasps around your home are dangerous, and in a vent, they are even worse. Risking clogged vents, painful stings, and bugs in the house are not wise solutions, so you’ll have to get them out. You can call in a pro, especially if you are allergic to them, but there are plenty of DIY solutions available as well. I’ll walk you through the process so you can safely get rid of those buzzing pests for good. Please use extra caution approaching a wasp nest as stings are always a possibility.
How can you get rid of a wasp nest in a vent? Use a wasp killing spray to get rid of the nest in your vent. Make sure you take proper precautions to minimize the risk of getting stung, and once you kill the wasps, you’ll need to clean your vent. Fortunately, you can also put in a vent cover and use other preventative methods to avoid wasp infestations in the future.
Steps to for Getting Rid of a Wasp Nest in Your Vent
- Protect yourself. It’s a clever idea to wear heavy-duty protective clothing with gloves and tight-fitting eye protection before you try to take on any wasps. Getting stung is not fun, and allergic reactions can occur.
- Turn off anything connected to your vents. Whether it’s a roof vent, HVAC, dryer vent, or somewhere else, you don’t want anything blowing or moving through the vent when you kill all the wasps.
- Cover the indoor end of the vent to keep wasps outside.
- If possible, smoking the nest first is a good way to help avoid stings. If your vent access is outside, you can use a barbecue grill and a fan to help with this process, but don’t build a fire inside your home. Instead, try using peppermint oil around the vent intake to help make that area undesirable for wasps to live inside.
- Spray the nest from a safe distance. I recommend using a long-distance option like Raid because you can spray it from several yards away if possible.
- Ignore wasp-sleep tips. Wasps do not sleep, so waiting until dark may mean they are less active, but it won’t really help. While they do become somewhat dormant in winter, you don’t want to wait weeks or months to handle a vent infestation.
- Once you’ve sprayed the vents, clear out fast. While raid is great for killing entire wasp nests, human error happens. You don’t want to be nearby if some wasps escape.
- Check back in a few minutes to see if there’s any sign of activity. Be patient, and approach with caution.
- If there are no wasps apparently alive, I still suggest spraying again and waiting for the recommended amount of time on your wasp killer label before approaching the hive.
- Clean out the nest, dead wasps, and chemicals. A clean vent is a necessity.
- Spray it down with peppermint oil. Since they don’t like the smell or feel of peppermint, this will help deter any wasps who were gone from trying to reenter and establish their home again.
- Add a vent screen to prevent reinfestation. Using a hinged frame for this screen will allow you to clean vents easily.
Raid Wasp and Hornet Killer from Amazon is a well known and trusted brand that can eliminate those wasps in your vents. Not only will this kill on contact, but it can take out the whole nest. You can also use Rais Wasp and Hornet on Mud Daubers and Yellow Jackets for a fast, simple solution. Best of all, you can spray this from up-to twenty-two feet away. Have yours delivered to your door when you click here.
Alternate Methods For Getting Rid of Wasps
There are plenty of people who get wasps in their vents, which don’t want to resort to heavy-duty chemicals. Fortunately, there are some alternatives available, although none seem to be as effective as a good bottle of Raid. Try some of the following methods to avoid harsh chemicals.
Dish soap and water is rumored to help destroy and prevent wasps. By attaching a sprayer tip full of standard Dawn dish detergent to your garden hose, you can shoot down a wasp nest from a fair distance. However, it is risky to take this approach since the soap may not get all the wasps, and any outside the nest may see you as a threat. Likewise, boric acid is effective against many pests, including wasps. You will need gloves to handle this chemical safely, and it’s important you don’t breathe it in.
Seventeen scientifically tested essential oils deter wasps, according to Pubmed. These include peppermint, anise, citronella, clove, fennel seed, geranium, lemongrass, lavender, patchouli, pennyroyal, Roman chamomile, rosemary, sage, spearmint, thyme, wintergreen, and ylang-ylang. If you choose a natural repellant, don’t expect it to kill on contact like regular bug spray would, and make sure the ingredients include one or more of these tried and true options.
Prevent Wasps From Building Nests in Your Vents
Prevention is always the best cure for wasps in your vents. Make sure you remove all trash from your home and keep trashcans away from the building. Similarly, when you plant, make sure only those plants like lavender and cucumbers, which wasps dislike, are near your house. Additionally, it would be best if you took the time to inspect once a month or so to make sure there are no gaps in the roof or other areas where the wasps might get in and make a comfortable home.
You can use essential oils around the house and your vents to prevent them from becoming a pest highway or hideout. Wasps don’t build nests in places they don’t find appealing. The downside of spraying natural repellants is that it has to be reapplied frequently, but it is safer for pets and people. Plus, many active wasps preventing essential oils, and plants also keep out other critters and insects.
A fine mist of Nature’s Star Therapeutic Grade Peppermint Essential Oil will help keep wasps, spiders, and even mice out of your vents. Pests don’t enjoy the strong smell of this oil and will shy away from it. You can easily reapply anytime with a simple household spray bottle. See the outstanding Amazon reviews right here.
Alternately, you can set wasp traps around areas where you see them outdoors. While this won’t prevent a full-scale invasion, if the wasps are determined, it can draw wasps away from your vents and help keep them from getting cozy around your home. Wasp traps are also useful for cookouts and picnics.
Talcum powder is unpleasant for wasps. Sprinkling pure talc or baby powder that contains talc on old nests will help prevent them from coming back. White vinegar is similar, but don’t use apple cider vinegar since it may attract them instead.
Insect Vent Screens
When you move in or notice wasps looking at your vents, you can install prefabricated vent screens on all the external ports. These clever bug-blockers help keep out more than mere wasps. By using a cover, you can prevent mice, spiders, and other pests from ever going inside your home vent system. Rather than fighting them, you can trap them inside or stop wasps before they can get established, thus saving yourself many future problems.
You can use a standard roll of Fiberglass Window Screen from Amazon to create custom vent covers for your home. This clever flame retardant mesh is too small for wasps to crawl inside, so they can’t build a home in your vents. Moreover, this screen is small enough to keep out mosquitoes in summer, which is a nice bonus. Grab a roll for your DIY projects by clicking here.
Remember to inspect your vent covers for damage or displacement once per season and after any severe weather. Replace or repair any broken covers right away, and you’ll never have vent-wasps again.
Final Thoughts
While it’s not common, people can die from wasp stings if they are allergic or if there are too many. Don’t take the risk when you could get them out of your vent instead. By taking proper precautions and destroying the entire hive, you can save yourself a lot of pain and trouble, to say the least.
Household pets and other friendly animals are also at risk from wasps. They can injure or kill most animals in sufficient quantities, and once a wasp chooses your vents for a colony, they will come back if they can. It takes a lot of effort to build a hive, so they’re naturally territorial of their home.
As soon as you notice wasps going into a vent, it would be best if you took action to stop the infestation. Unfortunately, the longer you wait, the more wasps there will be.