How Can Idaho Battle the Biggest Jerk of the Backyard Bug Groups?

How to best combat the evil beings of the Hymenoptera universe? The bane of the backyard? Seriously, of despised Insecta, wasps are in the top 3. Don’t get me on the ecological ‘everything has a place in nature’ theology. Wasps are jerks. Bees yes, wasps no.

Now is the time of crazy wacky waving arm wasp fighter antics. Of course, waving your arms at angry wasps isn’t going to solve anything. It will probably just make things worse. It seems like no matter what the spray, dust, under-the-full-moon enchantment spells, or wishful thinking we do, the wasps keep coming.

What Are Easy Ways to Fight Wasps?

What can be done to staunch the crushing wave of awful that ruins a perfectly good dinner on the back porch? Wear red. Yeah, you read correctly, wear red. Wasps are very fashion-conscious and think that red is gaudy. Actually, they just don’t see it.

Wasp traps work. They control the population by trapping them. If you don’t want to buy one at the store, an open bottle of wine can trap them. Wasps are notorious lushes. Or you can make a wasp trap yourself.

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Think about gardening. Wasps are judgemental of gardening skills, or maybe just aren’t fond of certain smells. Cucumbers are a great start. Basil in a windowbox is pleasant for us, but nasty to a wasp. Geraniums and marigolds in the flower bed in the front yard are known deterrents, and mint is great and you can make tea, but plant it in a box because it loves to propagate. Citronella is known to fight mosquitoes but can bug our hated wasps as well.

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If you have a thumb that isn’t green, perhaps lay off the flowery aftershave, perfume, or lotion. Take someone you trust to the store and get one they like. You can carry some of the trapped wasps in the jar and see if they like the smell as well.