Pepper spray as an insect killer?

Phydeaux said:
My dad came up with a great way to get rid of a single occasional wasp that would get into the house. He used a Sheridan pellet gun without the pellet.

Pump it up 2-3 strokes. When the wasp lands, get within a couple on inches and pull the trigger. Find body parts (if you can) for disposal.

This technique works for other insects as well. My favorite is the house fly on the screen door. If done correctly, there is no body to clean up.

One of the stupid things that my brother and I did was to get rid of a small paper wasp's nest with a squirt gun and a can of WD40. He would shoot the wasps with water as they would com to the nest. The water would wet their wings and they would fall to the ground. We used the WD40 to kill them off.

My dad thought it was pretty funny when we told him how we got rid of them. We were careful and didn't get stung.

Ric
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I've done that several times, you have to get pretty close, but in some cases it's actually a bit more convenient then a fly swatter.


I once used a bit of patch as wadding and shot a wasp out of the air using sugar as shot.
I found the corpse (it had been blow across the room) it had a neat little sugar grain sized hole straight through the abdomen, and misc other signs of damage.

...lol guess i had a lot of time on my hands that day, but darned if it wasn't cool.
 
I have a friend that lives in a yurt. Seven or eight years ago, wasps started building a nest inside the yurt just above the canvas door. This was in the summer and that door was almost always open.

My friend doesn't like to kill something unless he is going to eat it, so he and his wife allowed the wasps to build their nest just inside and above the entrance to their home. He didn't tell me about any of this until visiting one day and I was already inside. I was skeptical and thought he was crazy, but I had to admit that the wasps allowed me to pass, my head only a foot or so from their nest. My wife and I visited several times during that summer. Neither of us got stung. My friend and his wife never got stung and they entered and exited many times a day.

A few years later I was painting my house. Wasps had taken residence in a section of the attic that I couldn't access, and they came and went through a small opening just above the gutter. There were the wasps, and I had to paint around them. Remembering the wasps at the yurt, I decided to give it a try. I was on a ladder so all of this was extra scary, extra dangerous, and extra stupid. I worked slowly and quietly. The wasps came and went, but one was posted right at the entrance and he just watched me, but allowed me to work. And then I was done. No swarm. No stings. No attacks.

These were white faced hornets. They WILL sting repeatedly if disturbed. I don't think they're mean, though. These two experiences leads me to believe that (at least this species) just wants to be left alone and that actually, they're far more tolerant of us than we are of them. Don't threaten 'em, and they won't getcha. I have a kind of respect for that. When I was a little kid, I got stung on my eye lid while playing outdoors. I still have the scar. Naturally, I grew up with a dreaded fear. I no longer do. When one gets in the house, we usually catch it under a glass and then take it outside.
 
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I just learned that a few days ago, my live-and-let-live friend who lives in a yurt was stung in the eye by a wasp. He's okay so it's okay for me to :D.
 
Scott Free said:
I just learned that a few days ago, my live-and-let-live friend who lives in a yurt was stung in the eye by a wasp. He's okay so it's okay for me to :D.
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So now you've got to encourage him to make a hippie death for wasps... something involving patchouli, incense, or hallucinogens. :D

Zero
 
There was a nest of wasps on the back of a metal rocker, that sets on the front porch.
I sat in the chair and rocked and even bumped it against the house a few times. Never had a wasp bother me at all. Then I moved it last week and put my hand right on the nest. Got a good solid sting on my finger. Wow, the damn thing musta been really loaded, cause it hurt bad!
My point is I'm always a bit amazed that stinging insects will allow you to get very close and even bump and jar their nest a bit, without bothering you. Only when you have direct contact with them or their nest, do they use their sting to defend. I've seen hornets do the same thing and mowed under a nest for months once without even knowing a huge nest was hanging down, hidden by pine branches. The mower had came within 2 feet of the nest and they never showed a bit of concern.
 
Joben said:
I've done that several times, you have to get pretty close, but in some cases it's actually a bit more convenient then a fly swatter.


I once used a bit of patch as wadding and shot a wasp out of the air using sugar as shot.I found the corpse (it had been blow across the room) it had a neat little sugar grain sized hole straight through the abdomen, and misc other signs of damage.

...lol guess i had a lot of time on my hands that day, but darned if it wasn't cool.
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I wish to subscribe to your newsletter :eek:
 
thatmguy said:
Get a 1 qt pump spray bottle. Fill about 9/10 up with water, then the rest of the way with Dawn or some type of dish liquid.

Swirl the bottle around to mix well.

I use for the above wasps, flies, and many other insects.

From what I originally read about this simple mix is that it gets in/on breathing system, and suffocates them.

And, nothing flammable, caustic, oily, or chemical.

YMMV
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I like to do the same thing, but I put the mix in a water gun, and it will go all the way to the corners of my 2 story house, or atleast it keeps me farther away from them.
 
White faced hornets are the nastiest. They will chase you and follow with malicious intent for 100 yards at least. I have used a badminton racket to remove a nest of bees from under my porch. It took about two weeks and was part of a fitness effort. The method was swat stomp, swat stomp run. We used to get big ground nests of yellow jackets on the local baseball field. We shoved one of those mole killer smoke bombs down the hole and threw a rock over it. We thought there would be a little bit of smoke but it was a lot and the fire company came and we all got in big trouble. We were 9 and ten year olds. We all denied knowing where the smoke came from and one kid suggested volcanic activity was the cause.
 
Carb cleaner stops wasps and bees dead in their tracks. They will drop out of the air instantly. I found this out when I was working on my truck and got ambushed for some reason. A can of carb cleaner was withing easy reach and I aimed and pulled the trigger...it was a dead done deal. Case closed. I then went to replace all my spray bottles of wasp and bee killer with NAPA carb/choke cleaner.

Off course, not a very environmentally friendly choice though...
 
Blew apart a wasp sitting on my clock radio with a rubber band years ago. Went to bed a couple of hours later , and when I laid on my back I felt a sharp pain. The stinger end with sack attached landed on my bed. Stung me good.

Talk about revenge after death :mad:
 
thatmguy said:
Get a 1 qt pump spray bottle. Fill about 9/10 up with water, then the rest of the way with Dawn or some type of dish liquid.

Swirl the bottle around to mix well.

I use for the above wasps, flies, and many other insects.

From what I originally read about this simple mix is that it gets in/on breathing system, and suffocates them.

And, nothing flammable, caustic, oily, or chemical.

YMMV
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it works in my garden.. i dont use dawn bc its a detergent and not an actual "soap". i use a more gentle more "green" real soap. in a gallon its a few tablespoons of veggy oil (help keep the soap on the bug), a few tablespoons of soap and the rest water.. works like a charm. i go green with this only bc i eat what i grow.. if you want to use the dawn and water (also add veggie oil it does help) for spraying on things that you do not eat it is fine.

what i have not tried it on is spiders.. i dont think it will kill them. anyone know? i have so many spiders around my house its sad. what is green and that will kill them? i say green as in non toxic bc i have young pup running around
 
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