A few things I've learned...
... any liquid or aerosol type wasp spray... likely contains solvents so it can't be used for fear of attacking the EPDM roof membrane itself... ruin that and the cost sails above $5000 for replacement.
... Peppermint oil seems to have a short term repellant effect... but in my case anyway... that lasted but an hour or two...
As soon as I got up on the roof to start cleaning yesterday... the buzzin' bastards returned pretty much in force and made trying to scrub it an unpleasant activity... and chased me off... again...
... and then, sitting for a bit cogitating on the situation... a long ago memory struck me.
I was staying with some friends in California for a bit and they had termites. This company came out and tented the whole house with tarps and filled it with gas... no termites. Hmmmmmm...
I didn't need to tent the whole place... just part of the roof... but I did need to get ALL of the malicious furless Varmints!
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| *Anti-wasp tent and Wasp traps in place* |
Well... I got me a plastic drop cloth... some tape... a few of my leveling pads to weight things in place... a Hot Shot No pest strip and two different sorts of Wasp Traps... Full Scale War By God!
I raised the long unused TV antennae and hung the No pest strip on that. The plastic I draped over all the nest sites, pipe vents, fridge duct, air conditioner etc... leaving a couple of openings for the buggers to get in/out and then set a trap at either end outside of the tent.
That there is what they call a pincer movement. ;) Hit 'em from three directions at once
That pest strip is made to treat a 140 square foot area 8 feet high for four months... even though the openings to let 'em in ventilate the thing... in the confines of that lil' plastic tent... I expected it to have some pretty good function...and no solvent on the rubber!
Within a short while I had significant casualties amongst the buzzing hoards. Then the wind came up... but behind this wind break the tent held... a few have found their way to the traps... but all late afternoon into the evening... and so far this morning, though it's a cool and cloudy morning... not a wasp sortie has been seen...
Don't know where they are... or where they went... not enough bodies laying around to have exterminated the invasion... no idea how many paper wasps participate in each nest... but they're not up there zoomin' around...
I'm gonna leave the improvised setup in place for several days... It'll catch any stragglers that come snoopin' around...
I can still get to a lot of the caulking I need to do with it there... maybe even access those pipe vents to cut off the caps and clean out the pipes... But I want it to have plenty of time to do it's job.
I figure since this is 'bout the only time we've set in one place for so long... TOO long... that's what gave 'em the opportunity to squat on me. Usually we're only in a place a short bit and then moving on.
Let this be a warning to all RV travelers... Don't stop rolling! If you do... the bugs can find you and make a solid beach head! Hitch up and GO! :)
Hoping for my Bike parts to show up today so I can do the reassembly of my scooter and at least get IT moving again...
Until then... I'm bound for the VA clinic today... oh yeah... Nuthin' but Fun!
Brian
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3 comments:
Like a bad science fiction movie!!
Bees will return because of the smell of the nest (Had to break thru a plaster ceiling to remove ALL the comb ). A thick screening material was tacked up around the rafters. (With caulk). Left a water sprinkler on low where a new group were huddling.
The bee pros made it clear the nest might be re- located 10ft -20ft away. They only guaranteed the nest area they removed.
Be careful, Africanized bees are nasty.
Where is Alfred Hitchcock in this story. He must be there someplace.
One Mans Junk; That's been a bit of the trouble, they moved a small distance... now all those are covered ;) the GOOD news is these are paper wasps and Africanized bees are kinda lazy. They don't make enough honey to last a winter so they haven't been able to invade Colorado! :)
Nan; uh oh... I did see a "large" man walking down the road the other day ;)
Cj; It's working... slowly I think... saw a couple tough guys yesterday... I think if they get in and out quick enough the bug stip vapor don't knock 'em down... so apparently some spent the first night away from the nest... I'll get 'em all eventually... I've got a few more tricks in my bag :)
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