Washed one of the Indys today and was going to move it--but it has a dead battery. Been awhile since I drove it. Opened the decklid, pulled the battery cover off and was met with a cloud of red wasps--yellow jackets on steroids. They finally settled down and I got the nerve to get close--a nest as wide as the battery is long. I'm thinking about hooking the battery charger up, chatging the battery, putting the cover on, close the decklid and start it till the temp in the engine compartment builds up and drives em out. Or wet the nest down with a little water, let them all return and touch the nest with my 1 joule 3000V cattle prod. Any other suggestions?
The engine heat might work. You might find yourself in yet another angry cloud, however. If you're not in a hurry, you can probably charge the battery with a battery tender plugged into the cigarette lighter, if you really don't want to get up close and personal.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 08-21-2013).]
I can't get to the wasps themselves--they are on the underside of the nest. I hate spraying chems in there--might dissolve the rubber goods worse than age already has. Someone told me a good mix of Dawn dish soap and water squirted on them keeps them from flying--any truth to that?
THAT, did not work--the Brake Klean. They come outta there like flies off a cow turd, the sky turned red and everything I sprayed just kept a flyin. Goin to town in my truck and get some hornet spray.
Soapy water will ground them......temporarily. This would be akin to being a small country and holding off the US Army for an hour.....evenutally, you will be outnumbered and over-run. They can't fly when their wings are wet....but they will dry off, become airborne, and very hostile.
I have no idea how to handle this correctly. I'm a big sissy when it comes to insects that fly and sting. I would probably wait until the first hard freeze and then remove the nest
Soapy water will ground them......temporarily. This would be akin to being a small country and holding off the US Army for an hour.....evenutally, you will be outnumbered and over-run. They can't fly when their wings are wet....but they will dry off, become airborne, and very hostile.
I have no idea how to handle this correctly. I'm a big sissy when it comes to insects that fly and sting. I would probably wait until the first hard freeze and then remove the nest
In El Paso Texas you'd do that? Hell, that far south, you could be waiting till the tires dryrotted off. FYI tho, wasps don't freeze and die off in the winter. They don't build nests and raise young either in winter--they find somewhere nice and warm and cozy and form a flat cluster, one on top of the other kind of like bees in a hive in the coldest nights. The insulation under your house, loose bark on a rotten stump around here, and......on old cars or cars not often driven, the loose insulation in the engine compartment. Seen 'em lots of times in junkyards when I'd pull the insulation back to check for rust. They can't hardly fly in cold weather, but on a nice warm winter day, they'll come out and forage for food and water--or for you.
I did finally get enough of them gone to get the battery out. Replace it tomorrow, but pretty sure there is another nest under the front hood and maybe inside the passenger door jamb. Fiero games...
Ugh. I had some wasps (nothing like yours!) make nests in the door jambs of my Suburban, which doesn't get used much. I used CRC Brake Cleaner and it killed most of them, and grounded the others. I fought with them for an entire summer - I'd kill 'em, remove the nests, and find them right back within a couple weeks. They haven't been back since that epic fight, but this year I'm overrun with spiders instead. Good times.
I have 2 tractors parked in the same shed. The wasps will completely infest the red one and leave the gray one alone. I can jump on the gray one without fear, but have to wage a chemical assault on the red one every time. They prefer red?
I have 2 tractors parked in the same shed. The wasps will completely infest the red one and leave the gray one alone. I can jump on the gray one without fear, but have to wage a chemical assault on the red one every time. They prefer red?
I guess I should paint it faded, rusty gray.
Reminds me of plowing while wearing a red hat, the bees/wasps would attack that hat. If I wore a different color, then they left me alone.
Ugh. I had some wasps (nothing like yours!) make nests in the door jambs of my Suburban, which doesn't get used much. I used CRC Brake Cleaner and it killed most of them, and grounded the others. I fought with them for an entire summer - I'd kill 'em, remove the nests, and find them right back within a couple weeks. They haven't been back since that epic fight, but this year I'm overrun with spiders instead. Good times.
If you leave the dead nests in place, it deters new wasps from nesting there.
------------------ Patrick W. Heinske -- LZeitgeist@aol.com
1988 Fiero Formula - Automoda convertible repainted PPG Ferrari 'Giallo Modena' yellow
Man, you people sure use some weird stuff to kill wasps.
I use... *drumroll*... WASP SPRAY! *horns/applause*
10'-15' stream, instant death, cleans off with water.
I'd rather save my Brake Kleen for cleaning brake parts.
Tried that too. If they died, they did it off in the woods where they flew to. I have yet to find a single dead wasp in the eng compartment or around the car except the ones that landed on the ground and I squashed with my boot. Mean motorscooters these are.
I still (for now) have the other Indy. It too will be finding a new home soon. I simply have no time left in my life due to extended family obligations to give them (Fieros) the time and care they need and deserve. I hate it, but being the youngest (age 64) of 4 siblings and the only one in reasonably good health means I am on 24 hr beck and call. Also taking care of 4 and sometimes 5 different pieces of family rural property, only one of them mine, and often meet myself coming back from one on the way to another. Something had to give, and naturally, it was something of mine.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 05-14-2014).]
In the past I've used Oven Cleaner or Spray Paint. The Spray Paint will make them too heavy to fly, but obviously will damage the paint on the car. Oven Cleaner works well on bugs I've found too.
I still (for now) have the other Indy. It too will be finding a new home soon. I simply have no time left in my life due to extended family obligations to give them (Fieros) the time and care they need and deserve. I hate it, but being the youngest (age 64) of 4 siblings and the only one in reasonably good health means I am on 24 hr beck and call. Also taking care of 4 and sometimes 5 different pieces of family rural property, only one of them mine, and often meet myself coming back from one on the way to another. Something had to give, and naturally, it was something of mine.
Glad to see them going to caring ppl that can give them the needed attention and bring tthem back to life...
Howd you do this stuff without getting stung? Or were you stung? The wasps we have are probly not as big but if they have it out for you its quite difficult to get away unless you have a spray good enough to hit them all as they come out of an opening.
Don, I havent seen a Texas Red Wasp since we moved to Galveston county a yera ago. I am sure they are here, but just not in the San Jacinto county billions.
Don, I havent seen a Texas Red Wasp since we moved to Galveston county a yera ago. I am sure they are here, but just not in the San Jacinto county billions.
-Joe
Notice--This is a year old thread.
This time of year, they will congregate and build nests anywhere if the object isn't used or moved frequently. My out-of-state resident brother has a home on Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County Texas that he only stays in about once/month. Last weekend, he found wasps in his lawn mower, his golf cart, his storage building and under the sink of his outdoor cleanup station.
The most effective way that I found to kill wasps is plain old dish soap and water. I put it in a garden sprayer and go kill wasps without any damage to you the car or the enviroment.
Joe Sokol
------------------ 85 SE Daily driver with a 3.4 DOHC OBD II 88 Formula/GT 4.9 Allante Intake (My Baby) www.fieroking.com
Hot water is extremely effective on most bugs, they can't handle the sudden temperature change. Hook a hose up to your water heater drain, put on a normal nozzle set for a solid stream, and let it run until the water coming out is good and hot. It doesn't hurt to set the heater up to 145 (old standard) an hour before you start. Then just hose them down. I've done this to bees (killer type apparently, 40+ stings before the hosing), hornets, and yellow jackets but not red wasps yet. Brake cleaner has a tendency to remove paint and destroy rubber.
Those must be some serious wasps, I've never seen anything that stayed airborne after getting hit.
maybe they will move.
