Are you tired of pesky wasps ruining your outdoor gatherings? Fear not, as we have a simple and effective solution for you – the DIY Wasp Trap! This natural pest control method is not only easy to make, but also highly effective in keeping those unwanted stingers at bay. With just a few materials and some expert tips, you can say goodbye to annoying wasp stings and hello to a pleasant and enjoyable outdoor experience.
Summer days are the perfect time to enjoy the warm weather with family and friends. But amid these fun-filled times comes with annoying guests that we all don’t want around… wasps! If you’re like me, these creatures can signal the end of summer festivities. Fortunately, there are a few Wasp Repellent Tips to help you keep wasps away. One of the most effective things you can do is setting up a wasp trap in your backyard.
Why Make a DIY Wasp Trap?
Making a homemade wasp trap comes with several fantastic advantages that can greatly enhance your outdoor experience. It offers a natural and eco-friendly way to manage wasps without resorting to harsh chemicals or pesticides. This means you can protect your family, pets, and the environment simultaneously. Additionally, DIY traps are incredibly cost-effective, using common household items to create an efficient solution that doesn’t break the bank.
It’s a good idea to hang your wasp trap in early summer and leave it out until the end of the season in late summer.
Crafting DIY wasp traps can be a fun and rewarding project, perfect for a sunny afternoon or a weekend activity. Best of all, with your homemade trap in place, you can reclaim your backyard and enjoy peaceful, sting-free picnics, barbecues, and gatherings all summer long!
Wasp Repellent Ideas
- Essential Oil Wasp Repellent Recipe
- 15 Best Wasp Repellent Plants
- Homemade Wasp Repellent Spray
- How to Make a DIY Outdoor Bug Repellent Candle
How to Keep Wasps Away
Once you’ve made your DIY Wasp Trap, it’s essential to keep a few tips in mind to ensure its effectiveness. Here are some simple ways to repel wasps and prevent wasp nests:
- Remove sources of food
- Move cowbird feeders away from your home to the trees in your yard.
- Do not leave pet food outside.
- Set homemade wasp traps in the early spring when the queens are looking for nesting sites.
Things You Need to Make a DIY Wasp Trap
To make your own DIY wasp trap, you’ll need just a few simple material. These common household items combine to create an effective and eco-friendly solution to keep pesky wasps at bay.
- Permanent marker
- Rubber Band
- Knife
- 2-liter soda bottle
- A piece of wire or string for hanging your trap
- Sweet solution (described below)
How to Make a Wasp Trap
Making a wasp trap is a straightforward and satisfying project. Simply use a plastic bottle, some sweet bait, and a bit of tape to create an effective deterrent for those pesky insects.
Create the Trap
Take your empty plastic bottle and place the rubber band around the bottle just below where it tapers. Use the permanent marker to draw a line around the bottle.
Cut the 2-liter soda bottle along the line. The top part of the bottle will serve as a funnel and will fit inside the bottom half of the bottle. Take care while doing this step. Use a knife, box cutter, or a sharp pair of scissors to cut the top of the bottle at the line you made and invert the top part into the the bottom of the bottle.
Tape the two pieces together around the cut edge so the funnel stays in place. Then poke two holes on opposite sides of the rim and attach some string or wire to make a handle for hanging.
Make the Bait
You need to have the right kind of bait and it changes depending on the season. In early spring, when wasps are reproducing, they like protein. Later in summer, they want sugar solutions.
In the spring, you can use grease from cooked meat to attract the wasps. Add dish soap to water with a ratio of 1 part soap to similar parts water and then add the grease, if using. The soapy water will aid in drowning the wasps. In the summer I like to use a solution that is part sugar.
Combine 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water in a bowl. Stir until the sugar starts to dissolve. This sweet scent of this solution attracts the type of wasps like yellow jackets. Then add 2 tablespoons to 1/4 cup dish soap and stir gently.
The dish soap helps to inhibit the wasp’s ability to fly, causing them to drown. It sounds horrible I know – but when there are a lot of wasps around this is a good way to get rid of them.
Pour the bait solution into the bottle, being careful to leave an inch underneath the funnel so wasps can enter.
Note: Do not add honey to your trap. Honey will attract and trap honey bees, which are important pollinators of plants and should be protected. While wasps are beneficial insects for pollinating crops and plants, they can be aggressive and sometimes a trap is necessary.
To avoid trapping or harming these honeybees, make sure to use specific hornet traps designed for them or place the trap away from bee hives.
Hang it Up
Find a good tree branch on which to hang your trap, preferably one that isn’t too close to your home or space where you hang out but in a place with a presence of wasps. You want to make sure it’s in an area with hornet populations
If any of the wasps are alive and escape the trap while cleaning it out it will go back to the nest and warn the colony.
Tips for Disposal
When cleaning out these reusable traps, it’s best to bury the wasps in the ground or put them in a plastic bag that is tightly tied closed to throw out in the garbage. If you happen to crush the wasps while getting rid of them, the bodies will release a scent that alerts other wasps of danger, potentially attracting a swarm. It’s probably a much better idea to just get rid of the entire trap together in a tied plastic bag and make a new one with a new 2-liter bottle.
With this simple DIY Wasp Trap guide, you now have all the information needed to keep your outdoor space free from pesky wasps. By making your own trap and following some easy tips on how to repel these insects, you can enjoy your time outdoors without worrying about annoying stings.
