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View Full Version : Would streamers deter wasps? Do fans deter mosquitoes?



Stephen Tashiro
09-23-2010, 3:47 PM
Will streamers and other things that flap around in the wind deter wasps from building nests near them? I would think that queen wasps have evolved a behavior that avoids building a nest where it might be struck by waving branches. Perhaps that would carry over to man made contraptions.

My understanding of how fancy mosquito killers work is that they lure mosquitoes to the device with heat and carbond dioxide and then vacuum them into a trap. I think mosquitoes would have a hard time flying in strong air currents. They seem to stay home on windy days. Is the blast from a ceiling fan enough to keep them away?

David G Baker
09-23-2010, 5:13 PM
Keeping your grass mowed and making sure that there is no standing water on your property are good deterrents. When it is windy at my place the mosquitoes are scarce as well as other biting insects so a powerful fan may work. Don't know about the streamers working on wasps but I do know that after they have built their nest the wasp spray killer works great. Spraying just before dark will get most of the wasps at home. I am a major mosquito and wasp hater and try to do all that I can to exterminate them. I encourage bats to live on my property because they eat their weight in bugs daily.

Bob Turkovich
09-23-2010, 5:39 PM
I don't know about streamers but I do know that moth balls work wonders. I have a cedar deck w/ 6 flower boxes on the railings. Wasps used to make nests between the cedar box and the plastic liner of the flower box. I placed moth balls in a ziploc bag (pierced w/ small holes) in each box between the cedar and the liner in the spring and haven't had a problem since. In fact, the latest bags have gone two seasons.

Doesn't mean the wasps are totally gone....had a nest this summer in a dedicated exhaust fan vent for the bathroom. Didn't know about it until I got "greeted" one morning. Couldn't access the nest to spray it without getting on the roof (I don't "do" roofs....) and had to get the exterminator to take care of it.

Also found out a couple of years ago that skunks are good for removing bee/hornet nests in the ground. Had a nest right off my front porch a couple of years ago. Called the exterminator who told me he couldn't come for a couple of days. The next day when I got home from work there was a mess on the sidewalk but no nest. No bill from the exterminator, either. Called the exterminator to ask him where the bill was and he reminded me he still couldn't come until tomorrow. Told him it appeared the nest was gone.

He showed up the next day and agreed there was a nest there at one time. He told me the only thing he knew that could remove the nest was a skunk.

I didn't know how to (or if I should) thank the skunk for saving me the $75.00......:rolleyes:

Jim Rimmer
09-24-2010, 2:36 PM
Quote edited out by moderator
Say what? :confused: :D

Pat Germain
09-24-2010, 6:45 PM
I know it's been discussed here with mixed reviews, but I think those propane powered mosquito traps are great. I knew a guy who got one when I lived in Southern Virginia. Nine months out of the year, he couldn't even go into his back yard after dark without being eaten by angry skeeter swarms.

Just one propane moquito killer solved the problem. Seriously, that thing killed skeeters by the pound. The only problem was keeping it cleaned out because it would have tens of thousands of dead mosquitoes in it every day. It just attached to the top of a standard, BBQ propane bottle.