You want to repel wasps and keep them away from your garden table in a gentle way? Then you've come to the right place! Of course, we should all strive for an insect-friendly garden. But wasps can be quite a nuisance, behave aggressively and dangerously, and spoil the fun of the barbecue on the terrace.
But the black-and-yellow insects are also valuable task forces in the fight against the species extinction. On the one hand, they eat flies, spiders, caterpillars and other small animals that can damage plants - and on the other hand, they provide valuable Pollination performance, which stimulates plant growth. The intelligent hymenoptera are therefore quite rightly protected, which is why you must not kill the animals or wantonly destroy wasp nests. In the event, fines of up to 50,000 euros may be imposed in Germany.
So what helps against wasps and how can you coexist as peacefully as possible without being stung or bitten? Do without colorful clothes, blow away, burn incense or even a cigarette? Not really. Fortunately, there are some, natural home remedies and tips to keep the buzzing critters away from the garden table. In this article, I'd like to introduce them to you - all without poison or fly swatters. Let's go!
- Use spray bottle with water
- Set up essential oils
- Coffee powder burn
- Use paper bag trick
- Insert basil and garlic
- Clear away leftovers as quickly as possible
- Distract with treats
- Avoid perfume, deodorant and creams with fragrances
- Put half lemon with scented carnations
- Harvest and collect fruit
Notice: I am of course not a wasp enemy, on the contrary. With this article I would like to contribute that we learn to live better and safer together with wasps, so that neither humans nor animals are attacked 😉.
1. use spray bottle with water
If the wasps are active again from the beginning of May to the end of September, and now and then a little aggressive and annoying, this is still no reason to kill them. Instead of this overreaction, you can simply fill up an ordinary spray bottle with tap water and fire a few pump shots in the direction of the animals. The spray will give them the feeling of a rain shower and they will move away. So it also works without environmental toxins and manslaughter 😉
2. put up essential oils
Natural home remedies against wasps include essential oils, which you can simply place in a jar or even in the form of a scented candle on your patio table. The insects are, for example, so not fans of Clove, citrus and tea tree oil.
Notice: Classic incense sticks achieve a comparable effect, but of course do not smell as pleasant.
3. burn coffee powder
What else helps against wasps? A classic and useful home remedy that probably everyone has at home is actually coffee. The industrious little animals do not like the aromatic scent at all. So, if you want to drive away pesky wasps, you should simply light coffee powder or some coffee beans in a fireproof container or on a safe surface to intensify the smell. If the powder glows slightly, it should already work.
Tip: Again, of course, there will be some smoke, which may be a bit annoying for you and your guests.
4. use paper bag trick
There are some unusual tips floating around on the Internet. One of them is certainly the paper bag trick, although it has already worked for many users. In order to keep the wasps away from their own four walls, which they like to visit due to the increasingly scarce living space, more and more people hang up paper bags.
Whether in the carport, under the house roof or the boxes of the roller shutters: the Paper bag looks very similar to a wasp nest and may signal to the animals that the competition is already dwelling here. Certainly not a guarantee, but at least worth a try to keep wasps away without harming them.
Tip: Wasp nests should not be knocked off, whether construction has just begun or has long since been completed. Instead, relocation by a professional in protective clothing is worthwhile for all involved.
5. insert basil and garlic
Garlic and basil are also among the pet-friendly home remedies against wasps. If you want to respectfully put the insects to flight, then you should simply put sliced garlic cloves and a plant pot with basil on the table, where you spend your time in the garden. The wasps recognize the smells that the plants emit and are anything but fans of them.
6. clear away leftovers as soon as possible
In the summer, the active phase of wasps collides in their favor with the time when we like to ice-cold sodas, sugary fruit juices and fruit pieces, and sweet cakes take to us. Both the German wasp and the common wasp are, of course, immensely happy about food smells and sweet drinks, after all, they have to supply their offspring with sugar.
So, in order not to attract the wasps, but to keep them away from the coffee klatsch with friends and family as much as possible, you should clear away corresponding food leftovers as soon as possible. A classic rule of behavior that usually extremely effective is.
7. distract with treats
Wasps are very intelligent! For example, they can recognize faces and memorize their surroundings.₁ Nevertheless, they can naturally be steered in a different direction by their instincts. To do this, simply place overripe fruits, such as grapes, bananas and apples or simply a Glass of high sugar lemonade at a safe distance from your garden table. Of course, for this tip to be effective, sweet treats should no longer be placed on the latter.
8. avoid perfume, deodorant and creams with fragrances.
How to get rid of wasps? In any case, not with perfumes, deodorants and fragrant creams. The insects orientate themselves mainly via pheromones and scents. and as a result would probably be at the table, together with you, right on time for dinner. Therefore, if you want to get rid of wasps, avoid using deodorants, perfumes and creams with strong fragrances.
9. serve half lemon with scented cloves
Among the scents that, in turn, tend to put wasps to flight, include both the Lemon as well as the clove scent. So if you are still looking for a natural home remedy against wasps, it is advisable to cut a lemon in half and put it on the table together with a few cloves. This is also a simple but effective and easy to implement advice to prevent disputes with wasps and not least wasp stings.
10. harvest and collect fruit
If you want to drive away wasps, you should not offer them the things they love. Overripe fruit and its fructose really magically attracts the insects. Therefore, harvest ripe fruits, such as berries, apples or plums and collect them from the ground. However, if the fruit tree is at a safe distance from your lounge or the respective seating area, then you can, as part of a generally animal-friendly and sustainable gardenbut also simply leave them lying around.
Drive away wasps made easy!
The pressure of foraging makes wasps more aggressive. However, waving them around, blowing them away or hitting them is counterproductive if you want to calm them down or chase them away - you'll only make them more aggressive. Instead, here are some tips and natural home remedies that will help you live better with wasps and keep them away from your patio table.
Do you have any questions or other sustainable tips for driving away wasps? Then I look forward to your comment.
Be always kind to animals,
PS.: In addition to wasps, bees in particular perform valuable pollination work. How you can make a create a bee friendly gardenyou will now learn in the next article.
References:
₁ A. Avarguès-Weber, D. d'Amaro, M. Metzler; et al. (2018): Does Holistic Processing Require a Large Brain? Insights From Honeybees and Wasps in Fine Visual Recognition Tasks, available at https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01313/full. [11.08.2022].
