My new Mud Dauber Strategy

[ltlvt]

As many already know Mud Daubers and shop tools are a disaster waiting to happen in the South. I've been working out in my old shop building the last couple of days and the Mud Daubers are worse than mosquitoes. They seem to remember that I am the one who keeps smashing their mud nest. They are constantly flying up in my face and following me around when I walk outside. yesterday I picked up a blue paper towel that I had been using and overnight they had built 3 mud nests in the paper towel. It is like anything I touch they let me know they have been there. Well, I realized last night after dark that they go to roost just like birds do at night. I have 3 cotton ropes hanging from the pipe trusses that I used to hold onto when I was trying to use a scaffold a couple of years ago. Well, the little bastards line up all the way up and down those ropes after the sun goes down. So perhaps an ambush is in order tonight. I may even hang some roach paper or coat the ropes with Roach Powder (borax powder) the little bastards are gona find out they are messing with the wrong old man! "I'm going after them and bringing HELL with me"!

 

[Aukai]

Brakleen (red can) has a pretty good reach, I use that on paper wasp nests instant dead.

 

[rabler]

We have several farm gates that we go through multiple times a day. They leave a little gap at the bottom of the circle where the horizontal tube is welded into the vertical ends, and paper wasps love to use that hole as an enterance into the tubes to build nests. Usually paper wasps are pretty innocuous, but when the gate gets rattled and dragged across the ground to open it they get ******. I need to caulk all those holes shut, but like everything else, it is on the list but I haven't gotten around to it despite a few swollen stings to both me and my wife.

 

[Jake M]

Brakleen (red can).......

That used to be safe to say, but there's too many "red" brake cleaners that are safetified. Chlorinated Brake cleaner, (or chlorinated carb cleaner, but that's long since dead, at least here in my world.) Tetrachloroethelsomethingorother? Somehting real close to that. The "Chloro" is in the middle of the name, and it's the only (relavent) chemical that's gonna show up. No false alarms. Spot that and you've got the right stuff. Often (I think always? Dunno for sure) it's in the chemicals listed on the can, you don't even need the SDS. It is ALSO the same chemical that breaks down into phosgene gas if you heat it, so if you find that warning, it'll kill bugs and you shouldn't heat it. (Google that one if you havn't heard of it, 'cause "big deal", and that warning MUST be on the can if it's brewed with bug killer in it). Don't use it near anything that's 600 degrees (give or take, it's somewhere around there), usually exhaust manifolds, welding, and using it as "starting fluid" are the best ways to generate that gas. And probably don't use it near bugs because it could probably cause undue harm and a quick end of life to an undeserving creature that's probably got more rights than you do..... But that's where the magic is.

 

[ltlvt]

We have several farm gates that we go through multiple times a day. They leave a little gap at the bottom of the circle where the horizontal tube is welded into the vertical ends, and paper wasps love to use that hole as an enterance into the tubes to build nests. Usually paper wasps are pretty innocuous, but when the gate gets rattled and dragged across the ground to open it they get ******. I need to caulk all those holes shut, but like everything else, it is on the list but I haven't gotten around to it despite a few swollen stings to both me and my wife.

I've got gates and cattle pens like that. I just am always on the lookout for the little rascals. I normally leave the paper wasp alone unless they are in a place that endangers me or others. But the Mud Daubers are very destructive. I've even had the little bastards put a mud ball on my nose pads of my glasses while I was wearing them and walking ! I swear they are like little aliens that are trying to take over. They used to drop hundreds of little mud balls on the hood of my Corvette. Still would be doing it but I let the Corvette go to a better home.

 

[SLK001]

A simple spray bottle filled with water, then add about 1 fluid ounce of Dawn, or any other dishwashing soap will kill any insect. Use the stream function on the bottle to get a long reach. Very cheap and very effective.

 

[ltlvt]

I ambushed them tonight right after sundown. Now I have found their weakness they are like cattle all want to herd together to avoid danger. It was pretty simple just went to the ropes I described above and turned on the light and there were hundreds of them bunched together on the rope. i rehearsed the ambush earlier today with a pump-up sprayer filled with some pretty heavy degreaser. I had the step ladder already in position so all i had to do was take a few steps up the ladder and blast their a$$es, talk about surprised they were pi$$ed! Tomorrow, I expect some serious body count!

 

[ltlvt]

Well to my Suprise the straight soap solution I sprayed on them last night had little effect. So today I mixed up some pretty strong malathion and water mixture and hit them again after they went to roost again tonight. They are predictable. I watched them gathering up around sundown but waited until after dark. Then I turned on one of my shop lights so I could see them really good and soaked a $hit load of them with the malathion mixture. Already seeing dead ones on the floor.

Not to my surprise I have been welding up a frame for a saw of mine and today I noticed they had dropped a ga-zillion mud balls on where I had been welding on it. It is obvious they have an intelligence beyond normal bug smarts.

 

[Nutfarmer]

Wasps in the farm equipment this time of year is a pain literally. We keep a can of wasp spray handy. Work great. It knocks them down quick enough I don’t end up stung. Even had a nest in the guard of the pedestal grinder.

 

[SLK001]

Well to my Suprise the straight soap solution I sprayed on them last night had little effect.

Was the degreaser you used actually a surfactant? Sprayed on your fingers, does it feel slippery? Did you use too much of the degreaser? Too much degreaser and the solution doesn't flow properly. The reason that a soapy water solution works so well on insects, is that it breaks down the surface tension of water so that the water easily flows into the insect's breathing tubes, which then fills them up and drowns the insect. Water is the main killer with the spray, NOT the soap - the soap only makes the water flow better. The effect (and drowning) is virtually instantaneous. The soap spray also keeps harsh chemicals out of the mix.