There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Dear Eliza, dear Eliza...

I was putting laundry away and noticed a massive wasp buzzing around our closet light. Of course I ran out out screaming because I’m irrationally afraid of them. By the time I came back with a solution of dish soap and water to spray on it, I couldn’t find it.

1) How would a wasp have gotten into my upstairs townhome closet?

2) How do I find this wasp now? It’s in our walk-in closet.

I am not scared of many animals, but I have an irrational fear of bees and wasps because I don’t know if I’m allergic or not.






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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

You will have to move out of your home, sell it as is, and start over with everything.

Alternatively, move to a hotel and refuse to move back until dh shows you the dead wasp.
There are no good choices here. I may not be very helpful but I obviously don't think you are irrational in this. :shifty

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

I told DH I was burning the house to the ground


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Lol

I'm sorry

I can't stand them either. Not by my front door and not in my house.

I'll pray you find him soon!!! I fly swatter at them to get them to move. They seem to be found dead more often than not when we've had them inside.

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Do you have atrick access in this closet? Or a window. Small spaces around either of thoes is an option for how it got in. Alternatively wasps can live in the walls and come in though the area around plugs and light fixtures.

If this closit backs up to any neighbors I would talk to them and see if they have seen any wasps.

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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Yes we do have attic access in the closet :doh
I am now terrified of walls and plugs and light fixtures and want to move immediately [emoji23]


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

How about a tiny bowl of honey or beer to draw him out?

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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

I'm sorry. They creep me out, too.

It could have come in when you had a door or a window open. It could also be gone by now. Chances are it's just the one and it got lost. We had one in the kitchen last week. My kids were FREAKING OUT and screaming, but I left the door open for a little while and it just disappeared.

BUT, if you see any more, or your neighbors are seeing more than just the one, check the eaves for a nest. If your Homeowners' Association takes care of outside maintenance, could you give them a call and ask for a roof inspection? I've seen wasps under the gutters before.

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

If you have hair spray, you can spray it on the flying wasp and it will fall to the floor so you can kill it. (This way you don't breath in any poison spray)

Every year, we get 2 that somehow make it into our kitchen. I guess they fly in when we open the front door and we just don't see them, but somehow I find them and it scares me to death. (One year our cat killed them.)

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Thank you! I do have hairspray and will use that next time.

I have looked in the closet twice and still can’t find it. I guess I’m just going to have to only wear pajamas and workout clothes from the dresser because I am NOT going in that closet.


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

:lol :hug

You cannot have a serious allergic reaction with your first sting. They don't hurt as badly as many people think. They can come in through a door, just like flies or mosquitos. I do understand, though. I really hate spiders. Spider bites are worse than wasp stings, imo. I'm the designated baseball bat wasp nest slugger in our family. My dh is phobic of them, too.

They are attracted to meat and sweets. I'd put a little bit a cooked meat in some sticky honey or syrup.

---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:36 PM ----------

My German Shepherd eats wasps. Catches them in the air. Wish I could loan him to you!

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:37 PM ----------

Any kind of spray will temporarily disable it from flying, too. Whatever you have handy. Arm yourself!

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

That’s the problem— I have been stung once. But I haven’t been stung again to see if I’m allergic...

Oh man, I’d take spiders any day! And I’ve had bad spider bites... it’s the fear of the unknown with the wasps :giggle

Tonight when DH gets home and after DD is in bed, I’ll put out some honey (we only have tuna and lunch meat in the house right now) and try to coax the evil stinging beast out.

I shall update y’all with either a tale of victory or a request on how to burn my house down :shifty


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Maybe you could make a trap with the honey in the way that works like magic on fruit flies. Put plastic wrap tightly over the bowl and cut a slit large enough for him to get in through, and that slit should be hard for him to get out of. With fruit flies you add a drop of dish soap to wine or juice which breaks the surface tension so they drown. You could make a mixture of honey, water, and a drop of dish soap. :think You don't want it to snack on the honey and then go back to hiding.

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Oh good idea!! Thank you!

I definitely do not want it to snack. It is not a welcome houseguest [emoji23]


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

If it were me, my first plan of attack would be to shut the door and not re-open it until dh came home, found, and killed it.

Were that to fail, my next plan of attack would be to arm myself with a plugged in and turned on vacuum cleaner -- holding the extended arm in front of me while I VERY cautiously opened the door and pointed my weapon in all directions until I found it..... If succesful I'd put the whole machine outside afterwards and tell dh to empty the cannister.

Last ditch effort, if you still cannot find it.... I'd try the trap method....

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

You and I think alike.

He got home and I warned him of our unwelcome closet guest. I also warned him I would be wearing only clothes from
the dresser until the wasp is dead.

He didn’t find it either when he opened the closet, so it seems like the wasp is toying with us and needs to be drawn out from
his (or her, I guess) new lair.




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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Lunch meat is perfect for luring a wasp

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Yes! This

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

It might have gone back out the way it came, and thus be gone already. :shrug

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

It might have.

It might also be hiding in my clothes ready to attack me. So... I’d rather try to draw it out and kill it.

I’m not scared of much, but bees and wasps really do bother me a lot.


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Yeah...maybe it couldn't handle all the screaming :giggle or is waiting for the fire (I envision a wasp flying around the brunt debris of a house going 'well, that's inconvinant, but I can still work with this ' )

I tease, but I'd freak out in the same situation.

You mentioned upstairs.... I had a friend who had fire ants get into her baby's crib on the second floor of her house. Speculation is that they came in for some access to moisture since we were in dry heat wave.

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Oh my goodness...fire ants in her baby’s crib?! :jawdrop That is terrifying to me. Poor baby!!

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...226651365c.jpg

Me.


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Breaking news:
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...29664b4802.jpg


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Phew!
Glad you found it!

We had a wasp nest in our basement crawlspace. A few got into the main part of the house. They were a bit annoying on the back porch.

I let them stay. Finally, after a couple of years, I got a bit annoyed. Will, google says they move after 3 years.

They did! Never came back.

Lol

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

now we need the details on the removal process!

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

:clap:phew

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Ok, so...here is the tale of how I finally overcame this little monster.

I decided to wear a dress today because it was hot, which meant I had to go in the closet. DD came in there with me. I cautiously thumbed through my dresses, eyes darting about looking for any sign of the menacing creature.

And then I saw him.

Perched on the top shelf of my closet on top of a crate of maternity clothes, gloating at me.

I calmly ushered DD from the closet, to which she responded by screaming “MAMA NOOOOO” and banging on the closed closet door. I grabbed the can of hairspray that I had left in my closet, picked up one of my shoes from the closet floor, and unleashed a torrent of hairspray for (I am not exaggerating) a full 45-60 seconds. Maybe longer. I need more hairspray now.

I will now have to wash all the maternity clothes that were in that crate. They’re all covered in hairspray.

I pulled the top item of clothing from the crate down to the floor and shook it (heart pounding... I was seriously ready for the wasp to fly straight at me). The wasp fell to the floor, crawling slowly and pitifully.

DD was still screaming at me from outside the closet.

I slid a green plastic folder under the wasp, smashed him with my wedge sandal, and stood on top of him for way longer than necessary.

RIP wasp. He went down our toilet, never to be seen again, and I hope he has NO little friends living in our attic or elsewhere. I don’t want this to become a regular thing in my home :giggle




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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

You go, girl!!

(And perhaps you should caulk any little hidey holes or passages in your closet?!)

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Yes!! I’m going to ask DH to look at the door (in the ceiling) that leads to the attic (where we never go...). I suspect that’s how the wasp got in.




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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

Great story! I feel kinda bad that I pretty much ignore them.

However, we have seen a few black widow webs. Which means there are thousands of them. Shudder. I killed one that was on my ski. It ran and got in the baby's stroller!

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

:jawdrop Yikes!!!


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Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

:phew :highfive

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

I'm kinda surprised this is such a rare occurrence for so many people. I kill wasps in my house almost daily. But my kids are all old enough to open the doors and let insects in. My fly swatter gets a lot of use.

Black widow webs! :shiver

We had a few funnel webs on our wood pile. But we mostly have hunting spiders in the house. :shiver

Re: There’s a wasp in my closet
 

If it were a daily occurrence, I’d have to move. You’re a strong woman.


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