A Property Manager’s Guide to Dealing with Wasps

It is highly likely that you, like most people, detest stinging insects. However, as a Kenmore rental property owner, dealing with wasps also becomes a very serious safety concern. Although wasps have a somewhat exaggerated reputation for aggressiveness, a single wasp sting can lead to hazards that range from allergic reactions to being attacked by an entire swarm. Disturbing a wasp nest accidentally or on purpose can also lead to an attack. Potential wasp problems on your rental property are best dealt with immediately and correctly. Here are some ideas to help you deal with your problem with wasps. Choose one that is best suited to the gravity of your wasp problem.

First of all, it is important that you keep wasps away from your rental property. Identify where wasps nests are likely to occur and do preventive steps. Protected nooks and crannies around your rental property, like under the eaves, in a shed, or inside a wall, are usually where wasps make their nests. Remember that wasps may also live in trees on in the ground.

Wasp repellents are helpful at keeping wasps away from your property. These are usually applied to your property’s exterior surfaces. Some studies show that combining some essential oils can help drive wasps away. In particular, a mixture of clove, geranium, and lemongrass essential oils sprayed around eaves, ledges, and crevices can keep wasps away.

Wasps like trash bins and cracks around windows and doors. Sealing these off could help keep your property free from wasps. Wasps also like to live near abundant food sources. Exposed trash or compost mounds are especially attractive. Remind your tenants to keep their garbage bins closed tight as well as to avoid composting in order to reduce the number of wasps around your rental property. You can also keep wasps out of interior spaces by regularly checking for and sealing up cracks, holes, or other entry points in the exterior.

While you are sealing off possible entry points around the house, you should also check for wasps that might have already gotten inside. If you see wasps buzzing around, try your hardest to trace them back to the source. It is useless to kill individual wasps if their nest still remains. In case you find a small wasp nest, you have to deal with it right away. Leaving the nest there would just make the problem worse. One tried and tested method is to spray the nest and the wasps with dish soap and water. Soap makes it difficult for the wasps to breathe, thus ridding your property of these insects fairly quickly. Some stores also sell sprays that target individual wasps. You can also draw them away from the house by setting up a baited trap far from the property.

While these methods are generally effective for small numbers of wasps, large nests need a different approach. Do not try to remove a large nest by yourself. Never hit or knock down a wasp nest. Not even when you think there are no wasps inside. Burning it or spraying it with water won’t help either. These are not good ideas. Disturbing a wasp nest will result in an angry swarm of stinging insects that will attack you and anyone else nearby. If your tenants find a large nest on your property, caution them to stay away and call a professional immediately. Although wasps seldom attack if left alone, they can cause serious injury or even death when provoked. Knowing all these risks, the safest and most effective way to rid your property of wasps would be to call a professional.

Have you found the perfect investment home but need the perfect property management company? Reach out to Real Property Management Eclipse. Contact us online or give us a call at 425-209-0252.