Pest Strategies

Are you searching for a spray to take out a hornet or wasp nest in your garden? Check out our recommendations for the best wasp spray.

It’s only natural to fear stinging insects — or anything that can cause you pain. While honey bees are capable of using their stingers, these helpful pollinators are essential to maintaining the global food supply. Conversely, wasps exist almost solely to hurt you.

Equipped with the best wasp spray in hand, you too can fight back. Whether you have just discovered a nest in your backyard or want to do some research, we’re here to help. Pest Strategies researched products on Amazon and boiled them down to our top recommendations for the best wasp spray. Learn more about our findings below.

 

Buying Guide

Not sure what to look for in the best wasp spray? While any product you come across is likely to help curb your wasp infestation, capacity, consistency, and other factors are worth considering to find the product that’s best for your needs. Keep the below information in mind during your search so that you can make a confident, informed decision. 

• Consistency: Some wasp sprays are made of a liquid, while others come out as foam. The white foam is easier to see than the clear liquid, so you know exactly where you’ve sprayed. Foam is also designed to trap the insects against the nest, which is helpful in DIY situations when you’re not experienced at handling stinging bugs. Clear liquid wasp sprays are often better for commercial use. 

• Concentrate vs. ready-made: A jug of wasp spray concentrate may not sound appealing, since it’s not ready-to-spray. However, when diluted, it’ll last you much longer than a pressurized can of pre-mixed spray. Ultimately, choosing a formula comes down to how much area you need to treat and whether your wasp situation is a one-off or a costly, recurring issue. 

• Amount: Pressurized cans of wasp spray have a limited amount of foam in them, usually ranging from 12 to 20 ounces. Concentrates, however, typically come in much larger jugs, producing a gallon or so of solution once they’re mixed with water. The larger the container, the more wasp nests you can treat.

• Electrical safety: When sprayed on or near electrical wiring, such as power lines, many consumer-grade wasp sprays spark. However, some sprays use a non-conductive formula with a dielectric breakdown voltage rating that’s safe enough to prevent unintended electrocution. 

• Unintended damage: Some wasp sprays can stain clothes or kill plants in the area. Others are safe to use anywhere outdoors or indoors. Check the instructions on your can to make sure it’s safe around plants and fabrics if this is a concern for you. 

 

Preventing Wasps and Hornets

No one likes being around wasps or hornets. Whether or not you’ve been stung by one, it’s worth doing everything you can to make your home and yard an uninviting place for them. Though spraying wasp nests is a relatively simple solution, here’s what you can do to prevent them in the first place or keep them from coming back: 

• Remove food sources. Seal your trash can and recycling bin. Rinse containers before putting them in your recycling bin, and occasionally spray your trash can and recycling bin to remove food residue.
• Seal all cracks and crevices that could allow wasps inside your home.
• Fill any lawn or garden holes with soil. 
• Throw away overripe fruit on your trees or the ground. 
• Place wasp traps around your yard to kill scout drones before they can establish a new nest.

 

Wasp Spray Application Tips

If the above tips fail and you get an infestation, here is how to eliminate it with a spray:

• Always follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully. Even if you’ve used wasp spray before, don’t assume the directions on a different can are the same. 
• Wear protective clothing, including eyewear, thick gloves, long sleeves, and pants, to cover your skin and minimize the risk of stings.
• Saturate the nest as much as possible. Wasp sprays not only kill wasps on contact but also leave residue on the nest to deter other wasps from visiting the area.
• Don’t use wasp spray for any other purposes. Even if you’ve heard that wasp spray is a suitable replacement for pepper spray, don’t use it this way.

 

 

FAQs

• How far will a can of wasp spray reach? 

Most people want to maintain their distance from a wasp’s nest when they spray it. Fortunately, most pressurized wasp sprays shoot about 20 feet away, providing you with enough time and space to thoroughly hit the target and vacate the area to avoid retaliation. 

• When is the best time to use wasp spray? 

Wasps are the least active early in the morning, before sunset, and when temperatures drop. These are the best times to hit a wasp nest with spray. 

• Will wasp spray irritate my skin? 

You don’t want to intentionally spray yourself or others with wasp spray. However, if your skin is accidentally exposed to wasp spray, don’t panic. You may feel a slight stinging sensation, but this will subside by immediately washing the affected area with lukewarm water and mild soap. An anti-sting ointment will also help. As with handling many pest control products, make sure to cover your skin with long-sleeve shirts, close-toed shoes, and other clothing items.

• Do I need a separate attachment to apply wasp spray? 

If you’re getting a jug of spray concentrate, yes. You’ll need to mix the concentrate with water and pour the solution into a spray bottle. However, aerosol sprayers have a nozzle attached to the container. With these types of sprays, you simply shake the canister and spray away. If you have any tall trees you need to spray, consider investing in a 30-foot wasp pole. This special extender will let you spray strong insecticides directly on the nest from a safe distance. 

• How do I know if a wasp nest is active? 

If you see wasps crawling around a nest, it’s active. Sometimes, wasps start to build a nest in a certain spot before giving up and moving to a new location. If you don’t see wasps actively crawling on a nest, you can probably knock it down without using any spray. 

 

 

Pest Strategies provides reviews of select products that are top-selling on Amazon and/or popular in consumer searches. Our team evaluates the products based on industry research, consumer reviews, pricing data, and other objective criteria. Unless otherwise noted, these product reviews are intended to help inform buying decisions for non-professionals. Because pest control products can be dangerous to your family if mishandled, we always recommend consulting with an exterminator, even if just to ask for advice on how to apply pest control products yourself.