Raspberries and Wasps

[Laura]

My daughter was out picking raspberries, and a wasp stung her finger, stung her arm and was chasing her across the yard trying to sting her in the face......

I was out yesterday (um, deathly allergic to bee stings...) trying to pick the gazillions of berries ripe....and the stupid thing chased me off.

Ok, now it's war.

HOW do I get rid of the wasp WITHOUT spraying my raspberries with chemicals?

I have zillions of berries that I do NOT want to go to waste!!

Thanks!!

[momma_to_seven_chi]

If you put OFF on yourselves would that allow you to get to the berries and not get stung? Deepwoods works really well. I'm not fond of using pesticides on the skin, but in this type of a situation, it might be the safer option. Maybe you could just spray your clothing.
Then you could deal with the wasps themselves after the berries were picked.

[tomato204]

Wasps don't normally sting while feeding. Either there is a nest they're defending close to the berries or in them, or you are swatting at the wasps and getting them riled up. Stand somewhere close to the berries and watch, I'm betting you can spot the nest and then avoid that area, or spray it with something like pyrethrum that won't make the berries inedible. Good luck.

[Gracie]

Can't help but wonder if you don't have a wasp nest close to or even in your raspberry patch. We had a few whiz by, but not to sting, when picked our berries for the year. The problem we have is lots and lots of skitters. To pick berries I wear a light weight long sleeve shirt, light weight jeans, a hunters net (that fits over your whole head with elastic so fits close to the neck) & spray the clothes with Skin-So-Soft (or as Momma said above about the Deep Woods Off, is the only thing that works for my KH). This works well for me, you melt, but don't get bit like crazy.

Could you watch your patch from a distance, maybe then could see where they have a hive or whatever it is they are protecting so agressively. I've a cousin who always keeps an epi-pen on him, as he is super allergic wasps too. Be careful out there, am not allergic to them, but hate to get stung by them. Hope this helps, FWIW.

[bookwormom]

wasp or yello jacket? I also would look where the nest is. wait til evening , then using a flashlight I would deal with it. we usually burn out nests, but in your case that does not sound likely. also, keep an onion handy, in case you get stung. the onion's enzymes dissolve the poison and take away the pain. I was stung right on the tip of my nose by a bee a couple of weeks ago, the onion took care of it.

[DaNgEr_KiTtY]

I was thinking the same thing bookwormom. Pick very early in the AM or when the sun is down. Yeah pyrethrum is what I would use to kill them.

Here are a few things to remember about wasps. Just like bees they send out pheromones when they believe the nest is under attack. When you kill a wasp it releases pheromones. So if you have one all riled up the others are getting the message from him & will follow suit. Wasps also tend to return to the same nest sites year after year so its important to eliminate them or you will have more the following year.

And most people also know that a wasp can sting you multiple times. I have used onions in the past but these days I keep a bottle of vinegar in my truck. I was stung a few weeks ago & put vinegar on it immediately. The pain was minimal after that with just a lil itching the day after.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

We had a ground nest of some sort of stinging bugs near all the hibiscus bushes one year. We had to spray stuff into the hole. So look down too. Some types of hornets/wasps don't always have hanging nests.

[Laura]

Wasp.

I think the nest is under the deck, as they have built there before.
I need to have dh get under with the 20ft spray and 'nuke' em.

Thank you for the onion tip!! I wonder if that would work on poison ivy?