How To Kill Wasps Using Soap & Lemon

If you have a wasp nest in one of your trees it can be a dangerous hazard to your yard and home, especially if you have children or pets that often play outdoors. Using pesticides to control the wasps can also be a risk to your pets and environment. Before you consider calling a professional to remove the nest, you should try some homemade methods that will kill wasps. If you can trap the wasps in a mixture of soap and water, then the soap will slowly kill the wasps. Also, many people use a little lemon or vinegar to deter other insects coming into the trap.

Step 1

Cut off the top of a 2-liter bottle with a sharp knife. Add cool water to the bottle to fill it up half way.

Step 2

Add at least 2 tbsp. of dishwashing soap and 1/4 cup of lemon juice to the water. Stir the mixture together.

Step 3

Remove the lid from the top you cut off and then coat the neck of the lid with jam, jelly or honey. Place the top part upside down into the bottle. Use tape to hold this portion in its place.

Step 4

Place the homemade trap at least 300 yards from the wasp nest. Make sure that it cannot be knocked over; place it on an object so that it's at least 4 inches above the ground.

Step 5

Empty out your trap every day. If you wait too long to remove the wasps, then it will become too full of floating wasps. Add more water, soap and lemon juice when it gets low.

Wasps are generally harmless when they are left alone, undisturbed. Wasps pose a bigger threat when they make nests near doorways or get into a house. Put the remaining mixture in a clean, 16-ounce spray bottle, and add 2 tablespoons of liquid dish soap plus 1/2 cup of water to fill that spray bottle. Alternatively, tie a heavy string around the bottle's neck, and use the string to hang the bottle from a tree branch, fence post or railing. Replace the wasp trap's mixture with a new mixture when the current mixture becomes overcrowded with wasps or is no longer effective. You also can use the spray to kill wasps that come into your house. Saturate the wasps and nests thoroughly with the mixture until the wasps stop moving.