Keep wasps away in Australia by removing food attractants like pet food and fallen fruit, sealing outdoor bins, covering swimming pools, and blocking entry points into roofs/walls. Use repellents like peppermint oil, plant herbs such as mint or eucalyptus, or hang decoy nests.
Discourage wasps
Wasps don't like strong scents so consider including a few drops of peppermint, spearmint, citronella, bay leaves, lemongrass, eucalyptus, cloves, geranium, and thyme in your soap solution. You can also use this as a deterrent by spraying it in places you suspect wasps may choose to nest or have nested previously.
Wasps hate strong, pungent smells, especially from essential oils and herbs like peppermint, eucalyptus, citronella, and clove, as well as sharp scents from vinegar, cinnamon, and citrus, which can mask food odors and disrupt their navigation. Planting these herbs or using diluted essential oils in a spray bottle can naturally deter them from outdoor areas.
WD-40 kills wasps by clogging their spiracles (breathing holes), causing them to suffocate, and also by poisoning them; it incapacitates them on contact, grounds them so they can't fly, and its strong odor deters them from nesting in treated areas. It's an effective, though non-traditional, insecticide for knocking down individual wasps or treating empty nest sites to prevent new ones, but it's flammable and not a standard pest control product.
Vinegar's acidity can irritate wasps, dissuading them from returning to treated areas. By mixing water and vinegar in equal parts and applying the solution to areas frequented by wasps, such as outdoor seating areas or entry points to the home, you can effectively deter these pests without resorting to harsh chemicals.
Wasps generally do not return to the same spot every year, but if you have a suitable area to build a wasp nest, they may return to the same area. What time of day are wasps most active? Wasps are most active midday when it's warmest outside. They are least active between dusk and dawn.
Essential oil blend: Add a few drops each of peppermint oil, clove oil, geranium, lemongrass oil, and a few squirts of dish soap. Spray on surfaces.
Sweet-smelling fragrances may attract hungry bees and wasps who are looking for nectar. Avoid wearing scented hairspray, soaps, lotions, and oils during the summer. They can follow scents from a distance, and once they find the source of the smell (you) they might land on you or buzz around you.
According to the EPA, coffee grounds are a safe and effective way to keep pests away. Coffee grounds can help repel not only mosquitos but also other annoying insects like wasps and bees.
These compounds do have some insect-repelling properties. However, the concentration in dryer sheets may not be strong enough to be truly effective. In practical settings, dryer sheets might have some impact, but they aren't foolproof.
Wasps' weakness for sweets may work in your favour. Lure them to a dish of water and apple juice laced with dish soap: they'll drown.
Wasps are constantly seeking new sources of food for their nest mates. Therefore, it is not surprising that wasps would investigate the inside of homes if they can readily get inside.
DIY a wasp spray.
Certain scents — like peppermint, glove geranium and lemongrass — are proven to repel wasps. Mix several drops of each oil with water and dish soap in a spray bottle and coat areas on the outside of your home where wasps like to build nests: under eaves, porch roofs and other ledges and crevices.
In it's native habitat in Europe, European Wasps tend to decline and die out over winter. However, in Australia's warm climate, nests may survive the winter and continue to develop over a number of seasons. This can result in giant nests of tens of thousands of Wasps.
Wasps do not reuse old nests. Each nest is active for only one season, typically dying off in late autumn as temperatures drop and food sources decline. Once winter sets in, the nest becomes inactive and will not be used again.
The "3 feet, 3 miles rule" is a beekeeping guideline for moving hives: move them less than 3 feet (so they find the new spot easily using landmarks and scent) or more than 3 miles (so they're forced to reorient to a completely new landscape). Moving them an intermediate distance (e.g., 50 feet to 2 miles) confuses forager bees, causing them to return to the old, empty location and get lost.
Wear Red Clothes
Wasps can't see the colour red so are not attracted to it. Consider wearing red clothes when enjoying your garden in summer. They are much more attracted white and yellow clothes research has found. Certain fragrances and perfumes can also attract them.
Spray Vinegar
Household items can also be used to repel wasps, such as mixing vinegar and water together. This mixture also helps to cover other smells, which helps to prevent wasps from flying around your house. You can even add some peppermint oil to the mix for the best results.
Wasps and hornets are most active during the summer months, typically from June to September. During wasp season, they are often busy building nests, foraging for food, and feeding their larvae.
Some wasps create ground nests, so you may find them buzzing around in your lawn and landscaping. Some wasps create nests in voids, and you may find them hovering around structural gaps. Some wasps create aerial nests, and you may see their nests under roof lines or on the ceiling of your porch.
Wasps typically don't sting unprovoked, even when you're sleeping. However, they become defensive if they feel trapped, such as when you roll over them in bed or disturb bedding where they've landed.
August to September – This is the point at which the behaviour of wasps begins to turn a little more nasty. The queen wasps will be leaving the nest to find hibernation spots, leaving the workers without a nest to serve, causing them to roam and become desperate.
Typically, adult wasps might remain active near the site for about 24-48 hours post-destruction as they search for food sources or try to locate another nesting area. During this time, they can become increasingly aggressive since they're confused and disoriented by the loss of their colony's structure.