How to Keep the Wasps Away From Your Skip
Posted on: 26 June 2017
Wasps can be annoying, and if they sting you, they can also be painful. Unfortunately, wasps like many other insects are often drawn to the sickly sweet smell of rubbish. If you want to keep them away from your skip, there are a few things you can do. Check out these ideas.
1. Remove Visible Nests
To get rid of wasps, you first have to wreck their homes. If there are any visible wasps nests on your skip, approach them at night—the wasps are less active at night, so you can approach them more easily. Then, liberally spray the nest with a chemical wasp killer. If you don't want to use chemicals, there are smoking systems you can use as well.
When you see no more wasps flying around, you're almost in the clear. Don't remove the nest yet. Instead, wait until the next day, give the nest another application of poison and then knock it off with a broom handle.
2. Reduce Appeal
One of the reasons the wasps are coming to your skip is because of the smell. To reduce that effect, bag all of your rubbish tightly. That is especially important for food waste and landscaping waste such as grass clippings and old flowers. You may even want to double bag your food waste until the wasp issue is fully under control.
3. Clean the Skip
The built-up goo on the base of your skip may also be drawing the wasps to you. Ideally, you should clean the inside of the skip. Wait until the rubbish is collected. Then, hop in the skip with a bucket of soapy water and a mop, and swab down the sides and floor of the skip. Occasional bin hire as needed, rather than always storing a skip, or bin, on the premisis, could be a good idea because it will keep waste from sitting out so long and frequently.
4. Apply Essential Oils
At this point, you may also want to spray some essential oils around the skip. They can help to deter wasps, but they also add a pleasant smell to your skip. Try making a one to one mixture of vinegar and water. Then, add a few shakes of peppermint and lemongrass. Put this mix in a spray bottle and spritz it around the skip both inside and out.
5. Try a Decoy
Some wasps are territorial, and if they see other nests, they will tend to avoid an area. Luckily, you can exploit this fear with a wasp decoy. That is just a fake wasp's nest. You can buy it from most garden supply stores or order one online. Then, just hang it on your skip. As an added bonus, fake wasps nests may even fool some humans, and by extension, your skip may be less prone to scavenging or skip dipping if it's being guarded by pretend wasps.
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