Wasps in camper. Best way to remove?

[JoshuaH]

I went in our camper yesterday, probably been a month since I've been inside and found 3 red wasps climbing around on the AC unit in the roof.

So what is a good way to get rid of them? I don't really want to spray wasp killer in the camper. I thought about maybe trying to suck them up with my shop vac?

I'm guessing they are building a nest in the AC unit so I probably need to take the cover off, not looking forward to that.

Any ideas how they got in? It is sealed up pretty tight, I'm guessing through the AC unit.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[down_home]

Wait until dark and cool. Use an extension on vacuum that is long enough to reach them comfortably use flashlight if need be. Get them all then tear out the nests.
If you are allergic to them get someone who is not, in case you miss one. Most likely they are red wasp and not too potent. If they are black dirt daubers you will have to clean the blades of fans and coils afterwards.
Reason I/ hesitant about wasp sprays is the mess and they appear to have some oil in them which might loosen glue holding up headliner and stain it and other things. Someone else might know what is in the wasp spray. I would have to go out into the garage and I'm ready for bed.

[Bobbo]

dcmac214 wrote:
Whatever you do, do NOT try spraying them with Off or any other insect repellent. Yes, voice of painful childhood experience.

Once, years ago, I got home from work and my wife told me the brand of insect killer we had was no good. She found a big nasty spider in the screened porch, and it took the whole can to kill him. When I asked to see the can, she handed me a can of OFF. Yep, she DROWNED him in OFF.

[JoshuaH]

Well I worked on this yesterday, it was in the 50s so they weren't moving very fast, took me a little bit to even find them. The shop vac method worked well enough, but they have a very tight grip, took quite a bit to suck them up. I took everything apart that I could think of and never did find a nest.

I did find about 10 dead on the floor in the camper, and only found 3 lives ones. Then I turned the furnace on and got it as hot as I could in there, that got them moving, probably got 10 more lives ones. I've checked several times since and I'm hoping I got them all.

Still don't know how they got in, I'm hoping maybe they just flew in the door when it was open at some point, maybe laid eggs?

Would RV antifreeze attract them? I did have a little bit of antifreeze in my tub that didn't drain because it isn't sitting quite level.

Not sure what kind they were either, here is a picture.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/47646006001_2b7d6c90b0_k.jpg

[dcmac214]

Whatever you do, do NOT try spraying them with Off or any other insect repellent. Yes, voice of painful childhood experience.

[packnrat]

get the rv very cold, wasps hate the cold. they will move on. but going to co$t you.
never kill them off inside any wall. as it rots, and attracts roaches, thus more rot.
i like the vacuum deal.

[Campinfan]

Put Pine Sol in a garden sprayer ( I mix it 50-50 with water but you can go full strength). Learned this from a roofer. It works great plus you do not have to get close.

[drsteve]

seaeagle2 wrote:
If you just seal up the hole, they just chew a new opening and it might be through the sheetrock in the living room.

Had a nest of yellow jackets in the siding once. Hosed the entrance hole down with Raid, and they found their way into the basement. Hundreds of them...

[seaeagle2]

I had a wasp nest in the eve of the house, all I could see was a small hole. I set up a shop vac with a long hose. As the wasps exited the hole, they would get sucked into the shop vac. As the ones in the field returned to the nest and went to enter the hole, they wold get sucked into the shop vac. After a couple days, there's no one left bringing food the the ones in the nest and they die off. If you don't have clear access to spray the actual nest, this is the way to get rid of them. ( if you just seal up the hole, they just chew a new opening and it might be through the sheetrock in the living room).

[dewey02]

.

[Fizz]

Set out one of those sugar-water traps. Won't take long to lure them in.

[Dave_H_M]

listen to the ole biscuit. If they are inside the camper, they should (i said should) not be building outside in the condenser unit. Might be interesting to find the avenue of how they are getting in the camper.

[Bobbo]

If you don't like the pesticide kind of wasp spray, WD-40 will kill them just as fast.

[ppine]

thanks to SAR tracker.

[SAR_Tracker]

ppine wrote:
I like the spray that is "electrostatic" designed for stinging insects. I bought a house with wasps under all of the eaves of the house. Hit them early in the morning when they are all in the nest. The can is green and yellow, I forget who makes it.

Spectracide