This post was most recently updated on May 1st, 2018
This post may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of these links I may receive a small commission, at absolutely no extra cost to you. In an effort to provide the best opportunities for saving money, time, and stress to my readers, I only promote products and services I use and/or really love. You can read my full disclosure here. If you would like to know how we collect, use, and protect any data you provide, please read my Privacy Policy. Thank you so much for helping me earn a living as a stay at home mom!
I love God’s creatures. Most of them anyway. I’m not a fan of the sting-y ones, though. Mosquitoes, those grey flies that like to bite you right at the back of the knee … and wasps. I hate wasps. Today, I’m going to share with y’all the most effective, cheapest, easiest, and most clever diy wasp deterrent EVER!
Let me begin by saying — my husband is deathly allergic to bees and wasps. So in the interest of keeping him – you know – alive, I have been looking for a way to keep wasps away from our outdoor spaces for a long time. I’ve tried plastic bottle wasp traps, store bought bug zappers, sprays, etc.. But I hated using chemical sprays (for many reasons) and none of them seems to work very well … or for very long. Plus, they’re expensive, as are most of the traps or other insect repelling *thingamabobs* on the market. I needed a diy wasp deterrent that was affordable and effective. And I found it!
DIY Wasp Deterrent
What You’ll Need: 
- Brown paper bag – lunch sack size
- Shredded paper, newspaper, plastic grocery bags (something to stuff in the paper bag)
- Rubberband
- Floral wire or twisty tie
Step One: Fill your paper lunch sack about 2/3 full of shredded paper, newspaper or plastic grocery bags. (I saved the confetti from our paper shredder to use.) You want the bag to be puffy looking, but leave 3 or 4 inches from the top of the bag.
Step Two: Twist shut the opening of the bag and secure with a rubberband. (You could use string, twine, wire – whatever for this, I just found that a rubberband was quick and easy.)
Step Three: Slightly *scrunch* your bag so the corners are a bit rounded – you’re trying to make it look like a hornets’ nest.
Step Four: Hang your *nest* anywhere you’ve seen a lot of wasp, yellow jacket, mud dauber, bumblebee or hornet activity.
Be Careful!
If there is an active nest already in place, you may want to invest in a can of hornet spray initially, then hang your fake nest to prevent new colonies from forming in the future. Better yet, hang your fake nest early in the morning while it is still too cool for them to come out.
I may be overly cautious, but, like I mentioned, if my husband gets stung, it’s a long way to the ER in town & I never want to risk his safety! Or that of my kids, for that matter. Honestly, I have no idea if any of them are allergic to wasp or bee stings, as they’ve never been stung. But the way my youngest daughter swells up from mosquito bites … it makes me vigilant.
Where to Hang Wasp Deterrents
I initially hung one of these wasp deterrent *nests* on the hedge fence by where we park our cars (a favorite swarming spot) and another on our front porch. On a warm day, I’ve counted more than 40 wasps buzzing around our front door and the picture window near it. NO ONE wants to go outside or come back inside through that gauntlet!
The very first day I hung them, there weren’t many wasps about because it was later in the evening and the temperatures were dropping pretty fast. But the next day as the sun rose higher and it began getting warmer, I waited for the wasps to appear around their favorite places. And they didn’t. Not a single one! I didn’t tell my husband what I was trying, initially. But after the second day of no wasp sightings, he mentioned that it was strange they weren’t out because it had been warm and sunny. I showed him my little piece of trickery and he was amazed. Then he thought I was amazing and that was cool!
I have continued to put these little diy wasp deterrent nests out all around the house. I put one near the back porch door, which is another favorite wasp haunt.
Then I put two on the garden fence. It’s hard to get much work out of my kids in the garden when they spend all their time dancing around trying to avoid wasps and bees.
Next, I hung one on the end of my clothesline pole. Wasps LOVE to gather around me when I’m hanging cool, wet clothes on a hot day. Sometimes they get tangled up in the clothes when I take them off the line and I bring them inside with me. I hate that.
I have plans to hang a few more near the swimming pool when we get it cleaned and filled. People get nervous when they’re splashing or floating and wasps swoop in to get a drink.
I am Still a Friend of Nature
Just because I’ve put these diy wasp deterrent nests all over the place, don’t think I’m totally hating on our pollinating little friends. I have several small ‘fairy pools’ around so they can get a drink during the summer. And my youngest daughter is planting a container Butterfly Garden for her Botany project. We recognize how important bees and wasps are to our food supply. I just don’t want them hanging around the places where my family and I are trying to relax and have fun!
Do They Work?
So far, I’ve had the wasp deterrent nests up for a couple weeks. I had to replace one that got pummeled by hail a few days ago, but the others are holding up just fine. Best of all, there have been ZERO wasp sightings in that whole time. It’s been wonderful to work on the patio and take the kids out to play and not have to worry about angry bugs!
I hope y’all try these very inexpensive and super simple diy wasp deterrent nests. They are such a resourceful, all natural way to keep annoying and harmful pests away from your summer fun! I am actively searching for a similarly clever solution to pesky mosquitoes, too … they are just the bane of my existence, I swear. If any of you have found a great way to keep mosquitoes at bay, let me know. As you know, nature is great … as long as it isn’t uncomfortable for me! 😀
Love & Blessings,
That Farm Mama
We have been doing the bags for hornets and such after seeing this and it is working. All the places they like to hang out in has a bag or two. I even put them in my potting shed so there wouldn’t be any surprise there. I live in Texas and the snow these last two years seems to have brought them out in droves and they are far more aggressive than ever before.
Thank you for sharing
Thank you a hundred times. We have spent a small fortune on wasp killer just to have them show up somewhere else. I was feeding the mule and they were in the fence and they attacked me and the mule. Fortunately I got my rings off in time but a couple of days later I had to take my watch off also because of the swelling. The mule ran out of them and didn’t get stung. Someone said how do you water proof. I would spray with a water resistant spray like maybe in a lite grey. Or just a clear fixative Krylon makes them you can get both at Hobby Lobby and maybe Michaels. I suppose Wal-Mart but I do not shop there anymore after the last purchase over a year ago broke as I was taking it out of it’s packaging and then they started doing more self checkout, therefor taking jobs away. Mr. Walton would be so said. Thank you again ever so much. I will try to come back and tell you how it worked. What is really cool is that I had about a dozen of those bags left from cards that I made ages ago so it was no expense out of my pocket. And who doesn’t have 1000s of plastic grocery bags they work great 3 to a nest. Wish I would not have thrown that real hornets nest away rather than stomping it to peices. Where or where do they come from? Bless you.
How do you keep them from getting wet and falling apart? I am also deathly allergic to the whole wasp/bee family and carry 4 Epi-pens at all times.
Hi Kathy –
Unfortunately, I don’t have a solution to keep the wasp bags from falling apart if they get wet. I try to place mine under awnings and eaves near my doors and porch areas, which helps some. But because they are made of paper, they will eventually disintegrate from moisture. They are so easy and inexpensive to put together, though, it’s not hard to replace them when that happens. If I find a way to make them last better in wet conditions I will definitely update my post.
Blessings –
Sharon – That Farm Mama
Love this! Already shared because EEK! Now do you have a fix for spiders? Because I will cover my house with Paper bag contraptions to avoid those buggers – pun intended. Also, having just returned from a visit in the south, a snake option like this would be helpful, too! Thanks for the advice!
Hi Cass! I hope this wasp deterrent is working out for you. I know it has made a BIG difference in our outdoor enjoyment here. As for spiders … they hate the smell of peppermint. I filled a spray bottle (maybe a 4 oz. bottle from the dollar store) with water and added about 25 drops of peppermint essential oil, as well as just a couple drops of dish soap. I spray this around doorways, in dark corners of the basement – pretty much anywhere I’ve seen a spider lurking around. It seems to help quite a bit with keeping them outside where they belong! I did not use my really good quality essential oil for this spray (because I’m CHEAP! LOL) but I bought a very inexpensive, lower quality oil at Walmart for just a few dollars. And it works just as well for this purpose. We have a pack rat problem here on the farm, too … they love to crawl up under the hood of our ‘summer car’ and chew on the wires. I’ve been using the peppermint oil spray on the engine area and have not seen any signs of rats since. So … I don’t know if this would work for snakes, but I guess it never hurts to try. You’ll let me know if you do find it’s helpful in keeping snakes away, though, won’t you? Good luck and have a great day!!