Red wasps are paper wasps, and you can get rid of them by spraying the nest directly with an insecticidal aerosol at dawn, when the colony is sluggish and nearly all wasps are on the nest. Most nests are small enough to handle yourself with the right timing, clothing, and product. Larger nests tucked inside walls or near high-traffic doorways are better left to a professional.
Identifying Red Wasps and Their Nests
Red wasps (Polistes carolina) are the only paper wasps in North America with an almost entirely rust-colored body. They’re slender, about an inch long, and lack the bold black-and-yellow banding of yellowjackets. If you see extensive black markings on the legs and midsection, you’re likely looking at a different species, Polistes metricus, but the removal approach is the same for all paper wasps.
Their nests are the familiar open-comb style: a single layer of hexagonal cells hanging from a thin stalk, with no outer shell. You’ll find them under eaves, porch ceilings, deck railings, behind window shutters, and inside hollow trees. The papery material is chewed wood fiber mixed with saliva. Nests start small in spring (a few dozen cells) and can grow to the size of your hand or larger by late summer, housing anywhere from a dozen to several dozen wasps.
Red wasps are not particularly aggressive. They sting only when they feel the nest is threatened, so a nest tucked in a rarely visited corner of the yard may not need removal at all. But a nest above your front door or on a porch railing is a different situation.
When and How to Remove a Nest Yourself
Early morning is the best time to treat a nest. Wasps are cold-blooded, so they’re least active in the cool hours before sunrise. Nearly the entire colony will be clustered on the comb rather than out foraging, which means one application can reach them all.
Pick up a pressurized wasp-and-hornet spray from any hardware store. These products shoot a stream 15 to 20 feet, letting you keep your distance. Stand as far back as the spray allows, aim the nozzle directly at the nest, and saturate the comb and the wasps on it for several seconds. Don’t swat at wasps that fly off. Walk away calmly and check the nest again after 24 hours. If you still see live wasps returning, repeat the treatment the following morning.
Once the nest is dead, knock it down with a long stick or scrape it off with a putty knife. Removing the physical nest matters because returning foragers sometimes try to rebuild on the old stalk.
If the Nest Is in the Ground or a Wall Void
Paper wasps occasionally nest inside wall cavities or gaps in siding. For enclosed nests, an insecticidal dust applied into the entry hole works better than a spray. Use a bulb duster or even a disposable paper cup to puff dust into the opening. Do not seal the hole afterward. Leaving it open lets wasps walk through the treated dust as they come and go, which spreads the product throughout the colony.
What to Wear During Removal
You don’t necessarily need a full bee suit, but you do need to eliminate exposed skin. At minimum, wear long pants, a long-sleeved shirt made of heavy fabric (canvas, denim, or thick cotton), and high boots. Tuck your pant legs into your boots and your sleeves into gloves. Thick leather or rubber work gloves that extend past the wrist are ideal.
Protect your face and neck with a hat and a veil or, if you don’t have a veil, a hood cinched tight. A mesh laundry bag draped over a wide-brimmed hat works in a pinch. Use duct tape to seal any gaps at cuffs, collar, and boot tops. Red wasps are persistent and will find openings. Keep an over-the-counter antihistamine nearby in case of a sting, along with a cold pack.
Trapping Wasps Around Your Yard
Traps won’t eliminate a nest, but they reduce the number of foraging wasps around outdoor eating areas and can help you gauge how large a nearby population is. Simple homemade traps outperform many commercial options.
The most effective bait is brown sugar syrup: one pound of dark brown sugar dissolved in a gallon of water. Cut a three-inch hole in the side of a one-gallon plastic jug (opposite the handle), pour in about six cups of syrup, and hang the jug from a tree branch four to eight feet off the ground. Wasps enter through the hole, feed, and eventually drown. In side-by-side comparisons, these brown sugar traps caught more wasps in a single week than commercial traps with expensive lures caught over an entire summer. Adding a teaspoon of active dry yeast is optional. It makes the trap smell worse after a few days but doesn’t noticeably change the catch rate.
Place traps at the perimeter of your yard, away from where people sit. You want to draw wasps away from activity areas, not toward them. Empty and refill traps every week or so.
Preventing New Nests
Killing one nest doesn’t stop new queens from scouting the same spots next spring. Physical exclusion is the most reliable long-term fix. Walk your home’s perimeter with a tube of exterior silicone caulk and seal any gap larger than one-eighth of an inch along the fascia board, around wire penetrations, plumbing vents, and where different siding materials meet. Check that the mesh screens behind soffit ventilation holes are intact, and make sure exterior light fixture covers are screwed on tightly.
A few areas deserve special attention each spring:
- Eave corners and soffit joints: the most common nesting sites on a house
- Behind exterior window shutters: a sheltered, overlooked spot queens love
- Undersides of deck railings and porch ceilings: protected from rain and easy to attach a nest stalk to
Some homeowners spray peppermint oil as a deterrent: 15 to 20 drops of pure peppermint essential oil mixed with two cups of water and a tablespoon of dish soap in a spray bottle. Mist eave corners, porch ceilings, and railings every 10 to 14 days during spring. The scent discourages scouting queens, though it needs consistent reapplication to work.
Decoy nests (the brown paper lanterns sold at garden centers) are widely marketed, but there’s no peer-reviewed evidence they deter paper wasps. Real wasps routinely build nests inches from existing ones and even construct new combs on top of old nests. Save your money and invest in caulk instead.
What a Red Wasp Sting Feels Like
On the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, paper wasp stings rate a 1.5 out of 4, described as a burning, throbbing sensation, like a drop of superheated frying oil landing on your skin. It hurts, but for most people the pain fades within an hour and the swelling resolves in a day or two. Wash the area with soap and water, apply a cold pack, and take an over-the-counter pain reliever or antihistamine if needed. Paper wasps usually don’t leave a stinger behind, but if one is visible, scrape it out sideways with a credit card rather than pinching it, which can squeeze more venom into the skin.
A small percentage of people develop a severe allergic reaction. Difficulty breathing, swelling of the throat or tongue, dizziness, a rapid pulse, or hives spreading far from the sting site are signs of anaphylaxis and require emergency treatment immediately. Stings on the face, head, or neck also warrant quick medical attention, because local swelling in those areas can become dangerous even without a systemic allergic response.
When to Call a Professional
Most single, visible paper wasp nests are straightforward to handle on your own. But certain situations tip the balance toward hiring a pest control service. If wasps are flying in and out of cracks in your siding, you likely have a hidden nest inside a wall or attic, and those are difficult to reach and treat without opening up the structure. A nest directly above a doorway or patio, especially in a household with young children or anyone with a known sting allergy, raises the stakes enough that professional removal is worth the cost. The same applies if you’ve already attempted a DIY treatment and the colony bounced back or relocated nearby. Pest control technicians have access to longer-reach application tools and commercial-grade products that resolve stubborn infestations faster.