Red wasps, a common type of paper wasp, are drawn to the sheltered nooks of your home for nesting and to nearby food sources for feeding. Keeping them away comes down to three things: removing what attracts them, blocking where they nest, and using scents that drive them off. Here’s how to do each one effectively.
Why Red Wasps Choose Your Home
Red paper wasps build open, umbrella-shaped combs in protected spots where rain can’t reach. The undersides of eaves, porch ceilings, deck railings, and overhangs are prime real estate. They also nest inside less obvious voids like metal fence pipes, the underside of unused equipment, and gaps in siding. These nests often go unnoticed until someone accidentally disturbs them.
In early spring, a single overwintered queen starts each nest. Once she raises her first batch of workers, the colony grows quickly through summer. That spring window, before colonies are established, is your best opportunity to prevent nesting altogether. Red wasps also forage for nectar and soft-bodied insects like caterpillars, so flowering plants, fruit trees, and outdoor food all pull them toward your yard.
Seal Entry Points and Nesting Sites
The most reliable long-term strategy is making your home physically unwelcoming. Walk the perimeter and look for cracks, gaps, and crevices along eaves, porch ceilings, window frames, and where siding meets trim. Seal these with caulk or weatherstripping. Pay special attention to the undersides of overhangs, since that’s exactly where red wasps prefer to attach their combs.
Check door and window screens for holes or tears and replace any that are damaged. Inspect less obvious spots too: open pipe ends on fences or railings, gaps under outdoor furniture, and the openings of unused grills or equipment. Stuffing steel wool into small gaps or capping open pipes takes only a few minutes and eliminates nesting opportunities you might not think about.
Use Essential Oil Sprays as a Scent Barrier
Red wasps navigate largely by smell, and certain essential oils overwhelm their sensory receptors enough to make them avoid treated areas. Peppermint oil is the most widely recommended option. Its high menthol concentration creates a strong deterrent zone. Clove oil and lemongrass oil are also effective, and combining all three creates a broader scent barrier than any single oil alone.
To make a spray, mix 15 drops of peppermint oil, 10 drops of clove oil, and 10 drops of lemongrass oil into 2 cups of water in a spray bottle. Add 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap to help the oils blend with the water. A splash of white vinegar or witch hazel helps the scent hold up longer outdoors. Spray this along eaves, porch ceilings, railings, window frames, and any other spots where you’ve seen wasp activity. Reapply every few days, and after rain.
Other oils that can contribute to a repellent blend include eucalyptus, citronella, geranium, and tea tree. None of these is as potent as peppermint on its own, but they add layers to the scent profile. Eucalyptus contains compounds many insects find irritating, and citronella interferes with wasps’ ability to detect food and nesting opportunities.
Plant Natural Repellents Around Your Yard
If you’d rather build a longer-lasting deterrent into your landscaping, several plants produce scents that red wasps avoid. Mint (spearmint or peppermint) is one of the strongest options. Planting it in pots near doorways, along porch edges, or under eaves puts the scent right where wasps are most likely to scout for nesting sites. Mint spreads aggressively in garden beds, so containers give you more control.
Other useful plants include citronella, eucalyptus, lavender, marigolds, rosemary, basil, thyme, sage, and wormwood. Geraniums pull double duty as ornamental flowers that also repel stinging insects. Wintergreen contains a compound called methyl salicylate, commonly used in commercial insect repellents, and its strong minty aroma helps keep wasps at a distance. Clustering several of these plants near outdoor seating areas, entryways, and under roof overhangs gives you overlapping coverage.
Why Fake Nests Don’t Work for Red Wasps
Decoy wasp nests are sold on the theory that social wasps are territorial and will avoid building within about 200 feet of an existing colony. There’s some basis for this with certain species, but it doesn’t apply to red paper wasps. Paper wasps build their open combs in sheltered spots like eaves and undersides of structures, and they don’t respond to the hanging, enclosed decoy nests designed to mimic hornet or yellowjacket colonies. Save your money on this one and focus on sealing, spraying, and planting instead.
Remove Food and Water Sources
Red wasps forage for two things: sugary nectar and protein from soft-bodied insects. You can’t eliminate every caterpillar in your yard (and you wouldn’t want to, since wasps do provide some pest control), but you can reduce what pulls them close to your living spaces. Keep outdoor trash cans tightly sealed. Clean up fallen fruit from trees. Cover food and drinks when eating outside, especially anything sweet. Rinse out recycling bins so sugary residue doesn’t linger.
Standing water also attracts wasps, particularly in hot weather. Empty birdbaths you aren’t actively using, fix dripping outdoor faucets, and dump water that collects in plant saucers or equipment. If you want to keep a birdbath, place it far from your house and seating areas to draw wasp activity away rather than toward you.
Removing an Existing Nest Safely
If red wasps have already built a nest on your property, early morning is the safest time to deal with it. Wasps are less active and slower in cool temperatures, and most of the colony will be on the nest rather than out foraging. Wear long sleeves, pants, gloves, and eye protection. Avoid standing directly below the nest, since wasps drop downward when disturbed.
For small, newly started nests (just a queen and a handful of cells in early spring), you can sometimes knock the nest down with a long stick and immediately move away. The queen will typically abandon the site. For larger established nests, a commercial wasp spray with a long-range nozzle lets you treat from a safer distance. Always read and follow the product’s label instructions.
Timing matters seasonally too. Nests found in early spring are small and have few defenders. By midsummer, a colony can have dozens of workers, making removal riskier. If a nest is large, in a hard-to-reach spot, or near a high-traffic area, professional removal is the safer choice.
Understanding the Sting Risk
Red paper wasps are less aggressive than yellowjackets or hornets, but they will sting if they feel their nest is threatened. On the Schmidt Sting Pain Index, which rates insect stings from 0 to 4, paper wasps score a 2 or 3 depending on species, compared to a 2 for honeybees. Interestingly, wasps sting about twice as hard as bees but inject roughly one-tenth the venom per sting.
For most people, a sting causes localized pain, redness, and swelling that fades within a day or two. Stings on or around the face, eyes, or neck deserve more caution, since swelling in these areas can become serious even without an allergic reaction. Corneal stings are particularly painful because the eye surface is extremely sensitive. Signs of a systemic allergic reaction, including difficulty breathing, hives spreading away from the sting site, dizziness, nausea, or a rapid change in heart rate, require immediate emergency care.