How do you keep 'mud dobbers ' away & from building mud 👀

Question

Jan Clark · Answer

Back in the day, people painted the undersides of their eaves turquoise and the wasps stayed away. You can kill them and the nest with hornet spray but wait until early evening when they've congregated at home and are not as active. Stand back as far as the spray will reach.

13526476 · Answer

PLEASE don't kill them--especially don't use sprays! Mud daubers are considered a BENEFICIAL that kills spiders and pollinates. While it is a member of the wasp family, it is a solitary wasp that builds her nests out of mud. The mud dauber pollinates plants while drinking nectar. The dauber kills 2-3 spiders and puts them in the mud channels where she lays her eggs; only the larvae eat 'meat.'. Mud daubers come in 3 colors: Shiny purple-blue, black and stripped yellow and black. They all have narrow, thread-like waists. It takes a lot to upset mud daubers! They usually will not sting unless really provoked (and maybe not even then). If they are building nests you want to remove, wait at night to scrape the nest off. Remove each nest as you see it, and she will eventually go away to a less threatening area. The female mud dauber builds the nests while the male guards the nest until she has completely built it, stuffed it with spiders, laid the eggs and sealed the tubes. He guards the nest from other insects who want to lay their eggs in the tubes. Again, the wasps do not live in the nests. We must protect these wasps!

NN · Answer

I also live in central Texas. We had a lot of them when the porch ceiling was dark brown. After I painted it white, we have had almost no trouble with them.

Millie · Answer

I agree with PJWise123! Because we are so quick to use sprays, etc. we are killing our pollinators. If we don't have pollinators like these wasps, bees, etc., WE DON'T EAT! Please think before spraying with the polluting chemicals that are now in our water supplies, too. Each of us needs to become aware of the consequences of our actions. It all adds up!

Millie · Answer

Scrape the nests away. Make sure there are no places for spiders to hide, like crevices, weeds/tall grasses close to the house, as the spiders are what they are after for putting into their nests. I don't know why blue or turquoise color repels them, but I guess using that color under eaves works. Keep scraping them away and they will give up and go elsewhere.

Jennifer · Answer

I get it they are pollinators but for my family they represent death...... my mother is HIGHLY allergic so its them or her....i need them to go away not eventually not next season not even next week but now! The little death machines have 3 nests going and I have seen like 10 of them in one!

How do you keep "mud dobbers " away & from building mud 👀

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How do you keep "mud dobbers " away & from building mud 👀

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