HELP! Wasps in spa electrical box
 

We have a small spa (really it's a miniature in-ground pool) behind our house and the electrical box that houses the breakers for the pump and heater is infested with wasps.... Since it's an electrical box I know better than to spray it with a normal wasp killer. Do any of you electrical folks out there know if it would be safe to spray Hot Shot Ultra Wasp and Hornet Killer around it? The product specs say that its:

- Electrically non-conducting

- Dielectric breakdown voltage of 49,500 volts

That doesn't mean much to me but I'm hoping it means I can spray around the electrical box without fear of shorting it out... Any suggestions?

I'm no expert, but if you kill the breaker at the main control panel that supplies the outdoor breaker box, it should make things safer for spraying. You'll need to clean out all the honey, wax anyways so you're going to need to kill the power to that outdoor breaker anyways. Good luck.

Try diatomaceous earth. Non-toxic to humans, but deadly to wasps.

I'd throw a sugar wasp trap right outside to cut down on their numbers before your final assault.

If it's not electrically conducting, spray the hell out of it. It wouldn't hurt to throw the breaker first though because you'll want to remove the cover to get the nest out of there. There's no honey unless they're honey bees.

From what I can gather, the "dielectric breakdown" portion of the specs mean that it will actually start having electricity arc through it at 49,500 volts. I can assure you that your breaker cannot deliver anywhere near 49,500 volts. Nothing in your house can do that. Hence the first statement that it is basically electrically non-conductive.

I say spray the heck out of it. Wait until night, though. And yes, there won't be any honey. Just some vegetable material that makes up the nest, wasps, eggs, and larvae. The adult wasps mainly eat nectar while hunting other insects to feed the larvae.

If it's a freestanding/pole mounted box, just cover it with plastic & duct tape, if you can do so without getting stung. This will keep the bugs in, deprive them of food, water & cause them to overheat & die. If it's wall mounted, kill the power & spray the hell out of it with the nonconductive insecticide. Regards, GF.

First, it's NON-CONDUCTIVE, so it's safe.

However, that stuff is nasty in several ways, so I second the suggestion to suffocate them. Do it at night when they are all returned safe to their home.

And if they are Bald Faced Hornets, they sting like a BTCH! I still have the marks on my back from when I was 12 and got stung while throwing a half-brick at a HUGE nest. They got me 20 yards from where I turned and ran. It felt like someone hit me in the back with a hammer.

Oh, and if you are going to mess around with the panel, you should kill the juice anyway, never mind the bugs.

You wuss. A real man would saunter out there in his boxers and burn them each individually with a cigar. Nut up, dude!

;)

Can of starter fluid and a match and blowtorch them bastards!