Quilt basting, wasps, and flea collars

Many of you may have read that Mom and I occasionally use the deck for basting quilts. What you don't know is that we have had wasps nesting under the deck for years, and I'm allergic to them. So Mom and I have had to time our quilt basting times carefully--cool days in very early spring or late fall. We won't have to anymore.

The deck is so low that we couldn't climb under it to spray wasp killer or do anything else to the nests. This year I started seeing wasps at the deck as soon as it warmed up enough for them to fly. Someone told me that flea collars would drive off bees and wasps. I didn't really believe it, but thought I'd try it anyway. I bought two flea collars and slid them between the boards near the places the wasps would frequently walk through the cracks, with the clasp still topside so the collar dangles below. Since the clasp for each collar is still on top just spanning the crack in the floor boards, I can pull it up and dispose of it at the end of the season. Most importantly----------We don't have wasps under the deck anymore!

I don't put flea collars on my pets anymore because there are better and safer products to use on them, but I have a new reason to buy the collars. Hopefully I won't need to buy any next year, but I know it works, at least on wasps. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra
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What a great idea. Hope it works in Aussie.

Reply to
Maloney Empire

You know, Debra, that just might work for us. We have canvas awnings at two doors. Wasps think we installed the awnings for their comfort. It would be easy enough, methinks, to simply clothespin a couple of flea collars up inside the awnings. The afternoon sun should heat them up and make them quite wasp-offensive. Which brand and flavor did you use? Polly

Reply to
Polly Esther

That is the darnedest thing I ever heard of! Thanks for the tip!

Reply to
Carolyn McCarty

Cheapest Hartz 3 month dog collar I could find. You could probably cut one in half or thirds as they are fairly long since you are going to use clothespins as holding devices. Don't forget to stretch it like the directions say. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

Reading this I am relieved that you don't have to put the flea collars on the wasps.

Reply to
dogmom

Indeed! . In message , dogmom writes

Reply to
Patti

Very excellent tip Debra! Thanks so much for posting it.

We have wasps in our yard every summer and while they don't particularliy build nests under our deck (we would never get under ours either) they do hang around the yard and become very annoying. If we find they get quite annoying this year, especially with out little one finally walking upright lol and spending more time outdoors, we will be hanging the things like patio lanterns all around the deck!!! Hopefully just having them hanging around will be enough to discourage them from coming around. They make me so nervous!

Reply to
JPgirl

We always have wasps in any available hole that they can crawl into on our

5th wheel - the bumper, the air conditioner, the hot water heater, etc., etc. Before DH can get it ready for a trip, he has to spray really good at night after the wasps have gone to bed. Maybe we should start draping the 5th wheel with flea colllars!
Reply to
Donna Aten

Flea collars also keep critters away from my tomato plants! I put them right on the soil around the plants, hooking them around the outside of the tomato cages so they stay put and aren't touching the tomato plants. I have no idea why it works, but it does.

Reply to
Mary

I would be concerned about chemicals from the flea collar leaching into the soil around the tomatoes and being absorbed into the plant and thus into the tomatoes. Have you checked with anyone to see if that is a possibility?

Julia in MN

Reply to
Julia in MN

I wonder if they would get rid of Lily Beetles. They are a fairly recent introduction to this country, but have now reached Suffolk and are a dreadful nuisence. They just eat their way through the leaves of all my beautiful Lilies so that by the time the flowers arrive there are no leaves left. At the moment I catch them in a screw-top jar, but that's just the ones I see. The normal sprays have no effect on them, and this year they were waiting for the fist leaves to break through the soil.

Reply to
Sally Swindells

Hmm -wonder if they work on slugs? Or only on insects. Bought a packet of mixed flower seeds, including marigolds and such, all supposed to repel mollusks :-p The instructions are to plant as a "wall" around the edge of the veggie bed. Roberta in D

"Mary" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

I plant marigolds with tomatoes all the time. It does seem to help ward off most bugs, but not aphids. The best part is the marigold flowers insure that bees come to pollinate your tomato plants.

Um, aren't mollusks clams, mussels, and scallops? Never saw those in my garden. ;-) Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

Snails and slugs are also mollusks--

Pati, > >

Reply to
Pati Cook

Molluscs also include snails and slugs. DD1, my environmentally-friendly family biologist, visited one summer and decided to solve our slug problem by collecting all she could find in a bucket. Filled up pretty fast. The idea is then to kill the little devils by adding boiling water. Ech! She said she would never eat anything involving boiled clams etc. again, the smell was memorable. Roberta in D

"Debra" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com...

Reply to
Roberta Zollner

Yick! I'll just stick to salting any slugs I find, thank you. Debra in VA See my quilts at

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Reply to
Debra

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