Friday, August 03, 2007

This Means War

A few posts ago, I mentioned some flying, presumably stinging insects in the ceiling of my Florida room. Well, earlier this week, I tried to eliminate them. The problem is the nest is not external to the house. That, and I believed in the "residual" power of the 8-year-old can of insecticide I used.

I waited until near dark, then generously sprayed the junction of the eave and the siding where the little buggers come and go through gaps I keep telling myself I should caulk. I used an ancient can of flying insect killer spray that I found in the garage. Maybe its powers had weakened, though, because the next morning the little buggers continued to come and go. So I sprayed them again, until the can was empty, but that night they were still coming and going.

Wednesday night I bought two more cans of spray, and Thursday night emptied one entire can, this time targeting individual bugs as they came and went. A direct hit produced the expected results, and after a while I felt I had decimated enough of the population (and soaked the side of my house and the deck directly beneath) with plenty of poison. Maybe the residual action would work this time.

This morning there were still a few valient bugs coming and going, but they looked a little hung over. I still have a whole can left, so I may keep zapping them one at a time, but what I would really like to do is spray something inside those gaps, to make sure I get the queen and any of her drones that don't come and go. Because I read that if you caulk up the holes and there are live bugs inside, they will chew their way through the ceiling in their attempt to escape.

Or I could call a professional, I guess, but that would be admitting defeat.

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