Please help me remain un-stung in my lovely hammock!

Post date: 2020-08-01 05:24:08

We have an active paper wasp nest tucked up under the railing of our deck. It's immediately next to my hammock spot. I'd like to continue reading in the hammock for hours without fear of being stung by wasps. Please advise!

I did search for previous questions on dealing with wasp nests, but there are some snowflake details which render much of that advice incompatible.

As an early birthday gift, Spouse got me a wonderful tented hammock to enjoy over the summer. (You can see it here, as it's somewhat unusual.) It is AWESOME. Unfortunately, I've discovered that there is a paper wasp nest adjacent to the ideal spot for it.

The hammock is on our deck, basically 4-6 inches away from the railing. The wasp nest is tucked up under the railing, in such a way that it's difficult to even identify exactly which nook the nest is in. (For clarity, imagine an upside-down box of about 2x3 inches. These are all along the underside of the deck railing between posts.) I can see where the wasps go in & out, but haven't managed to get a visual on the nest itself. Since it's in this protected spot, there is no way to aim & shoot wasp spray from a safe distance -- the only option is really to stand effectively under the nest (the worst place to be) with only a couple feet between us and the nest.

While the hammock tent is very effective in general at keeping bugs out, at least twice now I've found a wasp trapped in there. I simply let it out, and all was well. But I'm concerned about the safety of hanging out so close to the nest as more wasps hatch & gather; I also would not love to have a wasp trapped that I didn't see, and then have to attempt to unzip the thing as I'm being stung! (I have found one dead wasp in the hammock. I was in the hammock at the time & honestly have no clue where it came from or how it died, except it may have been trapped in the light curtain I use for extra shade. I did not get stung in that case.)

Any ideas? I'm totally fine with ideas that are not lethal; I get that they're helpful predators of garden-eating bugs, etc. I'd also rather not call an exterminator for this, as the scale is pretty small. Since we can't just gear up & safely spray it, I'm stuck for what to do to either deter them or ensure they stay peaceful.

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