Article: Nests are designed by queens and built by workers in early spring, and the colonies grow throughout the late spring and early summer until reaching peak size somewhere around August. The end of summer also finds wasps at their most aggressive and protective, making it a dangerous time to try to get rid of them.  Early in the year, the nests are smaller and more manageable. Get in the habit of patrolling the area around your home for wasp nests in the early season, before they've grown to dangerous sizes. If you kill the queen, there will also be no risk of the nest being rebuilt that year. If it's late in the season, it's probably best to wait it out and let the frost kill off the pests in the next 30-60 days. Then, you can knock the empty nests down to ensure that they won't be repopulated next year. Anytime you go hunting around for wasps, you need to keep yourself well protected. You probably don't need a full-on chemical protection suit, but taking a few steps in precaution can keep you from coming home with nasty stings if you get swarmed.  You need to wear thick, long sleeves and pants, heavy gloves, a hood that covers as much of your face as possible, and eye protection. Even if it's super hot outside, don't skimp on the layers and the thickness of the clothing. If you get swarmed by wasps, it's important to not over-think it: run as quickly as possible away from the wasps. While some people report that swinging articles of clothing or turning abrupt corners can be effective at shaking a swarm, the best way to get away is to run as fast as possible and get inside. If you're having a consistent problem with wasps in your area, it can be quite frustrating. But don't keep swatting them one at a time. Get rid of them at the source and get them away from your home. Find the nest and kill the nest and your problem will solve itself. Yellow-jacket nests are quite small, while wasp nests will be somewhat larger and more bulbous, like a papery football.  Wasps tend to build their nests in loose piles of wood, along rafters, or in garbage cans that are seldom used.  Check under porch gaps, and anywhere in your home with a large void or construction gap. Sometimes, nests can be buried behind walls, making them quite difficult to get to. Use a stethoscope or a water glass to hold up to the wall and listen for the buzzing. It might be necessary to drill into the wall to apply insecticide. When you find the nest, it's important to get rid of it as quickly and safely as possible, and the most effective technique is using insecticide spray to kill the wasps at the source.  Some commercial aerosol sprays are available that you can apply from as far as 20 feet away, keeping you a safe distance from the nest. The ECO PCO line of sprays are made of botanical compounds, making them somewhat safer than chemical-based sprays. Alternatively, residual insecticide sprays like D-Fense SC and Cyper WP can be applied to the area immediately surrounding the nest, killing the wasps indirectly, from a safe distance. Always defer to the manufacturer directions when applying any kind of pesticide spray. Insecticide dust is an effective long-term strategy for dealing with wasps, maintaining its efficacy for up to six months, and making it deter wasps for even longer in some cases. It's easy to use and widely available.  The brands Tempo Dust, Sevin Garden Dust, or Dusters are both effective brands of using on wasp nests. Apply dust around the nest opening first thing in the morning, applying about a quarter cup loosely in the general area. Don't clog the opening, so the wasps can move freely and spread the dust around independently.  One of the dangers of using dust is what makes it effective: it stays dangerous for a long time. If you have pets or small children, applying dust to a nest near your home might be dangerous. Use caution. It may be somewhat primitive, but with some good aim, plain soapy water is a somewhat effective way of destroying a nest and killing off the wasps with household supplies.  Mix about a third of a cup of dish soap into a half gallon of water and load it into as powerful a spray applicator as you can find. You want to be able to stand fairly far away from the nest as you spray it with sudsy water. Shake the sudsy water to get it will integrated, then spray the soapy water liberally around the opening of the nest and get out of dodge. Reapply this soapy water several times over the next few days. One effective natural way of eradicating wasps is to combine natural wood smoke and water to get the wasps out of the area. When wasps sense fire in the area, they'll vacate the nest and allow you to destroy it safely.  Use a small grill to build a tiny and contained wood fire safely underneath the nest. Let the smoke rise steadily for an hour or two, while the wasps leave. Come back to the area with a hose and spray the nest down, knocking it down with a stick if necessary, destroying it.

What is a summary?
Get rid of nests early in the year. Don some armor. Find the hive. Spray the nest with pesticide spray. Use wasp-repellant dust. Use soap and water. Use smoke and water.