I have some birdhouses here, most are used regularly and occasionally some are vacant. I have a vacant Bluebird house that wasps want to use for their own nest ;-( It's mounted on a stockade fence post that I can access now but in a few weeks it will be hard to do as large perennials are growing beneath it.

Other than flipping up the door and giving a sharp blast with the hose nozzle to dislodge the forming hive, is there a better way to deter wasps from wanting to use that nest-box? I don't feel comfortable spraying with a pesticide, I'd rather deter them and redirect them so they'll go do their thing elsewhere. It's kinda scary to flip up the lid and find the wasps inside so I would like to just keep them out of it permanently.

If I took the door off the nestbox would the wasps be less inclined to use it? I suppose a bird that likes a relatively open niche might still use the box--I think the box is too narrow for a pidgeon nest but maybe a robin might like it, who knows yet what bird will take over the box without a door, but the main hope is that the openess with discourage the wasps.

I need your best suggestions please,

Kindly,

Trudi