LONGMONT, Colo. (KDVR) — Matthew Taylor is a U.S. Postal Service mail carrier in Longmont, Colorado. He says this time of year, wasps like to build their nests in the large cluster mailbox units, and they can surprise mail carriers.

"I've gotten stung quite a few times. You make the best of the situation. Sometimes, it really, really hurts, but the mail has got to get delivered," Taylor said.

He and the other mail carriers have an interesting way of protecting themselves. They place dryer sheets in the mailboxes, hoping the wasps don't like the smell and will stay away.

"It is the scent. It makes it seem like that is not an area where they would want to build a nest, and it chases them away, but it doesn't harm them in any shape or form," Taylor said.

Letter carriers and residents in other parts of the country have previously discussed the efficacy of the practice.

"We’ve found that they hate scented dryer sheets," one postal worker said in a 2021 Reddit post. "If we encounter a box that is a problem for nests, we’ll often put one in there and it does the trick."

USPS set up a summer safety station at the Longmont post office, highlighting some things carriers should be aware of, including dogs, hydration, sunscreen and, of course, insect stings. Dryer sheets and insect bite relief sticks are made available to employees, and carriers who are allergic may carry EpiPens.

The dryer sheets may be a strange sight to some residents, but Taylor says they help, and he hopes residents will not remove them.

Plus, he says, things could be worse.

"In other states like Arizona, New Mexico, they get to deal with scorpions and snakes, things like that, and I think I'll stick with the wasps," he joked. 

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