Wasps' nest

[Chrissie]

Now I thought a wasps' nest would be about 6-8 inches high, so was unprepared to find a little thing the size of a small pine cone hanging from one branch of my magnolia stellata.  I tapped it with the loppers to see what it was.....and it was like the bloomin' Tardis - about 30 wasps shot out of the bottom of this tiny thing.  All I can say is that conditions in there must be very overcrowded.....

So what, if anything, do I need to do about this?  It's not too near the house, but is close to our driveway.  Can I just stick my head in the sand and wait for winter?

Chrissie (81)

[Patmobile]

1. Get a hose pipe with a powerful jet nozzle.

2. Stand well away from the nest but just within jet range.

3. Open fire with the water jet. Keep it trained on the nest even when it drops off the branch

The nest will dissolve into papery mush and the wasps will buzz aimlessly around a while before flying off to start again somewhere else.

It works - normally I wouldn't go near a nest as I'm allergic to the stings, but I had to deal with a big one on our boat dock at Lake Tahoe once and that was the solution I came up with.

Patrick

[Ian Hoare<br>All the best<br>Ian<br>La Souvigne Corrèze<br>http:www.souvigne.com]

Sounds to me like solitary wasps. They aren't solitary but live in small colonies such as you've described. The wasps are slightly smaller and slimmer with dangly legs.

I like the water jet solution. Another possibility is to get a "bombe" from your local DIY or supermarket. There's one designed for wasp and hornets' nests. Big booger, with a sort of trumpet shaped nozzle. Mine is made by Eleco and has the words "Nid de guêpes - nid de Frélons" "Foudroyant 6m portée".  A good blast from that will do for them nicely.

 

[Chrissie]

Thanks for both ideas - haven't decided which one to go for yet - the nest doesn't seem to have grown much yet, so I guess there's time.  Am planning my protective/camouflage outfit so they can't get their revenge........

Chrissie (81)

[Fumanzoku]

You could always just leave 'em alone. I have two nests in one shed and they never bother me. Last year I built a garage and had to demolish the old building by hand, while doing that I took down several little nests, both then and while working amongst them I never got stung once.

I have been stung several times however at our local recycle depositary, they seem to get a bit agrgessive around the wine and beer bottle container, can't think why.

[Gyn_Paul]

I've found several of these on the inside of the shutters of our seaside house over the years; since we open and close the shutters to keep the sun off the room if it's hot, I wasn't prepared to leave them be. I found attacking them early in the morning (cool and sleepy - them not me, that is) with a can of flyspray was quite sufficient to see them all off.

p

[Chrissie]

Bit the bullet and had a good hose at thing the other morning - and it was empty!  They must have moved on after the first disturbance.

Chrissie (81)

[Wizzer]

If they are not bothering you, why not leave them alone and let nature take it's course?

I arrived at the house two weeks ago having not been there for 3 months, to find two nests behind the shutters - they wern't doing any harm so I left them, only for the magpies to come and destroy them a week later. Rather sad as they are a masterpiece of building work.

[Gyn_Paul]

As I walked past my PC it 'binged' to say there was an email which proved to be the notification of a new posting in this thread.

I was actually on my way to the bathroom to find the creme for a wasp sting on my neck which I sustained while moving a plant into the trailer, and another one 5 minutes later (through my T-shirt) while I was sitting quietly on the garage floor sorting out bits of watering kit.

Wasps seem to be to be the only things which will sting - totally without provocation - just because they are in a mean mood.

For my money, the only good wasp is a poisoned/squashed/swatted/sprayed one.

"....let nature take it's (sic) course" ?   Ha !  Not bloody likely !

paul

[andyh4]

On balance wasps do more good than harm.  During Spring and early summer they are responsible for eating large quantities of insects we would probably prefer were not left to nature to do their course - greenfly, aphids etc. 

It is unususal for a wasp to sting unprovoked until after end July early August - when their largely meat diet then becomes expanded to include fruit - which because it is usually beginning to rot a little to be soft enough for the wasp to attack, also contains some alcohol.

 

So just like humans, wasps can become beligerent if they consume alcohol.

 

So for a wasp to sting so early in the season, there have to be a few questions:

Are you absolutely sure it was unprovoked?  Could it have already landed on you unnoticed and when you moved off it thought it was being provoked?

Are there any early fruit trees with unpicked fruit in the neighbourhood (cherries??)

 

What may seem like a strong defence will seem the more so when I explain that since being stung on the eyelid at age 9 I have a very violent medical reaction to wasp stings.