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Wasps' Nest?!!!

Malc2098

Malc2098

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Name
Malcolm
When MC went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she heard a strange sound from a corner of the ceiling. Now I know there's no pipework there - it's a flat roof dormer. It wasn't raining, and it was too early for the seagulls, yep, even this far inland they clomp around on the flat roof.

So this morning I went outside to look up to that corner and spotted wasps flying in and out, up under the gutter and looked like they were going over the top of the plastic facia board.

If it is a wasps' nest, should I worry, or let it take its course?

Excuse the filth on the guttering and facias. I was getting round to it; I've cleaned one and a half sides of the house.

You can just see one of the little blighters legging it!

IMG_0556_zpsgeben8rz.jpg
 
There was about 6 nests in a small roof that was demolished during our extension build. No harm done but not nice when the wasps are around. We had one injected by the council to wipe it out. No idea if they still have the budget for that sort of thing.
 
From the District Council ---

Wasps

The common wasp is generally regarded as a nuisance. They are social insects, forming colonies inside nests specially constructed in soil banks, roof spaces and in cavities in trees and walls. They are therefore frequently associated with domestic housing.

Wasps can, however, prove beneficial to gardeners as the nest develops during the spring and early summer, the queen and the first workers prey upon more harmful insects and scraps of meat to feed the larvae. Therefore, they help to control insect pests and clear carcasses. They are normally too busy at this stage to be a nuisance.

Later in the season, as the larval rearing is reduced, the workers search for sweet substances (causing damage to ripening fruit) and can become a significant nuisance in the home.

Preventing a wasp infestation

Follow the simple guidelines below to stop your home and garden being plagued by wasps:

cover sweet smelling foods
make sure dustbins have tight fitting lids
do not allow food scraps from the sink waste to build up over your gully drain grating
clear away fruit fallen around the base of trees
Dealing with wasp problems

In your home, a squirt from an "ozone friendly" fly or wasp killer aerosol will bring the invaders down one at a time. Be careful not to spray over any food or drink that has been left out.

Nests in roofs or hanging in sheds or rafters, etc. need a more cautious approach and are best left to trained professionals.

We do not provide a service for the removal of wasps. If you have problems associated with wasps, you will need to engage the services of a commercial pest control company.

So that's it - No service from the local DC. If it's a problem, best left to professionals in a roof space.
 
you can get the cheap all in onesie paper type dust overall .. that'll keep them out .. goggles .. dust mask ..
ladders .. and empty a can of wasp/fly killer on the nest and all around it ..

they'll move on then :-)

if you are panicky around wasps .. them prob not a good idea to go up a ladder near them ! :lol: :lol: :lol:

they make their nest out of wood I believe :shock:
 
If they are not causing you a problem, best to leave well alone.
I had some nesting in the roof space of our garage and we're beginning to attack the Grandkids so I had to deal with them. I tried wasps killer but in the end closed off their entrance/exit using expanding foam. Made a bit of a mess but in the end it sorted them out.
I cleaned off the excess foam the year after.

Rod
 
I'm inclined to leave them alone at the moment. The noise in the bathroom ceiling is weird, though. Later in the season they'll be looking for sugar and that's when it can get troublesome.

Thanks all.
 
Hi Malc and welcome to the forum. NIce guitar!

I also have a nest in the early stages of being built in my workshop roof. The weird sound you might be hearing is a scratching sound. The wasps (queen initially) scratch at the wood (roofing joists in your case), mixing this with their saliva and form a paper like material from which they build the nests' structure. The nests also get very warm and sometimes hot, and this fluid might penetrate your ceiling forming a damp looking patch. If it does, keep an eye on it.

Best get the experts in and deal with it if it's going to be any kind of threat to you or your family - come end of season I mean.
 
Thanks, Pinch.

I've been asked to do a WIP on any others I may make in the future. I've always fancied a Rickenbacker 360/12, and for those of a certain age will remember, that was Roger McGuinn's sound of the Byrds.

Will leave the wasps' nest for the moment, but will monitor it closely.

Malcolm
 
No worries. 8-)

Yes, indeed, to see a WIP of a guitar being made would be very interesting. I fancied making violins years ago but I didn't persue anything.

The pest chappy visited me today at the shop. They reckon the nest is about the size of a football - so, quite small as I suspected. The growth of a nest can depend on food availablity and other close environment factors. After the powder was sprayed under the roof tiles and around the entry/exit, the wasps got very busy and were pretty darn mad - as one would imagine. My next fear was whether any of the wasps in the nest might find alternate exits, ie; into my shop. And, they have - not good.

I naturally haven't been able to work today although I've been in the shop most of the day. I've already killed a few and I decided to leave when another 3-4 wasps found their way into my shop. I really don't know what I'm going to walk into tomorrow morning, but I'm going armed with one of our ss spachelors. If there are lots of wasps in the shop, I might have to call back the pest chappy.

One element I did notice soon after the powder was sprayed was the scrtching noise stopped, which means they have stopped building. But the bzzzzzz sound was quite scary.

Also, I don't know if you have hornets in your neck of the woods, but we do here - quite a few of them. I noticed a couple today outside the shop, but more worrying, I've seen a good few at home in the back garden. Last Friday, one got within a metre from me (okay, I was looking out of the window at the time) and no exaggeration, it was around 2.5 inches long. I don't like them.
 
I've had success with a spray can of wasp and hornet killer. It shoots a foam jet about 4m so no need to get too close. I've had hornets nest on the ridge beam of the barn and in the apex of a dormer window roof. In both cases once spayed the hornets have not returned, so far. I do wonder, or hope, that the foam may leave a residual smell that puts them off.
 
Thanks, Pinch. I don't envy you.

My dormer's a flat roof, so they'll struggle to get a football size built in the gap which I think is stuffed with glass insulation, unless they've found their way through to the side loft - about 1.5m away. But the scratching sound comes from the corner where they enter and exit, so I'm hopeful it isn't far in.

I've not seen any hornets round here yet. Fingers crossed. Good luck with your pests.

Malcolm
 
Thanks, Andy,

My recollection from France, MC's parents lived there for many years, is that you have over the counter access to stuff that we don't in the UK. Is that still the case?

Malcolm
 
I remember when I was a child, my Dad treating a wasp nest in my Nans garden. The approach is not good for nests in buildings as it involved a mix of petrol and paraffin which was rapidly poured in the hole the wasps were going down and then lighting it with a rag on a long stick.
I remember it worked very effectively.

Different times.
 
Sounds like there could be a chance of a big bang and a lot of black smoke!
 
Malc2098":2dm2h1wc said:
Thanks, Andy,

My recollection from France, MC's parents lived there for many years, is that you have over the counter access to stuff that we don't in the UK. Is that still the case?

Malcolm
Click to expand...

I Never had the need to buy that sort of thing in the UK so dunno as fas as pest killers are concerned. The stuff I bought was off the shelf in a local DIY shed.
As far as medicines, for example, it is a lot easier to buy much stronger treatments in the UK.
On the DIY front I would love to source locallly a cuprinol spirit based wood treatment but I believe the contents are banned here. I also cant find a source for creosote and am tempted to try and bring some back from the source that Bob quoted elsewhere.
 
MC's parents have retired back to the UK, but each time we visit France (I'm in a Twinning group) we have to bring them back Syrop de Citron Vert in those dumpy metal bottles. Can't get anything like that here!
 
Having tried wasp aerosols (totally impractical if the nest is up in the eaves), wasp powder (totally impractical if the nest is up in the eaves) I came across this brilliant product

waspgogo3m-med.jpg


Works a treat. Not cheap but it's the DB's and is refillable.
 
Bee Keepers use petrol fumes to kill diseased bees. I had to resort to using some to kill off some remaining bees that had been left behind from a swarm in my garden. The Bee Keeper caught the Queen and enticed most of the workers into a portable/rescue hive. The ones left became very frustrated and angry and had to be destroyed but not after one got up my shorts and took revenge on my groin!!
I assume petrol fumes will kill wasps too?

Rod
 
I would get rid of them ASAP. From past experience and from this year they will eventually start to get into the house and bother you.

I've had two wasps nests this year. One in the workshop which I dealt with myself - hooked the hose up to the underside of their exit hole and left the dust extractor running for an hour :twisted: . I counted about 30 wasps in the first minute! I could then get close enough to powder them.

Have the pest control guy coming tonight to get a nest in the house. Needs a ladder for access and I'm not brave enough to fight them from a ladder :eusa-snooty: And at £44 it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned!
 
Halo Jones":1m74v1sd said:
I....
Have the pest control guy coming tonight to get a nest in the house. Needs a ladder for access and I'm not brave enough to fight them from a ladder :eusa-snooty: And at £44 it's a no brainer as far as I'm concerned!
Click to expand...

That's why I got the Wasp Go Go. It has a very long tube which means you can get the nozzle by the nest entrance while being a long way away. Press the trigger...whoosh...powder into the nest. Job done. Only costs £68 and so two nests you'd be well into 'profit'.
 
Thanks, Gents,

As it's at the top of a ladder on a sloping driveway, I'll get a bloke in!
 
Rod":49bag5yl said:
What you don't want are Asian Hornets - they are deadly to Bees and Humans and sadly now over here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05 ... ns-arrive/

Rod
Click to expand...

I watched a very scary documentary late last year which was also filmed last year about the Giant Killer Hornet from Japan. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of the programme - could have simply been "Giant Killer Hornets."

Apparently, there's the Asian Hornet and the Giant Killer Hornet - the Giant Killer being the most aggressive and dangerous - apparently. To be honest, I really don't know what or who to believe. I've read a fair bit about these yellow jacket chappies and the tabloids might be slightly over the top with their warnings. But of course, I don't know and I'm certainly no expert. The people who do know about them say the Asian Hornets are no more aggressive than the European Hornet - which are pretty none aggressive towards human beings, unless you're a threat to their nest and then oh boy, watch out!

The documentary I watched was full of ""red alert warning"" and also reckoned the Giant Killer Hornet claimed 80+ lives in Japan during 2014 and also hospitalised hundreds of people. Japan apparently have specialised hornet hunters who go in search of nests with one objective to destroy. The GKH apparently produces 30+ queens which leave the nest to hibinate where the EH only produces 1 or 2 queens for hibination. The rate at which the GKH is growing in numbers is aparently extremely alarming and a threat to human life. These monsters are meant to be well established in France now and like you say, they're either here on UK soil or certainly on their way!

There have been reported sightings this season, but nothing has actually been proven - unless I've missed something.

I read the AH or the GKH claimed 8 lives in France last year, but the EH apparently claims an average of 12 lives in this country every year. The people who die are those unfortunate people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time and are also hugely allergic to the hornet's sting.
 
at 17 I was in Trinidad .. playing in the steel band carnival

being 17 .. I though it would be fun to climb a coconut tree to get a coconut.

I got to the top .. last handhold was a Jep nest :shock:

I was stung on the temple .. fell out the tree .. blacked out .. and no one would come near to help as the Jeps were buzzing around ! lol .. needless to say , instant fame in the local community :D



Currently I have bees living under the workshop by the main door.
A rat tried to get in .. buried about underneath for a while and left.

Before I got round to filling the hole .. bees were seen coming and going.

I like bumble bees, and let them do what they are doing. I'll happily pick them up on my hand if they are trapped inside .. they are quite gentle things.

I will fix the hole when they move out in the winter though :)
 
Bumble Bees are not very aggressive but they don't have barbs and can sting repeatedly - male ones have no sting.
I was given an insect house as a present but no takers so far - must have it in the wrong place.

Rod
 
Chap came round tonight and dealt with it in 2 mins. The worst thing is with a pump weed sprayer and some plumbing supplies (all of which were sitting in my shed) i could have done it myself. When i said this to the friendly chap he said he got into the business 19 years ago when his then 1 y.o. nearly got stung and thought the same thing!

His biggest problem is that a young upstart knows how to bias the google robots so his searches always come up first!

Crazy world.

H.
 
Thanks for all the advice, guys.

I found a local family firm. They came round late one afternoon; confirmed they were wasps. Apparently bees sleep, so if we could hear scratching during the night, they were wasps. Anyway one of chaps hung outside the bathroom window to get an eyeball on them to confirm.

We had discussed that if they were bees, I would not want an extermination solution, which they were pleased about.

So, a long tube, with a powder reservoir on the business end and a hand pump on the other. He pushed the nozzle under the guttering and gently pumped. That made the wasps angry! MC kept the chaps supplied with tea and they chatted to me explaining the difference in lifestyle between wasps and bees and loads of other flying insect facts.

They were happy with a cash deal, their idea, which made it very reasonable.

Next day, all wasps were gone, or rather dead, with no activity up there since.

Result.
 
Cool

I'm starting to wonder about the bees under the workshop floor now .
The numbers are increasing and they are getting quite big !

I don't mind them coming and going, and they don't mind me coming and going.

But I wonder if it's maybe not a good plan to just let the hive get larger and larger ?

I don't want to kill them, or block the hole , which I guess would kill the ones inside :-(

Any ideas for getting them to politely move out , to somewhere more suitable ?
 
The guys that came to me explained that the sort of powder used, if it were to be used on bees, would affect their population because they would continue to feed the queen and larvae and the poison would be passed on.

And we need bees more than ever now.

The local company I used will remove and re-home honey bee swarms free of charge!

It doesn't sound like you've got a swarm, but it might be worth a call to a local independent pest control company because they have more of a vested interest in local ecology, rather than a nationwide franchise.
 
Tusses":zc806vby said:
Cool

I'm starting to wonder about the bees under the workshop floor now .
The numbers are increasing and they are getting quite big !

I don't mind them coming and going, and they don't mind me coming and going.

But I wonder if it's maybe not a good plan to just let the hive get larger and larger ?

I don't want to kill them, or block the hole , which I guess would kill the ones inside :-(

Any ideas for getting them to politely move out , to somewhere more suitable ?
Click to expand...

Can you get at the honey first?
 
Tusses":akyiu86e said:
Cool

I'm starting to wonder about the bees under the workshop floor now .
The numbers are increasing and they are getting quite big !

I don't mind them coming and going, and they don't mind me coming and going.

But I wonder if it's maybe not a good plan to just let the hive get larger and larger ?

I don't want to kill them, or block the hole , which I guess would kill the ones inside :-(

Any ideas for getting them to politely move out , to somewhere more suitable ?
Click to expand...

Please do not poison them. Contact your local beekeepers for advice. Bees are among the most precious of insects for without them plants don't get pollinated.
 
no chance of honey AP

apart fro it being inaccessible, I don't know which bees do honey, but these are the fluffy bumble bees .. not what I know as honey bees.
 
I've just realised that for the first time for many years we have no wasp nests to deal with. The worst year was 2013 when we had 9 ! But now I have the magic Wasp-Go-Go kit, even if they are high up in inaccessible places I can zap them with impunity.
 
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