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Has anyone got an organic way to get rid of a wasp nest? It's in the hedge that divides my front path from my neighbour's, so leaving it alone isn't an option - I've already had one warning sting. My neighbours have an autistic grandson - obviously, I don't want him stung, but I also don't want to poison him - or the hedge - with toxic chemicals. The nest is already about football-size, and I haven't managed to work out exactly where the entrance hole is. The hedge is deutzia and flowering currant, so no thorns to contend with.
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My way fo getting rid of a wasp nest.
Wait till it is dark and waps are alseep. Get a helper with a orch . Wrap up well with golves. Take one large polythene sack. Isolate nest (by cutting back or holding back part of surrounding vegetation. Cover nest with sack. Cut off vegetation olding nest and close sack on nest.
Cook on top of a slow and very smoky bonfire.
Switch out light and drink gin with helper... -
Hello Rowan and welcome to the Vine. I'm sorry there is no organic way to destroy a wasps nest. You can do as Madasafish suggests and cut the nest into a bag and burn it - but this is not without real risk. I don't think I would do it.
The nest will get bigger and bigger, and the wasps more numerous. As the year goes on they will become even bigger pests. I would call in the professionals and maybe your neighbour will pay half the cost, Probably about £30. Or try your local council pest control department but I think they might only deal with it if the nest is inside your property.
Good luck and in the meantime stay away from the nest.
From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.Comment
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I agree with Alice if the neighbour is warned she can avoid bringing her son for a rew days and it for her benifit aswell so I would ask for a contribution towards pest control. An after thought if her son is like mine were its very tempting to poke it with a stick so I would sort it sooner than later Good LuckComment
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Thanks for the advice so far, everyone.
Staying clear isn't possible - the path to our front doors is right up against the hedge, and there's no rear access to the houses. I'm not sure about bagging the nest, especially as I haven't got anyone to help (well, there is someone, but he's a nosy so-and-so and I don't even want him on my property if I can avoid it!) I'll probably have to fall back on the council, but they charge £50. Neighbour says he'll pay half, but even so....I haven't actually got £25 to spare!Comment
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I'll describe a little story. This worked for me in getting rid of a bee's nest right next to my compost bin about 10 inches across. However, it is not without risk!
Leaving it there wasn't an option because I didn't want the risk of the bees attacking my children who play in the vicinity regularly.
Arm yourself with a rake, good clothing and a hosepipe with a decent rose sprayer. I looked like some kind of Mad Max-Alan Titchmarsh clone!
Liberally douse the nest with water, keeping an eye on any swarms and using the hose rose on the bees to bring them down when necessary as they start to get close. Be ready to retreat if things get beyond you!
Several repeats of this and the scenario is lots of wet bees limping around the floor and one soggy nest. Use the rake on the nest to break it up. Again, BE READY TO RUN AWAY!
Break up the nest as best you can, STILL keeping an eye on the bees.
At this point I retreated indoors and watched the bees dry out, then eventually fly away........only for them to gradually come back over the next half an hour, but this time they were swarming around the compost bin.
When I went out for the next round of water-pistol-hose-chicken it became apparent that I had missed the queen and without her nest to hide in, this is where she had managed to hide. So, I kept the bees at bay with the hose, emptied and raked out the compost bin to squish the queen, then left the bees to themselves to decide they were better off somewhere else!
Refilled the compost bin knowing that the emptying and mixing won't have done it any harm, then inspected the bits of the nest to see if there was any honeycomb I could scavenge! Nope, all way too soggy!
I have to admit, I was probably lucky, and would probably think twice about doing it again. I'm not allergic to bee stings, which helps, but I can imagine if it had gone wrong, I certainly would have become sensitized to them!
I couldn't afford to have it done professionally at the time and the bee keeper I approached for a bit of advice was a miserable old gimmer!Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.Comment
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Why not contact citizens advice there might be someone or someway you can be helped or even the council might be able to offer advice you dont know if you dont ask!! Good luckComment
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All the bee keepers around here wont deal with swarms because of the parasite that bees get so they only like there own bees now you cant blame them but it was a good dead to you and the bee keeper got more beesComment
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I've destroyed the nest. The wasps keep regrouping, but I'm slowly whittling them down!
Last Monday night, when it was windy, it struck me that the wasps couldn't keep flying out every time the bush moved in the wind, so I took advantage. Cut through one of the many supporting twigs,gave the wasps a while to settle down, tied twine to the end of it, stood well back and pulled! This ripped open the side of the nest, and I sprayed soapy water into it until my favourite soapy-water-sprayer fell to bits. By this time the nest was soggy. I bashed at it with a 6' cane, keeping the spray handy to fend off the wasps. Got two brood chambers out, and by morning, the blackbirds had scoffed all the larvae and eggs. I'm now going out every evening and spraying the mini-nest the wasps have built in the day, and scraping the remains out with a forked stick. Any wasps that come along for the ride are knocked off into a jar of water, kept till they've drowned, then put out with the bird food.
This seems to be doing the trick, very slowly but very organically! I haven't been stung again yet, though I've had some near misses. Definitely wouldn't recommend it for anyone who might be allergic, though.
Edited to say: commiserations to those who've had other things than wasps on their minds since Monday's rain!Comment
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Yaaaay, another suicidal daredevil!
Glad I'm not the only one! Well done!Veni, Vidi, Velcro.
I came, I saw, I stuck around.Comment
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Good grief - hats off to you Rowan! You brave person, not sure I would have been comfortable doing that, well done!Life may not be the party we hoped for but since we're here we might as well dance
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Well done.
We've got/had a wasp nest in the eaves, its the only time I've had to resort to non-organic - sprayed the entrance (leaning out the bedroom window!) with Rentokil wasp nest spray. Not 100% convinced they're all dead (sorry) but daren't go into the loft yet....
To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flowerComment
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Well done..
>Manda
Try blocking the exits.. nowhere to go (and no returning wasps...)
Worked for me - in eaves 8 metres up...Comment
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Depending where you live some councils remove wasps nests for free some charge (can be expensive)Originally posted by smallblueplanet View PostWell done.
We've got/had a wasp nest in the eaves, its the only time I've had to resort to non-organic - sprayed the entrance (leaning out the bedroom window!) with Rentokil wasp nest spray. Not 100% convinced they're all dead (sorry) but daren't go into the loft yet....The river Trent is lovely, I know because I have walked on it for 18 years.
Brian CloughComment
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"Which?" has just done a report on pest control - they found only 3 councils that still did a free service for wasps. Not sure which ones.
I've now drowned 12 wasps, plus one that seemed to be an interloper of a different species. Had a quick look in the hedge this morning, and couldn't see any hanging around. There only seemed to be about 20 in the nest.
By the way, Doctor, shouldn't you be tackling something a bit bigger than wasps? I've got a nasty Silurian infestation....Comment
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