Wasp nest

[The Doctor]

Come off it, Rowan, I've just defeated The Master and saved humanity yet again!

Let me charge my batteries a bit..... Will tomorrow do?

[Rowan]

It's okay, they've gone back down the mineshaft. Think the rain probably flushed them out.
Organic solution to wasps in buildings, where there's a clear entrance that you can safely reach and an overhang: fly papers. Hang several as near as you can to the entrance. Takes a while, but you kill a surprising number.

[BayViewPlot]

In typical man-style I have just destroyed the nest and now am looking to see what I should do!

Nest was large orange/small grapefruit size and near the entrance inside my shed. Only realised this when clunking around and looked up to see a load of flying devils coming out of the base of the funny looking paper-mache type death-star. Nearly wet meself but still needed to get access to the whole shed (soon at any rate).

Wearing a T-shirt only gave it a good whack with a bit of wood and wet meself more. Then locked the shed (has a cat-flap so I figured the wasps would leave that way).
OH recons shutting the shed was a mistake but didn't want to leave it unlocked.

Felt something hit my head and ran away v fast, convinced I had been stung all the way home. Funny thing is not a mark on me but I swear my head hurt until I found out!

I am now going away for a week so will find out the result of blunt trauma to a wasps nest next week.

Probably best not to copy this method.

[smallblueplanet]

In the end (last year) we just left the wasps to go in and out of the eaves (the Rentokill thing had only killed individual wasps). They kept on going until late November, as it wasn't very cold - but they never bothered us even though the nest was in the roof high above the patio doors.

When I did research on wasps I found that they eat the nasty insects that aren't good for our veggies and they don't return to the same nest the next year. So in the end after a quick peek in the loft we let them get on with it. The nest is still up there, big thing about 18" across....but the wasps are gone and I blocked up the hole in the eaves. I wish I hadn't tried to kill/spray them now.

[burnie]

Never saw the owner of this one,a type of solitary wasp,sorry it's not a very good picture.

[quark1]

I found an 'empty' like that in my loft some years ago - I think you'll find it is a temporary home for the queen - maybe for overwintering?

[burnie]

I found an 'empty' like that in my loft some years ago - I think you'll find it is a temporary home for the queen - maybe for overwintering?

Could well be,the books don't seem to go into much detail,not the sort of "beast" anyone would really study I guess.It was discovered in the spring and I assumed it was just made,I don't use this shed at all in the winter as it only houses the lawn mower.