Wasps!

[pibbleb]

Just got home from work to see my neighbour trying to mow his front lawn being attacked by wasps which are streaming out of the air brick of my house!

So the question, wasps how do I get shot! A can of Raid and a couple of bottle beers later I'm loosing the war!

I'm planning a trip to home base first thing, but suggestions welcome!!!

Pib

P.s. just thought had one of the buggers climbing up my leg and smashed my toes during involuntary kick spasm!

Cheers

Paul

[British Red]

Given they are coming out of an air brick, they are probably nesting in the cavity Paul. Raid is effective only when used on the offending critter. Use a powder based preparation and squirt it over the air bricks so they have to move over the powder as they come through the bricks. Also effective are the foam treatments like these

http://www.trapawasp.co.uk/wasp_nest...troyer_kit.htm

I hope that helps a litle. Do be careful to glove up and put a beekepers veil on if you have access or protect your face somehow

Red

[Diamond Dave]

If these wasps are not interfering with you then leave them. When it starts to get cooler they will die. Then the Queen will move on and they will not return.

If you interfere with them they will interfere with you................

[British Red]

I guess since they were attacking Pauls neighbour we can take the problem element as read

[pibbleb]

Cheers Red that's great thanks, unfortunately it was all that Mr Sainsburys had and thought I'd give it a go for to night.

I'm all for live and let live, but sadly my neighbour was reenacting one of the scenes from that Michael Caine killer bee movie and did get stung a few times, so they've got to go I'm afraid.

Pib

[dwardo]

I would call come one in mate to be honest, pretty sure the local council do it for a charge...

[queeg9000]

Hello Paul,


I'd be really careful, trying to kill off a wasps nest, I tried to sort one out for my dad a few years back, in his roof space, sprayed the nest okay, then got stung by 6 wasps, ended up in casualty with anaphylactic shock! Not nice at all! so be very wary.

It may be worth calling your local pest control, sometimes it's free from the council, sometimes a small charge, if you're alergic to stuff like me, it's worth the cost!

good luck

[Twoflower]

A can of Raid and a couple of bottle beers later I'm loosing the war!

Sounds like a nice cocktail

I'd go with the majority .. call in pest control as it's not worth finding out the hard way if you're alergec to wasp stings.

[rich59]

But why were they attacking the neighbour in the first place? Wasps I have come across so far only seem to attack when their nest is under attack. Otherwise there is the sting you get only when one is trapped and suspects death imminently, or sleepy in the autumn. So, did he see some wasps and track them to their nest and start attacking them?

There are some pretty useful powders you can spray at the entrance and then they carry it in and it kills the whole nest.

I have dealt with quite a number of wasp nests over the years. Gown up, spray or puff and retreat before they realise anything is happening.

[BlackPacker]

We have paper wasps here which build nest under eaves. Nothing huge. We also have bald faced wasps which build megaliths in the trees. Both are pollinators and kill off bad garden bugs, so we let them be, but occasionally, they like to set up in stupid places, like the generator shed door track or under the bucket we use to protect the diesel tank nozzle. When this happens they've got to go... And I don;t bother with sprays.

I put on a coat, a second pair of pants; tucked into my socks and a mosquito net head cover over my hat. Now, this won't work for you since the wasps are in your wall, but I knock down the nest and let the lizzards do the rest. I then of course run like hell as there will always be a big cloud of them.

Some hints for whatever you choose to do:

wear protection
do it at the coolest part of the night
Have somebody (also in protection) holding your light, wasps will make a b-line for it, so using a headlamp is a bad idea. Make sure your friend knows what will happen and to TURN off the light when you get to running...
Decide before hand where you are running. Pissy wasps can chase you for quite a while.

[Longstrider]

Any of the dedicated wasp nest destoyer powders or foams should do the trick, but don't be tempted to use the stuff during daylight. The wasps are active during the day and an approach to the nest then is likely to result in annoyance on their part, and pain on your part(s).
Treat the job more like an SAS raid and hit them during the night when they can't see you coming ! Hit the nest site HARD with whatever product you have bought and make a hasty retreat. They are almost dormant at night..... note the "almost"
I've dealt with dozens of nests over the years and have never managed to get stung whilst poisoning them during darkness (the chillier the night the better) but have been hammered just for getting close to a nest during the day.

The reason the wasps were attacking your neighbour is most likely because of what he was doing. As he was mowing the lawn, my guess is he was using a lawnmower (not too many folks still use a scythe do they ?) The vibrations from the mower are almost a guaranteed way to annoy wasps as they are particularly sensitive to this sort of disturbance. All it takes is one pass close enough to the nest for the wasps to feel threatened and they will attack in force to drive the threat away.

[John Fenna]

Rekking in the jungle in Thailand my team got attacked by GIANT wasps - not much fun but running helped. Only one person actually got stung but "Aftersting" (US product?) worked well... not much help for you but I thought I would share!

[pibbleb]

The local council charge £56.00. I'm going to give the products suggested by Red a try as I'd rather spend a few quid for a can of bug spray and keep the £50.00.

That said I'll pay it if it doesn't work. Although I'm glad I checked in, I was all for the frontal assault at first light but yes logic dictates that night would be far more sensible, dam that logic!

I've never been stung before so with each passing year concern/ fear increases and the local paper with stories of a fella killed by a hornets sting and false black widow spiders biting tidy obsessed housewives don't help that!

Cheers guys!

[Matthew.Passmore]

when we had a wasp nest we used one of those greenhouse bombs, dont know if you can get them anymore as it was a few years back, that killed em dead.

[Sickboy]

Wouldnt bother with the sprays, but the night attack with powder should sort them out, use plenty of it, it'll kill em off pretty quick
Do it in your pant's though, you'll be able to run quicker

[tommy the cat]

Crikey ,£56 my local council charged me £12!!! It was about 8years ago mind. Deffo try the counter products first!!
Good luck dave

[commandocal]

just cement it up they will be trapped forever

[Sickboy]

Or find a way into the house, hungry and with the right hump

[C_Claycomb]

Some other folk have had a problem with wasps. Some good advice was offered then too.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20547

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13502

I still like the Nipon powder and hitting them every three or four days so as to kill any that have newly hatched.

[Zammo]

I was one of those people, and unforunately now their back. I'm going to go the route of bringing the council in to clear them, though they might not do it as it's over an eve in my loft which only has partial flooring.

[dave k]

I've just taken out a nest in my front garden. I did try to phone up the council, but they were saying it would be at least 3-4 weeks as they are so busy this time of year with nests!

I used the foam-nest stuff from B&Q - about 6 quid a bottle. Looks like it worked, I had to go back a couple of days later for a second treatment, but loads of dead wasps hanging out..

If it is in any contained space I'd go for the professional option. Nothing worse than being trapped half-up a ladder, getting stung by wasps whilst trying *not* to fall down the stairs

[Bonzo Frog]

Hi Paul,

Like some others I've heard that Nippon powder into the nest is quite effective if not a little adventureous. This advice came from a pest control officer but was strictly unofficial, I guess in case there were any repurcussions.

Bonzo

[Toadflax]

The impression I'm getting from here and from other sources on the internet is that if the nest isn't causing me problems, I should leave it alone.

After reading this posting for the first time, I noticed quite a few wasps around one particular place in my guttering, so I'm suspecting that they have made a nest in the eaves behind the gutter, but they aren't causing me any problems. The loft has been converted to a room so I can't see from the inside so I'd have to lift tiles while standing on a ladder to check if there is indeed a nest.

My only concern about leaving the nest untreated is whether the wasps are likely to cause any damage to the structure of the house. Also, I'm wondering when wasps start to die off. I'm going to be having the guttering and fascias replaced in October (existing wood is rotting) so I'm not sure if the wasps will be a problem for the guttering people.

Any advice gratefully received.



Geoff

[Sickboy]

I've a funny feeling the people that come to fix your guttering etc may indeed have a problem with a hoard of wasp's trying to cause them as much pain as possible
If we have a summer freeze and a foot or so of snow before october to kill em off then fair enough, but it's a proper gamble, maybe head down the bookys and put a bet on, you could end up paying the bill from the vast winning's

[pibbleb]

Just an update on my wasp problem. I used a spray similar to that suggest by Red. It took a couple of days but it worked.

You can get smoke bombs for lofts and greenhouses.

Cheers for all the suggestions.

Oh by the way I would have preferred to leave it, but as they'd attacked the neighbour and as they were reasonably close to the front door I just could risk one of the kids getting attacked.

Pib

[Toadflax]

I had a reply from the local council to say that they wouldn't remove the nest but that they would come and spray some powder near the entrance of the nest. This place http://www.trapawasp.co.uk/ sell a nest destroyer kit, including a beekeepers type hat /net, etc. which retails for less than the council were going to charge so I'm tempted to get one and do it myself.

As for others here, it seems that the nests can safely be left alone if they aren't causing problems - but with my guttering being replaced in October, I need to do something.


Geoff

[Zammo]

Just an update on my wasp problem. I used a spray similar to that suggest by Red. It took a couple of days but it worked.

You can get smoke bombs for lofts and greenhouses.

Cheers for all the suggestions.

Oh by the way I would have preferred to leave it, but as they'd attacked the neighbour and as they were reasonably close to the front door I just could risk one of the kids getting attacked.

Pib

Where can you get the smoke bombs for the loft? Thanks.

[pibbleb]

I found the smoke bombs for the loft in my local Garden centre, Homebase and B&Q were rubbish for any kind of pest control. They are defo worth a look.

Good luck. If you have a job finding any give me a shout and we'll see what we can sort out.

Regards

Pib

[Aaron]

I once used a smoke bomb on a nest of W.A.S.P.'s - it was bloody effective. They all came running out of the church coughing their guts up! The Pope told me to do it.

[mr dazzler]

talking of wasp's my youngest got his first sting today He is just turned 3 and was trying to play with mr wasp and it didnt want to play and bit back. His hand swell up immeadiaietely but when the wife put bite cream on she said the sweeling went down in secomds. He wont do that again I hope! As it turns out he's not allergic to sting's. Funnily enough when I was 3 I got stung about 6 or 7 times when I unwittingly disturbed a new nest with dad's wheelbarrow. Dad picked me up and run with me under his arm doing a jonah lomu type thing up the garden, I think I had some injection or somethin at the doctor's? But was Ok