Wasp nest

[Martyndj]

On my cruiser stern I have a large block of wood that I use when splitting logs into smaller sticks. A couple of months ago I noticed, what appeared to be sawdust around the base, which I thought odd, I swept this and it returned within a few days, on taking a closer look there is a hole around a quarter of an inch across that it was coming from. Sitting on the deck a few days ago I watched as a few wasp's were going in and out. Now, I need to move my boat next week for blacking, any suggestions on what to do? Don't fancy moving with them angry buggers next to me. The block is pretty heavy so would not move easily and I don't know what's underneath, could be another exit whole! What do you think?

[Chertsey]

Are you sure they are wasps? I had leafcutter bees living in Chertsey's breast piece when I first had the boat.

 

Don't wasps chew the wood up to make a separate nest? Or are there different varieties with different habits?

 

I'm better on etymology than entomology.

[LoneWolf]

block the hole with mud?

push it into the cut?

 

 

oh, and as Chertsy says make sure they're wasps first and not bees - i think it's illegal to kill bees. If it's bees just move it to the bank & leave it alone.

Edited September 2, 2016 by LoneWolf

[bizzard]

What about looping a long rope around it, walk away as far as possible and yank it off. Be very careful with wasps when angry. they fly out like lightening, you won't see them coming and sting you all over, something terrible.

[gaggle]

wasp nest killer foam , £7 about cost , spray direct from about 6 foot and move away sharpish

[Mutts]

A teaspoon of Cymag in the hole.

[Bill]

I doubt there will be another hole underneath. Most nests seem to have one entry/exit (easier to defend). Just block the hole with something (mud, a pencil, anything really). To be safe, cover block with dustbin bag and then roll over into the bag. Tie the neck of the bag and remove the whole lot to the bank. Loosen neck of bag and spray wasp killer into it and then re-tie. After a couple of hours remove from bag and squirt hole with more wasp killer. Job done.

[Liam]

What about looping a long rope around it, walk away as far as possible and yank it off. Be very careful with wasps when angry. they fly out like lightening, you won't see them coming and sting you all over, something terrible.

This is probably your best bet, if they are wasps.

 

Don't under estimate wasps, I inadvertently put a keb into a wasps nest a couple of years ago at Great Haywood, they were out like lightning and all over me. I got stung many times and it wasn't pleasant.

What about looping a long rope around it, walk away as far as possible and yank it off. Be very careful with wasps when angry. they fly out like lightening, you won't see them coming and sting you all over, something terrible.

This is probably your best bet, if they are wasps.

 

Don't under estimate wasps, I inadvertently put a keb into a wasps nest a couple of years ago at Great Haywood, they were out like lightning and all over me. I got stung many times and it wasn't pleasant.

[IanM]

wasp nest killer foam , £7 about cost , spray direct from about 6 foot and move away sharpish

 

This stuff is awesome and I highly recommend it

[MHS]

wasp nest killer foam , £7 about cost , spray direct from about 6 foot and move away sharpish

This works better on hanging nests. It's better to use a powder type if you have one entrance hole to a nest. Use it after dark, and you stand little chance of being stung. It's also cheaper than a spray.

http://www.diy.com/departments/diall-powder-wasp-control-200g/174163_BQ.prd

Edited September 2, 2016 by MHS

[patty-ann]

wasp nest killer foam , £7 about cost , spray direct from about 6 foot and move away sharpish

How sharpish?..

Ive had close encounter this week with wasps nest near Horror House at garden's end....awful stings up one arm which are now raw, then dizzy spell so guess maybe all the toxins didn't do me any good....summats gotta go..I dunno precisely where nest in but seem where large numbers appear to come out of..guess could try at night..wish they'd all go of their own free will.

How near do you have to be for the powder....anyone got a spare space mans suit?

[Jerra]

How sharpish?..

Ive had close encounter this week with wasps nest near Horror House at garden's end....awful stings up one arm which are now raw, then dizzy spell so guess maybe all the toxins didn't do me any good....summats gotta go..I dunno precisely where nest in but seem where large numbers appear to come out of..guess could try at night..wish they'd all go of their own free will.

How near do you have to be for the powder....anyone got a spare space mans suit?

I would suspect that they won't be flying in the cool of the dark so I would approach them at night. I haven't used the powder but I think you will need to be nearer than for the foam.

 

My container says treat in the early morning or late evening when the wasps aren't flying. It says it can be used from 10 ft away. However it does say soak the nest which for an underground nest you couldn't do. Then just to contradict its self it says pay particular attention to the entrance or where the wasps are seen entering/leaving which implies (to me at least) they think treating just the entrance will work.

[LoneWolf]

How sharpish?..

Ive had close encounter this week with wasps nest near Horror House at garden's end....awful stings up one arm which are now raw, then dizzy spell so guess maybe all the toxins didn't do me any good....summats gotta go..I dunno precisely where nest in but seem where large numbers appear to come out of..guess could try at night..wish they'd all go of their own free will.

How near do you have to be for the powder....anyone got a spare space mans suit?

 

I had a couple of wasps nests last month, one in the ground & the other in a wall - they'll nest anywhere they can get in a space. Both were very busy with comings & goings. I called a pest control person. He used a powdery stuff & had a long wand thing to spray it. Then me & the cat locked ourselves inside while angry wasps flung themselves against the french doors for a couple of hours

 

To find the nests just stand and watch & you can see where they are going

[bizzard]

A couple summers ago we were setting out a new mooring here, banging a couple of lengths of scaffold poles in the bank for mooring posts. I was holding a pole whilst a friend was hitting it with a sledge hammer. All of a sudden he let out a big shriek, more shrieks and yells, dropped the hammer and started leaping about like a lunatic. I thought at first that he had gone mad with the heat of the day or was having an St Vitus's dance attack. I let go the pole, stood back to study this fantastic performance of weird and rapid contortions and spasms. It was worrying, should I knock him out or chuck a bucket of water over him to bring it to end the agony. And then I saw them, hundreds of angry wasps all over him stinging away like mad, ping! ping! ping! ping! ping! ping! ping! I did chuck a bucket of water over him after asking if he mended, wafted and old tarp around to clear them off, we then ran for it to get at a bottle of vinegar for all the stings.

We obviously banged the tube into a wasps nest which must have made a nice new front door for them, for, from out of the tube they must have streamed like machine gun bullets. I didn't see them exit at all. They couldn't have spied me kneeling down keeping still holding the tube but made a Bee-line for my friend, moving, wielding the hammer. I reckon it was worth me risking my hands getting clobbered by the sledge hammer rather than getting stung. He was stung countless times all over, they went up his pants and everywhere, but the vinegar seemed to do the trick. And all was calm after a bit.

[patty-ann]

Pity they don't make it in grenade form. which I could then fire from one of those onion gun thingys..well if I could aim that is .dunno if I can run fast enough post aiming a spray thingy....I hate wasps. I need a real head start.

Mr Bizzard ..would you like to invent a onion gun thing that I could fire a grenade full of wasp zapping gas?

[bizzard]

Pity they don't make it in grenade form. which I could then fire from one of those onion gun thingys..well if I could aim that is .dunno if I can run fast enough post aiming a spray thingy....I hate wasps. I need a real head start.

Mr Bizzard ..would you like to invent a onion gun thing that I could fire a grenade full of wasp zapping gas?

The Dads army onion gun? You bang a capped off scaffold pole into the nest, then as quick as possible remove cap, pour petrol in and then pop in a lighted match.

[Jerra]

The Dads army onion gun? You bang a capped off scaffold pole into the nest, then as quick as possible remove cap, pour petrol in and then pop in a lighted match.

You recommend banging a pipe into the nest after your story above? Hmmmm Rather you than me but I am sure it would work.

[Horace42]

Our boating friend has an allergic reaction to wasp stings. She goes into an anaphylactic Shock and carries a hypodermic syringe with her for instant injection.

 

So anybody thinking of a DIY solution had better make sure they are not allergic.

 

I am OK myself - unaffected it seems - apart from the pain and swelling.

 

I accidentally disturbed a wasp nest in my garden using a flail mower to remove years of undergrowth and thought the stinging came from brambles, stinging nettles. hawthorn, holly and wild roses and did not realise it was wasps until I was stung a couple of dozen times. They were nesting in hole in the ground. I just gave the nest a wide berth after that until they left.

 

 

 

[Jerra]

They were nesting in hole in the ground. I just gave the nest a wide berth after that until they left.

To be strictly accurate they don't leave, they shuffle off this mortal coil, all except the queen who hibernates and starts it all again next spring.

[cuthound]

I had a wasps nest in my garage a few years ago. It was right above the up and over door, so the only way to treat it was to shut myself in the garage with them.

 

I bottled out and called in a professional, who suited himself up, shut himself in the garage and sprayed the nest. Cost about £70 IIRC.

 

He then told me that wasps only use a nest for one season, and if I could have lived with it until around October time they would have abandoned the nest and not come back.

[patty-ann]

.

He then told me that wasps only use a nest for one season, and if I could have lived with it until around October time they would have abandoned the nest and not come back.

I'll live with them then...does the queen sleep all winter in old nest?

Why risk more pain for little gain..I'll clear that area late in the season...I'm just not into tackling hordes of stinging critters.

[magnetman]

I've encountered abour 5 wasps nests over the years when mooring up.

 

Several stings but never severe.

 

I had a VERY lucky escape up near Abingdon on Thames last week. Stupidly lucky. I was about to jump off the front to tie to a tree but was able to just reach and pull the rope with boathokk then tie up.

 

Once secured I sat with beer and noticed a large odd hole in the ground covered by long grass with wasps. If I had leapt from the boat to do the rope god only knows what might have happened. Very very lucky as nest was not visible from up front of boat.

My mother had around 30 stings when she trod on a wasp nest while we were foraging for firewood in Tring cutting about 15 years ago. That was bad. I was near her and just got one or two stings !!

[LoneWolf]

yeah, i've discovered a wasps nest behind the piling when my exhaust started blowing on it whilst mooring up - managed to get away with only one sting. Quite comical in retrospect

[DandV]

One unfortunate export from Europe to NZ is your wasps. Firstly the larger german wasps that can build enourmous nests up to the size of a caravan. Then came the smaller English wasp that that has succesfully competed because after winter the smaller nests get going quicker. I have dealt successfully to about 20 nests. If the nests are in the open then petrol squirted in the entrance followed by a petrol soaked rag but NEVER a match will do the trick. For areas like a house or boat I have used powdered or granulated insecticide placed in the end of a rigid tube such as a length of plastic conduit and then placed an inflated bag over the other end, never my mouth, to blow the imsecticide into the nest entrance before departing with some haste along a preplanned escape route. I do also minimise my exposed skin before any such ventures.

 

Wasps are fairly docile just before dusk

[magnetman]

I heard at this time of year they get a bit naughty because the Queen buggers off leaving a load of "workers" with nothing to do but cause aggrevation.

 

Quote from Oxford council webshite

 

" Information and control advice

 

As the wasp season nears its end in late summer, the worker wasps become more aggressive. This is due to the queen ceasing to lay eggs. With no larvae to feed the worker wasps seek sweet substances on which to feed themselves. A favoured source of food is fallen, over ripe fruit. It is the ingesting of the often-fermenting juices that contribute greatly to the worker wasps increasingly aggressive behaviour. It is also at this time of year that they more frequently come into contact with humans either looking for food indoors or attracted by heat or more often by light emanating from your home.

 

"

 

Edit to correct technical error

Edited September 3, 2016 by magnetman