In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
D.M. Procida wrote:

I've just been to put some more rubbish up in the loft, and I was a
little alarmed to discover what appear to be dead wasps littered
around. They're wasp-wasted, anyway, with a smooth black and yellow
abdomen, and furry thorax and head, though I'm not sure what they
actually are.

Some of them are just dead, but others appear to be tightly wrapped
in a thin filmy covering, as though they were new wasps packaged for
sale. I couldn't see any live ones, or hear any.

Any idea what these are, and what ought to be done to avoid an
infestation problem?

Thanks,

Daniele

Have a close look around for any little chinese-lantern-shaped papier mache
objects hanging from the rafters. Queen wasps spend the winter in these and
then emerge in the spring (or sometimes even earlier if we get a warm day)
ready to start a new colony.

If you find any "lanterns", give them a liberal dose of wasp killer and then
scrape them off the rafters and destroy them. The bodies you found may be
queens which came out too early and then died when it got cold again.

--
Cheers,
Set Square
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