"Nick" wrote in message
...

At the farthest end of the loft space, which is about 12m from the hatch,
there is a wasp nest attached to an end gable. No signs of activity, but I
guess there would'nt be much at this time of year given the current
temperature. It certainly wasn't there 2 years ago, so may well be live.

There'll be nothing living in it and it won't be occupied again. I promise.

What you do it get a sharp knife - a bread knife is good. Hold a bin liner
under the nest and saw through where the nest is attached to the timbers. It
will be very tough. Allow the nest to go, gently, into the bin bag.

To make you confident that there is nothing living in it, tie the bag
securely and put the lot into the deep freeze overnight. Next day take it
out, saw down the nest - very carefully, parts are very fragile - and admire
the architecture. If you have children show them too. Any insects left will
be dead - they were dead before you cut it down.

Not a big nest, about 30cm in each vaguely triangular direction.
Would I be safe to break this up whilst vacuuming it into an industrial
vaucuum cleaner

You can do if you like but it would be destroyed and wasted before you can
look at it.

or should I pay for someone to come and do it?

Not unless you pay me :-) I've removed lots of wasps' nests when they've
been very active - but only when I haven't been able to persuade people to
keep them (when I charge the Earth) or when it's been absolutely necessary.
The local council will charge a lot, even when it's not occupied.

Major problem is that this loft is crawl space only. Maximum height is
slightly under 1m.

That's deep enough.

A racing crawl from the nest to the hatch takes the best part of a minute
(tried it this evening and have the bumped head, knees, knuckles etc to
prove it). I don't have appropriate ppc and am somewhat hesitant as a
bunch
of irate wasps will definitely be faster than I.

There's no need to race, there are no living wasps in your nest. Please
don't worry.

The tiled roof has sarking rather than felt, I imagine this allows ingress
for the little blighters.

They can get in through very tiny holes. You can't stop them if there's any
ventilation at all in your roof space no matter what the construction is.

Any constructive suggestions would be much appreciated.

I hope this is good enough. If not, either reply here on mail me - my addy
is genuine.

Mary

Nick.