Help! I have what looks like a hornet's nest in my living room up in the
window frame. I saw some wasp looking things making something like this
once, which is why I think it is a hornet's nest.. It is a mud daubbed thing
stuck up inside the window frame. I am in Los Angeles. Now what? Do I spray
it with Raid and knock it down?

Hilda

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:14:46 GMT, wrote:

Help! I have what looks like a hornet's nest in my living room up in the
window frame. I saw some wasp looking things making something like this
once, which is why I think it is a hornet's nest.. It is a mud daubbed thing
stuck up inside the window frame. I am in Los Angeles. Now what? Do I spray
it with Raid and knock it down?

Hilda

Mud daubers. They are harmless, beneficial insects, but they may
choose inconvenient places to nest. They prey on other insects and are
diligent scavengers. See the Ag Extension at UC Davis,
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7450.html for authoritative
advice.

If you must be rid of wasps, because they are yellowjackets, or have
chosen their nest site badly, or you have a family member with sting
allergy, or there are simply too many of them, specially-packaged
"wasp spray" insecticides that can throw a stream 20-30 feet or so are
effective against them. Just knocking down their nests may not be
enough; if they like the site, they will rebuild.

There are three groups of social wasp species common in California:
paper wasps, yellowjackets, and mud daubers.

Paper wasps (Polistes) are large, fierce-looking wasps that are
actually placid unless you are within a foot or so of their nest. They
build small paper nests that look sort of like an inverted mushroom.

Yellowjackets (Vespula) are smaller and either colonize existing holes
or build large paper nests that have a single exit, in the well-known
"hornet's nest" shape. They are aggressive when foraging or defending
their nest; these are the wasps you are least likely to have "live and
let live" feelings for.

Mud daubers (family Sphecidae) are less social and build mud nests.
They are not aggressive.

--
Chris Green

Thanks, I did go on the net and found the UC Davis site. These are
mud duabers. I saw one building a nest outside in Spring and they are
distinctive looking.

So being that they are beneficial, I am resigned to having a wasp's nest in
my living room. If it hatches, it can eat the spiders

Hilda

Christopher Green wrote:
On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 00:14:46 GMT, wrote:

Help! I have what looks like a hornet's nest in my living room up in the
window frame. I saw some wasp looking things making something like this
once, which is why I think it is a hornet's nest.. It is a mud daubbed thing
stuck up inside the window frame. I am in Los Angeles. Now what? Do I spray
it with Raid and knock it down?

Hilda

Mud daubers. They are harmless, beneficial insects, but they may
choose inconvenient places to nest. They prey on other insects and are
diligent scavengers. See the Ag Extension at UC Davis,
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7450.html for authoritative
advice.

If you must be rid of wasps, because they are yellowjackets, or have
chosen their nest site badly, or you have a family member with sting
allergy, or there are simply too many of them, specially-packaged
"wasp spray" insecticides that can throw a stream 20-30 feet or so are
effective against them. Just knocking down their nests may not be
enough; if they like the site, they will rebuild.

There are three groups of social wasp species common in California:
paper wasps, yellowjackets, and mud daubers.

Paper wasps (Polistes) are large, fierce-looking wasps that are
actually placid unless you are within a foot or so of their nest. They
build small paper nests that look sort of like an inverted mushroom.

Yellowjackets (Vespula) are smaller and either colonize existing holes
or build large paper nests that have a single exit, in the well-known
"hornet's nest" shape. They are aggressive when foraging or defending
their nest; these are the wasps you are least likely to have "live and
let live" feelings for.

Mud daubers (family Sphecidae) are less social and build mud nests.
They are not aggressive.

--
Chris Green

These are
mud duabers. I saw one building a nest outside in Spring and they are
distinctive looking.

So being that they are beneficial, I am resigned to having a wasp's nest in
my living room.

"Beneficial" does not necessarily apply to indoors, where there is no
ecosystem for them to be beneficial for; the lack of natural food will probably
cause problems in the long run.

I'm sure the usual outdoor approach of wasp spray and a broomstick to break
up and knock down the nest would work, but I don't know if I'd want to spray
that stuff in the living room, either. Perhaps someone with extermination
experience can comment.

JGM

Help! I have what looks like a hornet's nest in my living room up in the
window frame. I saw some wasp looking things making something like this
once, which is why I think it is a hornet's nest.. It is a mud daubbed thing
stuck up inside the window frame. I am in Los Angeles. Now what? Do I spray
it with Raid and knock it down?

Hilda







Is it really on the inside of your house?

I had a problem with a beehive that was on my front porch. It seems that one
of the cushions on the porch furniture got busted and the bees had built a nest
inside. I didn't find out about it until I moved the chair so that I could
sweep off the porch and that really made them mad!

I found a number of solutions on the Internet and what I finally decided to do
was just wait until the weather got colder and I then put the entire cushion in
a trashbag and set it out with the trash!

If the nest is on the inside of your house then I definitely suggest that you
call an exterminator!

Martin
Confessions of a HomeOwner
http://ahomeowner.blogspot.com

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 21:43:03 GMT, wrote:

Thanks, I did go on the net and found the UC Davis site. These are
mud duabers. I saw one building a nest outside in Spring and they are
distinctive looking.

So being that they are beneficial, I am resigned to having a wasp's nest in
my living room. If it hatches, it can eat the spiders

Inside your living room? "A cow is a very good animal in the field;
but we turn her out of a garden." (Johnson)

If it's inside, nobody can blame you for knocking it down, and you
don't need to worry about retaliation from mud daubers.

--
Chris Green