Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two weird
"nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets between the
wooden roof supports.
Both were spherical, hanging down on a "stalk" about an inch long, dark grey
in colour.
One was the size of a cricket ball, the other half that size.
My wife got two plastic bags and pulled them from their moorings. ( I got
ready to run ).
I intended to photo them and post a link , but they were very fragile- as if
made of thin, dry felt-like material, and collapsed in on themselves very
readily.
They seemed empty and without any sign of former inhabitants.
Any ideas as to what they were? I guess wasps nests but thought they would
be bigger.

Neil

Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two weird
"nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets between the
wooden roof supports.
Both were spherical, hanging down on a "stalk" about an inch long, dark
grey in colour.
One was the size of a cricket ball, the other half that size.

Elves. You've had elves. Definately.

In article ,
Gripper wrote:
Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two weird
"nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets between the
wooden roof supports.
Both were spherical, hanging down on a "stalk" about an inch long, dark grey
in colour.
One was the size of a cricket ball, the other half that size.
My wife got two plastic bags and pulled them from their moorings. ( I got
ready to run ).
I intended to photo them and post a link , but they were very fragile- as if
made of thin, dry felt-like material, and collapsed in on themselves very
readily.
They seemed empty and without any sign of former inhabitants.
Any ideas as to what they were? I guess wasps nests but thought they would
be bigger.

Wasps nests can be golf ball size or less.

--
John Cartmell john@ followed by finnybank.com 0845 006 8822
Qercus magazine FAX +44 (0)8700-519-527 www.finnybank.com
Qercus - the best guide to RISC OS computing

On Sat, 7 Jan 2006 14:48:25 +0000 (UTC), "James Varty"
wrote:

| Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two weird
| "nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets betweenthe
| wooden roof supports.
| Both were spherical, hanging down on a "stalk" about an inch long, dark
| grey in colour.
| One was the size of a cricket ball, the other half that size.
|
| Elves. You've had elves. Definately.

Elves with black and yellow bodies?
Like any of these?
http://images.google.co.uk/images?q=...=Search+Images

--
Dave Fawthrop dave hyphenologist co uk
17,000 free e-books at Project Gutenberg! http://www.gutenberg.net
For Yorkshire Dialect go to www.hyphenologist.co.uk/songs/

Wasp nest. A queen wasp has started a nest and not completed it for some
reason. Most probably she met with an accident so the nest never got built
any larger. Wasp nest do not get reoccupied the next year.

--
Peter Crosland

"Gripper" wrote

Any ideas as to what they were? I guess wasps nests but thought they would
be bigger.



Wasps it is then.
Thanks for all the replies.
Tomorrow is 'clear-the-attic-of-some-of-the-crap' day, so maybe more will
turn up.
We do seem to have had more than our fair share of the critters over the
years, which is galling as I hate the b*****ds. Maybe they're like cats and
instinctively know to go for the humanoids that are afraid of them.
Thinking of cat-sized wasps now.
Bugger.
Need G & T
bye
Neil

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
Gripper wrote:

Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two
weird "nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets
between the wooden roof supports.
Both were spherical, hanging down on a "stalk" about an inch long,
dark grey in colour.
One was the size of a cricket ball, the other half that size.
My wife got two plastic bags and pulled them from their moorings. ( I
got ready to run ).
I intended to photo them and post a link , but they were very
fragile- as if made of thin, dry felt-like material, and collapsed in
on themselves very readily.
They seemed empty and without any sign of former inhabitants.
Any ideas as to what they were? I guess wasps nests but thought they
would be bigger.

Neil

There'll almost certainly be a hibernating queen wasp inside each nest. They
build these little chinese-lantern-like nests to hide in during the winter -
and will emerge (unless you dispose of them in the meantime) in the spring,
to start breeding again.
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is invalid.

Set Square wrote:
Gripper wrote:
Just been up in the attic to put Xmas decorations back, spotted two
weird "nest"? things hanging from the polystyrene insulation sheets
between the wooden roof supports.

There'll almost certainly be a hibernating queen wasp inside each nest.

AFAIK the wasps just hibernate somewhere sheltered, and build up
from new again "next year". If you see a new little ball of a
nest in the season, that's the time to do something - in fact,
when you gat biggish wasps early in the year buzzing about, then
*that's* the time to flatten 'em (all queens). Often several will
drift in through an open window in spring.

James Varty wrote:

Elves. You've had elves. Definately.

I very much doubt that, given the cutbacks in the National Elf Service
recently.

Dave

In an earlier contribution to this discussion,
david lang wrote:

James Varty wrote:

Elves. You've had elves. Definately.

I very much doubt that, given the cutbacks in the National Elf Service
recently.

Dave

Surely that means that there are a lot of redundant elves around - which may
well end up in attics! g
--
Cheers,
Set Square
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On Sun, 8 Jan 2006 10:58:17 -0000, "Set Square" wrote:

Surely that means that there are a lot of redundant elves around - which may
well end up in attics! g

If you listen carefully at night you might hear their cries,

"Little Tiny Issue, Help the Gnomeless"