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
--
Apple Juice Ltd
Chapter Arts Centre
Market Road www.apple-juice.co.uk
Cardiff CF5 1QE 029 2019 0140

"D.M. Procida" wrote in
message
...
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
--
Apple Juice Ltd
Chapter Arts Centre
Market Road www.apple-juice.co.uk
Cardiff CF5 1QE 029 2019 0140

Hoover the buggers up and keep an eye on things in the spring.

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
______
Please reply to newsgroup. Reply address is Black Hole!

"Set Square" wrote in
:

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?

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.


Yeah - found a queen one morning in my bathroom. Huge thing shudder She'd
taken a liking to the air freshner and was sat, sleepily, on top of it.
Didn't last long - 3 second burst of wasp killer. I'd still like to know
how she got in :-S

--
john

"Technology is dominated by two types of people: those who understand what
they do not manage, and those who manage what they do not understand." -
Putt's Law

On Sun, 29 Feb 2004 14:54:47 +0000, 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 are dead don't worry about 'em. Sweep or hover them up and look
around for a nest. Possibly tucked right down in the eaves and in size
anything from a ping pong ball on a stalk through to a couple of feet
across. Beige in colour and papery in texture (indeed it is
effectively made of paper). Remove it if you like and examine they are
beautiful bits of work, at this time of year the only live wasp your
likely to encounter is a queen in one of the ping pong balls or
crawling about rather drowsily. Old nests are not reused.

When it gets warmer say April/May go back up and give the entire roof
void a liberal spray with a domestic fly/wasp killer.


--
Cheers
Dave. pam is missing e-mail