We have a very large wasps' nest inside the eaves of our roof - football
size. (My question is at the end of this message.)

I've repeatedly sprayed it with the excellent Rentokil "Wasp Nest
Destroyer", but inside the roof space I can can only see (and therefore
spray) the inside half of it -- the rest is buried right into the eaves.
I cannot get nearer to it than about 3 metres (and in any case I don't
want to!).

I put up the ladders to the gutter, and tried to spray between the gaps
in the tiles, where the buggers are getting in, but the spray clearly
doesn't reach: they must have a walkway up to the nest,and the poisonous
foam must be dissipating before hitting any part of the nest.

After a week of trying repeatedly (three cans of Destroyer used!), I've
had to call quits.

My question: will winter kill this nest and all its inhabitants, or am I
going to have to call an expert?

Cheers
John

On 13/08/2020 15:20, Another John wrote:
We have a very large wasps' nest inside the eaves of our roof - football
size. (My question is at the end of this message.)

Football-size is average by wasp standards.

I've repeatedly sprayed it with the excellent Rentokil "Wasp Nest
Destroyer", but inside the roof space I can can only see (and therefore
spray) the inside half of it -- the rest is buried right into the eaves.
I cannot get nearer to it than about 3 metres (and in any case I don't
want to!).

It is best to spray the entrance to the nest in the late evening when
the wasps are in it. Of course, that is the most difficult time to see
what you are doing!

I put up the ladders to the gutter, and tried to spray between the gaps
in the tiles, where the buggers are getting in, but the spray clearly
doesn't reach: they must have a walkway up to the nest,and the poisonous
foam must be dissipating before hitting any part of the nest.

Definitely inadvisable. If the wasps feel threatened they will attack en
masse. Being up a ladder when they do is not the best place to be.
After a week of trying repeatedly (three cans of Destroyer used!), I've
had to call quits.

My question: will winter kill this nest and all its inhabitants, or am I
going to have to call an expert?

Wasps do not return to a nest they have made the previous year. A queen
leaves to start a nest elsewhere. Any remaining wasps will die over winter.

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman was thinking very hard :
Football-size is average by wasp standards.

I sometimes get tennis ball sized what I thought were wasps nests in my
hut. Is might assumption correct?

On 13/08/2020 15:36, Jeff Layman wrote:

Wasps do not return to a nest they have made the previous year. A queen
leaves to start a nest elsewhere. Any remaining wasps will die over winter.

That is certainly basically correct, but I have seen suggestions that
where very large structures are found typically in places such as yours,
they will repeatedly use a previous entrance and "route", building a new
nest adjacent to a previous one. So once the season is over, I would be
inclined to try to explore the entrance and perhaps remove any signs of
their "walk-way" and all of the old nest(s). You probably won't be able
to block off their entrance hole effectively but perhaps you could
locate one of those "vapour" type loft insecticides just inside the
entrance to discourage them from getting going. I suspect that, like
ants, they have a good sense of "smell" and will be attracted to old
wasp pathways.

On Thu, 13 Aug 2020 14:50:03 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk wrote:

We have a very large wasps' nest inside the eaves of our roof -
football size.

Thats not "very large". "Very large" is what I found late in the year
in a loft in Bristol. I'd gone up looking for something stored up
there after thumping about for a bit I became aware of a strange
rustley/scrapey/buzzy noise behind me. Turn round and shone the torch
to reveal a wasps nest in the eaves, 3' wide and filling up 18" of
gap from rafters to insulation. A few wasps crawling about it's
surface then they started flying at me. I beat a *very* hasty
retreat, Got some one it to deal with it, bee suit, long stick and
squirty can of paraffin. Opened up the nest with stick liberaly
squirted the nest and occupants with the paraffin and left. Did for
'em.

Next year I found a smaller nest earlier in the year (permethrin
based wasp powder did for that one). Also found a couple of empty
starter homes.

Spring of the next year a couple more active starter homes, just gave
the loft space a good dose of ordinary fly killer. As a precaution
spring the year after as well.

Is leaving it not an option ?

I normally say leave 'em unless they are causing a real nuisance,
like their flight path across/near an often used door. I wasn't going
to take my chances with that big one though and I wanted access to
the loft.

Very occasionally we might have on persistent bugger in the evening when
we're sitting outside with a drink. But if you can put up with that ...

I reckon wasps are just naturally curious. They buzz about looking
for good food sources. If that happens to be near a human and that
human starts screaming and shouting flapping their arms about it just
raises the wasps curiousity and it tries to investigate, which of
course just makes the human flap even more. Don't pay much attention
to a wasp and it'll get bored and fly off...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On 13/08/2020 20:48, Dave Liquorice wrote:
On Thu, 13 Aug 2020 14:50:03 -0000 (UTC), Jethro_uk wrote:

We have a very large wasps' nest inside the eaves of our roof -
football size.

Thats not "very large". "Very large" is what I found late in the year
in a loft in Bristol. I'd gone up looking for something stored up
there after thumping about for a bit I became aware of a strange
rustley/scrapey/buzzy noise behind me. Turn round and shone the torch
to reveal a wasps nest in the eaves, 3' wide and filling up 18" of
gap from rafters to insulation. A few wasps crawling about it's
surface then they started flying at me. I beat a *very* hasty
retreat, Got some one it to deal with it, bee suit, long stick and
squirty can of paraffin. Opened up the nest with stick liberaly
squirted the nest and occupants with the paraffin and left. Did for
'em.

Next year I found a smaller nest earlier in the year (permethrin
based wasp powder did for that one). Also found a couple of empty
starter homes.

Spring of the next year a couple more active starter homes, just gave
the loft space a good dose of ordinary fly killer. As a precaution
spring the year after as well.

Is leaving it not an option ?

I normally say leave 'em unless they are causing a real nuisance,
like their flight path across/near an often used door. I wasn't going
to take my chances with that big one though and I wanted access to
the loft.

+1

Mostly harmless little buggers.


--
Adam

Another John wrote:
We have a very large wasps' nest inside the eaves of our roof - football
size. (My question is at the end of this message.)

I've repeatedly sprayed it with the excellent Rentokil "Wasp Nest
Destroyer", but inside the roof space I can can only see (and therefore
spray) the inside half of it -- the rest is buried right into the eaves.
I cannot get nearer to it than about 3 metres (and in any case I don't
want to!).

I put up the ladders to the gutter, and tried to spray between the gaps
in the tiles, where the buggers are getting in, but the spray clearly
doesn't reach: they must have a walkway up to the nest,and the poisonous
foam must be dissipating before hitting any part of the nest.

After a week of trying repeatedly (three cans of Destroyer used!), I've
had to call quits.

My question: will winter kill this nest and all its inhabitants, or am I
going to have to call an expert?

Cheers
John

https://homesteady.com/cheap-way-kil...s-5575868.html

"Borax, Under $5

You can kill wasps cheap with Borax. Borax is made of boric acid
and has been used as a safe household cleaner for over 50 years.
A box of Borax costs about $5 USD, as of 2009. You may already have
some in the house. Mix equal parts Borax and honey or corn syrup.
Spoon the mixture into some old lids. Strategically place them close
to the wasps nest. Wasps are lured in by the sweet taste of sugar,
but are poisoned by the Borax."

Not all insects fall for this sort of approach.
But it might work.

The insects know it's there, but the mix may not
have enough "attractant" to make them voracious.

Mix 1:1 if the insect is non-social, and won't be feeding others.
You can mix 1:1 borax to icing sugar, to kill sugar ants.
(Even though in theory, 1:16 would be the right one to use.)

If killing a nest requires a forager to feed someone in a nest,
try 1:16 borax to sugar, so the forager stays healthy enough
to make it back to the nest.

I only looked up this possibility, because I suspected I may have
killed a wasp nest by accident here, this summer. It was above
my head the whole time and I didn't know it was there. The queen
was flying around the house for *days* trying to pick a nest site,
and when I didn't see it anymore, I assumed it had "buzzed off".
But no, it finally found a spot.

There's a theory that they don't go back to the same spot
each time, because they can "smell" the nest of the other,
and don't want to get into any nest fights. The house next door,
has not had a nest where a large nest was located years ago.
They have a "preferred side of the house", in terms of siting.
This year, the nest was located under the lip of my chimney slab.
The nest stopped at grapefruit size. Normally the nest doesn't
stop growing, until I stop it. I only used insecticide on the
first one. I have other means now for the job. I think
angle grinder will be for the next one :-) By other means,
none of those methods are suited to "submerged" nests in tight spots.

And that's why we have the borax, to use a food-based approach
for the tight spots.

Paul

On 13/08/2020 18:30, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Jeff Layman was thinking very hard :
Football-size is average by wasp standards.

I sometimes get tennis ball sized what I thought were wasps nests in my
hut. Is might assumption correct?

I don't know. The nest might be small if construction started late or
their food source was scarce. When broken open in late winter do they
have the same papery construction as larger wasp nests?

--

Jeff

Jeff Layman has brought this to us :
I don't know. The nest might be small if construction started late or their
food source was scarce. When broken open in late winter do they have the same
papery construction as larger wasp nests?

They just disintegrate to dust when touched. I have had several of
these over the years, all a similar size. I only assumed wasps, because
I had seen more than the usual number of wasps around the area, but I
never saw any going in/ coming out of the nests.

OP he

THANKS, everyone, for _all_ that informative and good advice!

Yes Dave - I was expecting someone (TNP actually :-) ) to say that
"that's not big" (i.e. football size). I would have crapped myself on
seeing that monster!!

"Football" is big for us: I'm very used to finding golf and tennis
balls (i.e. nests) in early summer, wherever there is nice dry wood in
our homestead: I deal with them all, with the nest killer -- not because
they're a threat, but because they *may* become a threat, and one which
may be difficult to deal with. In fact I dealt with 4 or 5 in the loft
this year, but I missed this one (QED).

Dave also said:

I reckon wasps are just naturally curious. They buzz about looking
for good food sources. If that happens to be near a human and that
human starts screaming and shouting flapping their arms about it just
raises the wasps curiousity and it tries to investigate, which of
course just makes the human flap even more. Don't pay much attention
to a wasp and it'll get bored and fly off...

I agree 100%! It really irritates me to be sitting with someone who
flies into a panic at the sight of a wasp; and if they have kiddies with
them, they're setting a really bad example: I always try to fight the
wasp's corner in that situation. But not when they set up home in my
own home!

Cheers
John

On 14/08/2020 09:56, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Jeff Layman has brought this to us :
I don't know. The nest might be small if construction started late or their
food source was scarce. When broken open in late winter do they have the same
papery construction as larger wasp nests?

They just disintegrate to dust when touched. I have had several of
these over the years, all a similar size. I only assumed wasps, because
I had seen more than the usual number of wasps around the area, but I
never saw any going in/ coming out of the nests.

Then I doubt it's wasps unless the nests are quite a few years old.
Despite being made of paper, if it's dry they are pretty robust and
wouldn't crumble to dust.

--

Jeff

First of all know thy enemy. Google the Waspbane website. Then get hold of some Ficam W. Make up about half a sachet into a garden sprayer and anoint the entrance route into the nest. A day or so later problem solved. There'll be enough in the sprayer for a few annointings. Don't breathe the spray or the powder.

On Thu, 13 Aug 2020 17:58:36 -0400, Paul wrote:

"Borax, Under $5

You can kill wasps cheap with Borax. Borax is made of boric acid
and has been used as a safe household cleaner for over 50 years.
A box of Borax costs about $5 USD, as of 2009. You may already have
some in the house. Mix equal parts Borax and honey or corn syrup.
Spoon the mixture into some old lids. Strategically place them close
to the wasps nest. Wasps are lured in by the sweet taste of sugar,
but are poisoned by the Borax."

Eh?

"Borax is made of boric acid"?

That's wrong... makes me doubt what follows.


Thomas Prufer

On 13/08/2020 15:20, Another John wrote:
My question: will winter kill this nest and all its inhabitants, or am I
going to have to call an expert?

The nest (and the queen and all the workers) will die in autumn.

After eating all the greenfly and other garden pests for miles.

I've got one I think I'll need to take out - but just because I think
they are converting our thatched roof into nest

Andy

"Vir Campestris" wrote in message
...
On 13/08/2020 15:20, Another John wrote:
My question: will winter kill this nest and all its inhabitants, or am I
going to have to call an expert?

The nest (and the queen and all the workers) will die in autumn.

After eating all the greenfly and other garden pests for miles.

I've got one I think I'll need to take out - but just because I think they are
converting our thatched roof into nest

The presence of wasps nests in a loftspace may possibly deter mice
who might otherwise cause damage by chewing through wires etc.


michael adams

....

May? possibly?