Wasp nest

[vole-woman]

We've got wasps in the compost heap at the top of the garden and I was going to leave them be. Should I be taking action, then?

[Gill Catton]

Originally Posted by vole-woman

We've got wasps in the compost heap at the top of the garden and I was going to leave them be. Should I be taking action, then?

I'd leave them be if it was me, Like I said before not all wasps are all that aggressive and they perfrom a valuable task eating other insects (and possibly adding useful frass and broken down wood to your compost heap!!).

[vole-woman]

Good.

[A-daisy-a-day]

Thanks, I don't think I'm going to get close enough to sort out the difference, but it's interesting to know.
but after a a lot of discussion with various people including a retired Pest Control Officer over the weekend the general consensus is to be safe and have it destroyed, it goes against the grain to destroy any wildlife, I don't think I can spend the next two months worrying about it every time I go outdoors to tend the garden, feed the birds or just walk up the path, which I do with averted eyes. I see it out of the corner of my eye when I pass and it's like a Hidden dragon or a Crouching Tiger just waiting to pounce, So the dirty deed will be done to-day. But thanks all for your help.

[lizbarnes]

Hi am new here so sorry if this is not the correct way to post a new topic but having problems understanding it.

Last year we had a wasp nest removed from our summer house. We have now noticed several wasps inside the summer house but no sign of nest. Would it be above the wooden roof but inside the roof cover?

How would i get rid of this if so?

Liz

[STYRBJORN]

One point to note here. If you think you might be at real risk, ie if you plan to try to destroy the nest, or you need to work close to it, get an adrenalin injector. Multiple stings can trigger anaphylactic shock. Slap the business end against your foream, and the adrenalin will control the shock, which otherwise can kill very quickly.

Ric

[Dorts]

Originally Posted by lizbarnes

Hi am new here so sorry if this is not the correct way to post a new topic but having problems understanding it.
Last year we had a wasp nest removed from our summer house. We have now noticed several wasps inside the summer house but no sign of nest. Would it be above the wooden roof but inside the roof cover?
How would i get rid of this if so?
Liz

Hi Liz, welcome to WAB.
Any wasps around now will be Queens. They start the nest building, they then lay eggs, worker wasps hatch and continue the nest building while the Queen continues to lay her eggs.This continues until the autumn by which time all eggs have hathched and the workers are then free to 'roam', and this is when they become a nuisance.

When we get the first frosts and the weather turns cold, the workers start to die, and the nest becomes redundant, never to be used again. The Queen hibernates having given birth to a few new queens, and in the spring the whole cycle starts again.

So your decision is whether to allow these Queen wasps around now to survive and start building in your summer-house? Or do you get out the fly spray!

By the way Liz, wasps do a great job in the summer by helping to keep the fly population under control, they feed the flies to their 'grubs'.
Dorts.

[Burko]

I had 3 in the ground last year. Brock came along and dug them up.