Large Wasp in January

[hedgerow]

you can sweep the chimney and check your loft space, but other than that just keep an eye open for any further activity. They are probably still queens yet as the temperature has not yet reach a constant.

[nana]

for the last three nights I have had one large wasp per night i have just had central heating installed and wonder if this has disturbed them. How many more could there be in one place. My daughter is petrified of them as am I

[hedgerow]

There could be any number over wintering and having central heating installed will disturb them or it could be the same one returning if you did not take it far enough away when you released it.
Although they very often over winter in lofts they usually move on in spring before biulding a nest and different species prefer different nest sites.

[tezzor]

I spent yesterday cleaning out my loft and found two more live wasps, plus several dead ones. The space I cleaned is a boarded and walled area, I can't get in behind these to clear under eaves or under edge of roof. Are there likely to be any more in under there, and is it true what an earlier reply said, that they will move on in Spring to build their nests elsewhere? I put the live ones I found, at the end of the garden in some ivy bushes, though it felt cruel, putting them out in the cold, hope I didn't harm them. I'm not exactly scared of them, but I've been stung by them on many occasions in the past, and don't fancy waking up one morning being stung in my bed!
best regards,
Tezzor