Large Wasp in January

[mazda28]

Hi just had a large wasp in my house in January.

Is this normal?

Thought they slept until Spring?

It was quit elively as well.

[juliejam]

Sure it wasnt a Hornet...Have a look in the Gallery plenty of pic's available...


Julie

[Ukwildlifeo]

Sounds like a queen that has woken up early. They do hibernate but mild weatehr and central heating can wake them up

[mazda28]

Thanks for the replys as long as I dont get loads. Cold weather will probably kill it.

[Paul mabbott]

Only queen (i.e. large) wasps would be alive at this time of year. Most likely you had a lodger which, as wildlifeo has suggested, has become active because of increased warmth and, possibly, light. Don't worry about it.

[outdoorguy]

make sure u get it out ur house.. she will be lookin for somewhere to start her new colony.. u don't want them in ur roof.. james

[Ferret]

Why would you not want them in the roof? I have had wasp’s nests in our loft space twice now and they caused no problems we did not have anybody stung and we only got the odd one come into the house, and we get that without a nest in the loft. It was fascinating watching them bring insects back to the nest for there grubs.
A couple of years ago the locale RSPB reserve at Fowlmere had a Hornets nest in one of the hides and rather than destroy the nest or close the hide the warden partitioned the end of the hide of with wood and a large Perspex sheet so that if there was no activity to be seen from the hide you could watch the Hornets which where absolutely fascinating and nobody got stung. I have some photo’s somewhere, I will dig them out and post them if anybody is interested.
I suggest that a jar and sheet of card are used to gently catch the Queen and release her outside preferably near an ivy covered wall or tree or in a shed or garage with access to the outside where she can continue her hibernation.

Ferret

[outdoorguy]

my kids don't like wasps no matter how hard i try and convince them that they are fine... we had one in our roof and the kids wouldn't go in the garden.. i agree i'd love to have a nest to watch but the kids have to come first.. wasn't saying u have to stop them nesting.. just giving some advice... james

[hedgerow]

Absolutley nothing to fear from the Queen that woke up early from the temperature being warm unless you or any one in your family is allergic to them. As a rule they are no threat at all as their eyesight is very poor but they are geared to chase fast moving objects, such as flies etc.
In the spring and summer they do a fantastic job of killing and eating flies, moths and other wasps etc, even spiders !
It is only later on in the early autumn that they turn their diet to high sugar yielding fruit that tends to bring them into competition with humans who tend to bat them away with fast movements (whoops). During this time as the nest is dying and there are no young to feed they get time to kill and perhaps a bit bad tempered.
This is the time when most people are stung.

So as regards your queen - just gently turf her outside and she will find some where else till the weather warms up.

Cheers,
Pete

[tezzor]

Hi, I've just registered as a member and was interested in the entries about wasps in January. I live in Surrey, and have had two wasps within the last five days, I now wonder if there are any more about. I caught both of them, they were fairly sluggish, and put them outside in ivy bushes. Is there any way, apart from just finding the odd one, that I can know if there are more in the house? The second, today, one appeared to fall down the chimney, (unused) but the first one I found on the ceiling upstairs, and though I've been searching around, I've not seen any indication of a nest or anything odd.

Cheers.
Tezzor