Wasp nest in shed

[Shaun]

Found a wasp's nest in my shed last night.

Only the size of a tennis ball, and only one wasp active around it, but didn't realise what it was until I looked it up on the internet.

Aparently they chew up wood and spit it back out to make the nest (it crumbled like paper when I bagged it and removed it).

There was a small hole in the bottom and when I looked underneath I could see a few lava, but thought it best to get rid of it before it got big and present a danger to me and the nipper.

Interesting how they make them though.

Cheers,
Shaun

 

[Arch]

Indeed, and you thought humans invented papier mache.

Personally, I'd have emigrated. Can't bear wasps. I'm better than I used to be, in that I've curbed the desire to run 3 miles on the sight of one, but still...

 

[fossyant]

No flame thrower ? Drat. Although might have taken the shed and bikes too.

 

[Globalti]

You did well to remove it so early; they can grow to a massive size. My Mum had one about 3 ft in diameter in her attic.

 

[marinyork]

Blow up the shed and then yell, you were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off at one of your kids if anyone hears/objects. Only kidding . Not seen one that small.

 

[Zoiders]

I say you take off and nuke the entire shed from orbit...It's the only way to be sure.

 

[Maz]

We had a wasps nest up in the attic. The nest was about the size of a watermelon. Very impressive the way they make those nests.

 

[Melonfish]

Good way to keep wasps away from an area is to create a paper mache ball from newpaper or printer paper.
then hang it up in your shed.
wasps won't make a nest near another nest and they'll view the ball as another nest. hence they'll go next door

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

There is more than one species of wasp - the ones that appear earlier in the season tend to be more docile, whilst the ones later are more aggressive. Killing this lot wont make much difference....

Key pollinators are wasps by the way - Bees get all the glory, but wasps are just as important.



Doug - who has only been stung 3 times in his life and all were my own fault. They just seem to leave me alone.

 

[661-Pete]

Personally, I'd have emigrated. Can't bear wasps. I'm better than I used to be, in that I've curbed the desire to run 3 miles on the sight of one, but still...

Here you are, Arch, specially for you:
http://www.hornissenschutz.de/grbilder/nase.htm

There is more than one species of wasp - the ones that appear earlier in the season tend to be more docile, whilst the ones later are more aggressive. Killing this lot wont make much difference....

Key pollinators are wasps by the way - Bees get all the glory, but wasps are just as important.

The Common Wasp (the familiar black-and-yellow job) doesn't help much with pollinating, I'm afraid, but other species of wasp like the European Hornet (above) do a fair share of it (we've watched them at work on our fruit trees in France). Bees are better though.

The wasps that appear in the autumn are exactly the same species as the ones you see in the Spring, but having raised their brood they're unemployed with no more useful work to do. Indeed, apart from the queens, they'll all die out once the frosts come. Hence their boredom leading to obstreperous behaviour. Time to get the rolled-up newspaper handy! But leave them alone in the spring, if you can put up with them. That's the time when they're hard at work catching insects for their brood.

 

[Melonfish]

actually wasps are fantastic for your garden, they're actually carnivores and eat other insects, especially the nasty ones that eat all your plants.
when you have a summer bbq you may find them nipping at your steaks!
they feed the meat to the larvae who in turn produce a sticky dew substance which the wasps go nuts for, once all the larvae hatch and leave (late summer) thats when you get them all swarming over your ice cream, they miss their sugar high.

 

[Fab Foodie]

I predict Waspyfecker will soon put in an appearance ....

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

The Common Wasp (the familiar black-and-yellow job) doesn't help much with pollinating, I'm afraid, but other species of wasp like the European Hornet (above) do a fair share of it (we've watched them at work on our fruit trees in France). Bees are better though.

The wasps that appear in the autumn are exactly the same species as the ones you see in the Spring, but having raised their brood they're unemployed with no more useful work to do. Indeed, apart from the queens, they'll all die out once the frosts come. Hence their boredom leading to obstreperous behaviour. Time to get the rolled-up newspaper handy! But leave them alone in the spring, if you can put up with them. That's the time when they're hard at work catching insects for their brood.

I don't know much about them but is just what I had read of them.

Even if they are bored, they STILL don't seem to bother me, although they will still land on me and go for a little wander before, err, buzzing off again (even as a kid, I'd let them crawl over my face with no ill effects to either myself or the wasp).
As I say, the 3 times I have ever been stung it has been my own fault (and one of those was a bee).

 

[661-Pete]

As I say, the 3 times I have ever been stung it has been my own fault (and one of those was a bee).

I've not had many wasp stings, the last was I think when one landed on my face and contrived to get wedged between my glasses frame and my temple. Not sure what it was, I picked it off. It stung my finger rather than my face, which was lucky. But wasp stings don't bother me much. I'm told that hornet stings are of an order of magnitude more painful, but I've never had one of those. As for bees, well they hurt. I had one get me through my trousers some years ago, when I had stopped for a pee while out walking. Luckily it was in the thigh, not in the .....

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

The bee was the first when I was a kid - it landed on my trousers and I didn't notice until I brought my hand down and it thought I was about to squash it, so stung my hand, as you do. Then I noticed it! Yes, that hurt a lot more than any other sting I have had.

The next time, several years later was when what I assume was a wasp (this was in Austria) flew up my t - shirt and as I moved to get it safely out, it obviously took panic and stung me before flying back out itself

I was also stung another time, but I can't actually remember anything about it because the perpetrator was unseen. Actually, it might have been a bite from something, I'm not entirely sure what it was.