Wasp nest under floor

[Chris Hogg]

My elderly mother has wasps coming and going through an air-brick right next to the only path that gives her access to her garden. She's allergic to wasp stings, and at her age (89) that's not something she's prepared to risk, so leaving them alone until the nest dies out in the autumn is not an option. (I've known wasp nests down here in west Cornwall to be active until October-November time). We've tried spraying the air brick with a foam-based wasp nest killer, and also insecticide powder intended for wasp nests, but neither has proved effective, presumably because the nest itself is some way inside, probably suspended from one of the joists. I'm reluctant just to seal them in temporarily until they die, by for example filling the holes in the air brick with clay, in case they find their way up into the house through gaps where the central-heating pipework comes up through the floor, which would result in an even worse situation.

Any other suggestions before I call in the pest control people?

[Tim S]

Chris Hogg coughed up some electrons that declared:

Personally I'd call in the pest people. Take her out for the day and most of them will be dead by the time she's back. It's not very expensive.

As she's elderly and allergic - is it worth giving the council pest control a ring - they wouldn't usually do wasps per se, but perhaps in this case?

Cheers

Tim

[Clot]

Seconded.

[Adrian C]

Thirded. Our council (Harrow) does come out for cases with people in the at risk category.

It's probably just me, but I've found the Nippon Ant crawling insect powder squirted at the air brick very effective. Give it about three or four days, the workers won't make it back home and if they do, the poison "food" they carry will annihilate the rest.

I've killed two annoying nests this year with ant powder, and there's one at the rear of the garden that I'm leaving alone out of fairness and respect. For when I was a child I was unlucky to get stung on the eyelid by one that I annoyed ...

[Owain]

(Thirded)

If you have a stethoscope and can listen to the floorboards to see if you can hear where the nest is, might narrow the location down a bit.

Owain

[Davey]

It's a no brainer. Elderly mother allergic to stings has a nest in the house. Why aren't you on the phone to the pest control people now?

[The Natural Philosopher]

Well firstly you probably should.

But the most effective way to solve this problem is the oldest trick in the book.

A jam jar with a little jam and water in the bottom, and a hole in the lid. The wasps are attracted by the sugary smells, get in, cant get out, and drown. If nothing else, it attracts the wasps away from people and their food.

Its a highly natural trap..unlike squirting insecticide in your walls, which is effective too, though. Its also very cheap!

[John Weston]

AFAIR wasps do not need sugar during the period when the nest is active with eggs and young. The Wasps harvest protein for the grubs which release a sugary substance to feeds the wasps. It is at this stage that wasps are beneficial, harvesting the other insects which they do not eat directly. They do not normally search for sugar during this time.

When the nest is empty, the wasps must switch to external sugar-based food sources, such as apples, jam, etc. so develop the sugar-sensing ability. This is typically late summer, when there is fruit available. Since the nest is empty, there is no need for them to return there.

When the nest is in use, the wasps will defend it vigorously stinging in a coordinated attack. When they're on the sugar food, they sting because they're drunk :-)

[Steve Firth]

No, call in pest control. We had a similar wasps nest in a previous home, and spotted them flying in and out. The nest was under the floor of one of the kids rooms. We did managed to kill them all ourselves using insecticide dust sprayed so that each wasp got coated as it landed in the air brick. At the end of a week the pile of wasps was about nine inches high and two feet across as they croaked shortly after exiting or arriving. Then I took up a floorboard and discovered that the nest was nine feet long and filled the gap between a pair of joists.

Modern domestic insecticides seem puny compared to the stuff we could get a decade ago, so I'd get the professionals because they can source insecticides that actually work.

[Steve Firth]

Completely ineffective, you kill a handful of wasps.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Umm. Bout 3-6 handfuls over a few weeks.

However the main use is to attract them away from people and people food.

[<me9]

My sister is similarly allergic. We found a nest just before her visit last year. We tried everything to no avail before getting the council pest man in, who sorted it in minutes.

It's not worth titting about if someone will suffer anaphalactic shock if they get stung.

[geoff]

In message , Chris Hogg writes

Easy

Nippon powder - forget all other suggestions, it does the job

[geoff]

What? A whole wasps nest ?

I rather don't think so

Demijohn, at least

[Chris Hogg]

Thanks for the replies. Council pest control it will be. But I guess they'll be closed for the weekend now, so we'll keep applying the foam and powder and see what the situation is Sunday PM, with a view to contacting them 1st thing Monday.

[Al]

Council pest control.

Well, I have to say, modestly (not), that I am a demon wasp nest destroyer. A cannister of Nippon powder, close fitting clothing (no gaps around limbs), a ladder, a cheery smile, a fast and well planned escape route and I'm in and done :)

I'd DIY (see above), but pest control will do a good job.

I won't recount the tale of my parents neighbours and their 'ignore it' approach. I'd have taken it on myself if they'd asked before it became a major infestation. Even so, I could have done it, but access for the ladder was tight :(

Al.

[geoff]

In message , Chris Hogg writes

Just nippon it

be gone by the time the council come around

[Dave Liquorice]

Donno about the foam but powders are not "instant knock down", they do work though if the wasps have to crawl through it on the way in/out it will get carried into the nest and it will kill them. Come back tommorow...

I suspect you won't need to be calling the council pest control on Monday.

[Adrian C]

The insides of one of the nests ..