Wasp's nest in/under window sill - how to remove

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

Hello

Whilst watching the MExicans run rings round the French, I could hear a "munching" sound from the window. Close inspection identified quite a few smallish wasps coming and going so I went outside and identified a structure about the size of a matchbox being assembled underneath the outside window, underneath (or possibly starting to become inside) the window sill.

I could pay 40 quid-odd for someone to come and kill them but I would prefer to use a cheaper/humane method i.e. can I scrape this fledgling wasp's nest into a bag and take it waway, or can I do something to make them leave short of trying to smoke them/burn them oout (don't want to damage the woodwork of course)?

The sound inside the house is quite loud so I am afraid they might eat their way underneath the sill and end up forming an internal nest around the aluminium double glazing unit, inside the profile or soem such void.

Thanks for pointers/experience/stories/advice

DDS

[Adrian C]

After dusk liberally dust it with Ant Powder available from the Pound Shop. Activity will stop after a few days.

[freepo]

They will not be there for any more than a few months, they die in the winter and they are not dangerous if you respect their flight path to/ from nest. I urge you to leave them be and scrape it away next spring. They won't cause any damage to your house. You can fill any gaps under your sills with mastic but it's not really necessary AFAIK

[freepo]

You could encourage them to remain outside the window by placing a piece of plywood sticking out from the windowsill, weighted down with a big heavy weight to stop it falling off try to make it so it sticks out flush from the underside of the windowsill.

This will be a rain shelter underneath which they can build their nest outside of your home.

[geoff]

Or ...

you could just liberally spray the entrance with nippon powder

[TheOldFellow]

Sounds to me like the queen has already found a way under your sill into the cavity where she has built her nest. The suggestions about borax- based ant killer will work, but it's true that the nest will be abandoned as soon as the frosts start.

I have no proof of this, but looking at the construction of wasp nest I suspect it is a very good insulator so long as it is dry.

R.

[cynic]

they burn well when dry

[TheOldFellow]

But this is a very bad way of getting rid of the wasp's home, in that it might get rid of yours too.

R.

[stuart noble]

Not usually a problem until late September when they start to lose their bearings and end up in the house, crawling about the place and waiting for you to tread on them in bare feet. Don't know how you would hear a wasps nest when watching WC football

[Tim Streater]

The nest is made of papier maché. The wasps rasp wood off trees or perhaps your shed and chew it up, then use it for building. So it would be a decent insulator but presumably would bridge the cavity wall and lead to dampness.

Cyanide will kill them if you have the nerve for that. My dad used to kill them in ground nests by putting some on a square of cloth, then pulling the corners up and tying round a stick. Then you wet the cloth and ram it into the nest entrance.

Bees use wax rather than papier maché. And any unpainted bit of shed will likely show evidence of the wasps' rasping habits.

[TheScullster]

"Duncan Di Saudelli" wrote

Sounds like a job for "Wasp Nest Destroyer" to me. At least that's the stuff I used after the council did half a c*ck up job of removing a nest in my loft. It's a foam sprayed from an aerosol and you should apply this to the nest/nest opening each night when activity has stopped. The type I got had a range of about 2m with reasonable accuracy - I was working off a ladder so didn't want to get too close. Yes you can leave them, but you may regret it if the nest gets as big as ours (effectively preventing safe entry to the loft space where I was trying to install vent fan and ducting).

Phil

[geoff]

In message , Tim Streater writes

So would a thermonuclear device

but why bother when a few squirts of nippon powder will dispatch them quite safely

Each to their own

[cynic]

Exactly so - it increases the fire risk to the building so kill the little hot arsed buggers, remove the nest and put it on a bonfire

[Tim Streater]

True - and they did exist in the 50s, wonder why my Dad didn't use one.

On the other hand this didn't :-)

[newshound]

These aerosol sprays are very good if they are causing problems or risks to kids / pets, especially if the nest is inaccessible. Although they can be annoying if you do a lot of eating/drinking al fresco they do predate a lot of other insect pests.

[Adrian C]

The insides of one I removed!

Yikes :-)

[Duncan Di Saudelli]

Indeed - some useful approaches there. I've opted to wait and see what happens. If they don't nbother me and don't cause damage I'll leave them be.

Thanks all

DDS

[Gib Bogle]

In Costa Rica last year I saw a wasp nest a bit bigger than a man's head, hanging in the open under an eave near a swimming pool. Interestingly the wasps were very small, about half the length of the usual ones we see in NZ.

[NT]

I'm guessing chlorine would work too. If it does, its cheap & available.

NT

[Mr. Benn]

I've used Nippon powder on a wasps nest and it worked a treat. I waited until dusk when they were less active a gave one big squirt. I never saw any wasps there again. Cheap and effective.