Wasps

[Bill]

Just above a bedroom window 2 years ago, we could watch wasps flying up and disappearing into tiny crevices, presumably back to their nest in some little void there. They seemed to multiply and we had masses of them as the summer progressed. I bought some squirty things and some powder in a tin, but was talked out of climbing a ladder to them and attempting to blow powder upwards into crevices while being buzzed by an angry swarm.

We rang the council who said they will die and not return next year so they would do nothing. True, they didn't reurn last year, but they have returned this year, so we are back in the small number stage.

Are there wasp killer sprays with a pipe so that I can poke it accurately though the entrances? The sprays I can find all have decoratively shaped tops and no way of poking in even a WD40 pipe.

How are you meant to use the powder? The wasps are above and gravity doesn't work that way.

Is there any better way to show these things who is boss?

[spamlet]

Ignore them and let them get on with the valuable job of keeping your garden much freer of pests than it otherwise would be. Only at the end of the season do they start to eat fruit and become a nuisance - but since by then the squirrels have already trashed everything, it's no longer a problem. We used to have lots of wasp nests, and even an occasional hornet, in the loft, but are getting concerned that there are many fewer than there used to be, though at this time of the year we still have to 'rescue' a few queens from indoors and put them outside. Just about the only insect that does not seem to be in decline is the foreign invader 'harlequin' ladybird of which we seem to be having to eject hundreds every week! Our fruit trees are all in flower, but there is not a bee in sight! Or butterfly.

:-(

[Bill]

In message , spamlet writes

Well, the bedroom window needs to be opened for ventilation, and the fly mesh over it is a real nuisance, but the wasps congregate and buzz until one or more gets through somewhere. We replace the plastic mesh every year, as things chew through it, and often the screen unsticks. We already run 2 electronic zappers in the bedroom.

We have, and like, bees but already have had the windows being battered by the giant moths that plague us every year. The birds eat the fruit to give the vehicles a multi-coloured christening so I'm not sure what the wasps live on. I'm no animal lover.

[Gel]

The aerosol foam sprays have a 3m metre range so you can be well away from nest. Always receommended to do early evening when critters have returned to nest.

[TheScullster]

"Bill" wrote

I am with you on this one Bill - don't start me on wasps nests in the loft, council operatives who drop the dead ones in the water storage tanks that find their way to the shower filters.....

There is a foam type wasps nest destroyer which is quite effective. This can be sprayed at the nest openings to catch the critters on the way in/out if you can't see the nest proper. The range is about 2 metres, so you don't have to go right up to the openings, but the foam may discolour stuff so take trial shots elsewhere first - try on inconspicuous area etc disclaimer etc. Do the real deed late on when they are not buzzing around.

Phil

[Tim Streater]

My father used to use cyanide but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.

[spamlet]

Apparently not: shame you seem to be one of the decreasing few that ever gets to see any! The only regular moths round here are clothes moths! I'd like to see a picture of one of your 'giant moths' (bats?) as the only large ones the UK has are a few hawk moths, and the emperor moth, all of which are getting scarce and, if you are getting frequent records of them, then they should be properly recorded by your county Recorder.

[Tim Watts]

While we're on the subject:

When I was clearing hardcore out of the garden yesterday, I pulled a lump of concrete out of the ground and there was a little tiny papery nest - smaller than a tennis ball and several waspy things (about 2cm long) wibbling around it. Needless to say, they got a spade of earth dumped on them sharpish.

Where they wasps or something else? Didn't realise wasps lived underground?...

[spamlet]

They live anywhere they can find a reasonably dry cavity. However, at this time of the year you may notice lots of little 'volcanoes' of excavated soil or - in our case chalk - on the lawn, and even between the crazy paving stones of our patio. If you watch, you will see the tawny mining bee - which as it's name suggests - has a hairy tawny back, going in and out. There seem to be more than usual this year. They are harmless, and I don't know where they disappear to the rest of the year.

Nature being what it is, you may also see some small yellow 'wasps' going into the same holes. These are specialist parasites on the mining bee grubs, but also harmless to you.

The other thing which you will find 'wibbling' around under the ground at this time of the year are bumble bee grubs in their nests. Bumble bees are dying out. Along with the spring flowers their emergence is timed to coincide with. And if this thread is anything to go by, that can be no surprise!

[Bill]

In message , spamlet writes

summer and post here if I remember.

If we sit in the garden as it goes dark, all of a sudden these things start whirling and darting about at tremendous speed. They are almost as big as a butterfly but with big bodies and very fast flapping wings. If we leave a window open, they come in to the house and get very excited by the light. They seem to be just arriving or waking now as a couple of nights ago they were diving into the lounge windows.

What I don't understand is why they come out at night but are attracted to light. Seems odd to me.

[Edgar Iredale]

8> If we sit in the garden as it goes dark, all of a sudden these things

8>

[Dave]

Reading this now worries me. I found a nest, last year, in the loft where my aerial cables enter. When do they start nest building? Wife keeps all her Scout camping gear up in the loft and from what another poster said last year, they might be tempted to swarm if the loft hatch gets lifted.

What is the name of the foam spray and how often should it be used?

Dave

[spamlet]

We have many nests in the loft. They only go under the eaves, and the only time you get any flying in the loft is if you happen to go up there and turn the light on for some time, in the winter, and a queen thinks it's spring and flies toward the light. There is nothing inside the loft to attract them and they would not fly around in there in the dark.

If your wife is really a Scout camper she ought to know all this anyway...

S

[Tim Streater]

In the spring when the Queen (who has hibernated during the winter) wakes up.

One January I was in the sister-in-law's attic looking for some old books of mine. My body heat plus that from a 60 watt blub was enough to wake up four queens that were asleep in there.

[spamlet]

Moths fly to light because they evolved to be used to steer by moonlight, so they think your light is 250,000 miles (if I remember my geography) away, and when they try to set a straight course by keeping it in a particular position they end up spiralling in to your light instead. This, unfortunately, is one of the reasons there are so few moths nowadays: and hence fewer bats and so on.

There are different colour spectrums of light and moth traps tend to be of the mercury vapour type. You might find a 'warmer' choice of room lighting might be less attractive to them. (Some of the modern cfls are very 'cold' looking - and sometimes shops only have one sort for each size and fitting, so sometimes you end up with cold lights by mistake.)

The tremendous speed part sounds like a humming-bird hawkmoth, but that would normally be day flying I think. It would certainly be interesting to see a picture of one. You may find some resting on the wall under the light when they get knackered with flying round and round. Then nowadays it's easy to take a few shots of them with your digital camera until one comes out nice and clear. Then you can post it to the NHM link and they will tell you all about it: but do let us know too.

S

[spamlet]

Forgot about those. Yes could be mistaken for moths while flying, but obviously beetles once landed.

And wot do you know - it's Buglifes 'bug of the month' and they say it is making a comeback. We had loads of them fly into a holiday cottage in Devon a few years back, but I've not seen a single one since (Bedfordshire)

All about, and nice pics here:

[The Other Mike]

Possibly, but wasp numbers are getting completely out of hand in late summer in some areas.

Well when you have seen a mob of wasps completely destroy a honey bee colony in less than a week in late summer you might understand why there is a lack of bees for pollination the following spring.

Seeing a returning forager honey bee land on a hive and then a fraction of a second later have its arse end ripped off by a waiting wasp that then flies off with the meaty bits leaving the honey bee walking around on all its legs but slowly dying oozing its guts out is pretty shocking.

Then, when the wasps have taken out all the guard bees and the foragers, you get the wasps eating all the bee larvae out of the hive, the remaining bees give up or get eaten and the wasps strip the entire hive down to bare wax, no honey, no bees but millions of f*cking wasps.

Any queen wasp I see I have no hesitation in squashing. I certainly don't rescue the little bastards. There are plenty of other predators to keep aphids and the like under control.

[Andrew Gabriel]

They won't reuse a nest again. They are no more likely to reuse the same entry hole (indeed less so if it's directly coupled to the old nest) than they are any other point of entry to the loft space. They do particularly like sheltered entry holes though, such as in soffits, so making sure you don't have any of those might reduce the chances of a nest, but don't close off the loft ventilation or you'll have much more serious problems.

You would need to make your loft insect-proof to keep them out, and that's probably not feasable, at least in an older house.

[spamlet]

Never heard of wasps doing this before: not in the UK at least - seen some gory film of hornets doing this in foreign climes though. A recent documentary, found one of the chief culprits in test hives was actually mice.

In late summer in our garden, the wasps, like most other sweetness loving insects, make a 'beeline' straight from the eaves to the flowers on the ivy in our pear tree. Until recently, that ivy would annually be covered with red admiral butterflies, which was an amazing sight to look forward to each year. There were very few last year; and only a few hornets too: sadly. Perhaps, the wasps in your area lack an alternative source of food, and ivy is probably the most important late summer/autumn source of nectar - in the UK at least. Most people seem to want to kill that too... which may be why your bees are getting attacked. Nature balances, until people who hate parts of it start to interfere.

Ltd is the premier source of advice on the conservation of bees,

*wasps* and ants within Great Britain and Ireland.

I suggest you get in touch with them with your story and ask their advice: [e-mail]

S

[Dave]

That's very good news, thanks :-)

The soffits are where my aerials come into the house. Two holes about a foot apart. After the holiday, I'll get something to block them with.

I've never had any problems with insects, just the problem of finding a wasps nest.

Thanks for your input

Dave

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