Wasps - Nest - Loft

[JohnP]

I saw and poked a wasp nest in my loft - a bit smaller than a tennis ball.

Any suggestions for making them go away and not return?

The edges of my loft are not vey accessible as it is a double hipped roof.

[Fredxx]

I might consider a can of Raid. Rest some weight on the dispensing button, quickly close hatch and retire.

And return the next day.

[Chris Bacon]

Did anything come out when you poked it?

You have two choices:

1) Leave it alone if it's not causing any sort of problem. It will be empty around the end of October, and won't be re-used next year. 2) Get rid of it. If you can't get to it, either a) get your poking stick (no, not that one!) with a drawstring bag secured to the end, get the bag around the nest, pull the string, get it outside and jump up and down on it (or just leave it where it is, in the bag), or b) spray them with the sort of spray that goes a good distance. Option b might be easier.

[JohnP]

Chris Bacon [e-mail] wrote in news:sb75d5$eot$ [e-mail]:

I made a mess with the bag and ended up using the Dyson! There were some wasps escaping when it broke and some flying around the lights.

I think I now need to focus on a deterrant.

[Chris Bacon]

If you got the queen - likely - the others will disappear shortly, they can't re-start the nest.

[Ian Jackson]

Yes - but in practice it's rather difficult to arrange a controlled slow release like that.

At one time you used to be able to buy Vapona fly (ie flying insect) killer cassettes, but they disappeared several years ago. These allowed an adjustable release of vapour. [A quick Google reveals that there now appear to be alternatives. Must investigate!]

What I do these days is to take a good, thick newspaper, open it to the centre pages, and soak the fold with a good drenching of Raid (or other fly killer). I then close up the newspaper, and leave it in the loft. [I actually place several newspapers, spread around - and especially where the wasps are likely to get in or like to be.] Repeat every so often, as required.

Wasps don't seem to like the smell of Raid, and if I do this at the first sign of the annual invasion, the wasps usually 'get the message', and stay away. This avoids having to kill them (which, unless it's a case of 'them or me', I don't really want to do).

[Fredxx]

I was thinking more of emptying the can into the attic.

Then a good liberal coating of raid amongst the rafters might last more than one season?

[Ian Jackson]

If sprayed directly on the rafters or other surfaces, the lethal vapour soon fades away. You need to devise a cunning way of slowing things down.

An alternative to my folded newspapers might be to use plastic boxes filled with newspaper or kitchen tissue (which you give a good spraying), and allow it to leak a little. For example, you could drill a small hole or two, or simply make a bad job of sealing the lid (say, by trapping some paper between it and the box). The possibilities are endless!

[Pamela]

Rule #1: Don't poke what might be a live wasp's nest.

[Peter Johnson]

Usually when they are small like that they are not a problem. It's the larger ones you need to worry about. (Just noticed two small ones in my garage roof, which I left alone. When I moved into this house a bit more than 20 years ago, for two years a queen managed to emerge from the roof space through the hatch into my bedroom. I opened the window and encouraged them outside. Then I renewed the failing soffit vents and have had none in the house since. Don't know how they get into the garage roof. When I found a small nest in my old house I rang the council's pest control but they weren't interested and said there was nothing to worry about.)

[Fredxx]

That's the first mildly helpful on topic post you've made in a long time.

Keep it up.

[Brian Gaff (Sofa]

Are they actually getting into the house or being a problem anywhere? The advice I got if that was not a problem was to leave them be until the die off then get the offending item into a thick plastic bag and remove it. They tend not to use the same place twice, but I'm not convinced that bit is true myself, but it worked for my loft, then instead moved in next year through the air brick under the bathroom floor, which was an issue. Brian

[williamwright]

A backpack sprayer

Bill

[ARW]

+1

[Tricky Dicky]

At our last house we got a nest in the cavity, they got inside through a small hole in the mastic at the top corner. We had the nest poisoned by the LA as they were getting into my daughters bedroom. Boy, were they angry as the poison took effect fortunately after a few hours with all doors and windows shut they were all dead. I found loads of dead wasps clustered around some outside lights for some reason.

Some years later when we had the windows replaced I was able to see the nest as the the original windows had timber reveals which had to be removed to insert the new windows. It was quite a large affair but the scariest thing was that you could see marks on the wall side of the reveals where they had chewed up the wood to construct the nest.

We had one in the corner of the fascia boards when we moved into the bungalow, this time we just let them die out as it was already September and never got another. I believe one deterrent is to put up false nests around the garden as they are very territorial and try to avoid conflicts with other nests.

Richard

[newshound]

+2.

While it is true that they don't re-use, you sometimes find huge nests on attic end walls where they have followed the same route in each year and keep building next to the old ones. In that case it is well worth trying to block the route once they are gone.