Wasps

[frogesque]

Check your sheds, garages, outhouses and lofts, etc. So easily sorted out when there's only the queen to deal with but later in the year could be a real problem.

Discovered this one yesterday lurking in a kiddies' wendy house.

The intial nest (or byke) being made by the queen. It's about the size of a golf ball

View from underneath showing the chambers with developing lavae.

Tell-tale debris on the floor

The queen, chewing wood to make paper pulp to extend the nest

Later, when the young adult wasps emerge the queen will only lay eggs and control her colony. The workers take on all the other duties of nest building, collecting food, defence and tending young. By Autumn there can be over 2000 wasps and it's something you definitely don't want to tackle in a confined space.

[Verglas]

Good bit of info there Froggy, very well put.

My dad kept bees for over 40 years and was often called to get rid of wasps nests, the bucket and petrol trick usually worked

Often it's easy just to wait until they are all in at night and spray aerosol wasp killer in the nest, and maybe tidy up the stragglers and remove the nest the next day.

I was just reminded of a rhyme this morning by someone on the local radio station asking what they could do with a swarm of bees in their garden

A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hey

A swarm of bees in June is worth of silver spoon

A swarm of bees in July is not worth a fly !

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swarming_(honeybee)

[A Gower Guy]

Found a new wasps nest in our shed last week, my mother knocked it down and the wasps sprayed something from its back end at her.

Also twice this week I have woken up to find a wasp flying around my window, the windows were closed during the night, its not what you want to see when you wake up in the morning, especially when you have a phobia about them.

Edited June 10, 2006 by button-wales

[Osbourne One-Nil]

Flame gun fun had here today. Loved it!

[Terminal Moraine]

Apart from when they fly into my mouth when I'm cycling, I like Wasps.

In their prime they're extremely hard working artisans with building skills we can only dream of ( if using only our mouths ).

As they grow older all they want to do is go out and get p****ed, eventually ending their lives in a blind stupor of alcohol before the cold or old age gets them.

The human equivalent of a Wasp would be the government's dream.

T.M

[Thundery wintry showers]

Found a new wasps nest in our shed last week, my mother knocked it down and the wasps sprayed something from its back end at her.

Also twice this week I have woken up to find a wasp flying around my window, the windows were closed during the night, its not what you want to see when you wake up in the morning, especially when you have a phobia about them.

Unfortunately, so do I- I have had quite a few wasp stings in my lifetime, including one occasion where I was stung twice in one week (in the same place) which was quite painful.

I don't actually mind bees. They are more productive, and they die after two or three stings at the very most, so they tend not to sting unless you provoke them- whereas a wasp can get away with quite a number of stings.

[PersianPaladin]

Unfortunately, so do I- I have had quite a few wasp stings in my lifetime, including one occasion where I was stung twice in one week (in the same place) which was quite painful.

I don't actually mind bees. They are more productive, and they die after two or three stings at the very most, so they tend not to sting unless you provoke them- whereas a wasp can get away with quite a number of stings.

I hate wasps.

Oh, and i remember when i was young and used to go 'wasp wacking' with my friends. One of the girls in the street came too close to the wasp nest and one or two wasps flew under her clothes and stung her several times in 3 different places. Needless to say, there was waterworks and my mates and I got into considerable trouble.

[Dazza]

I was woken at 5am this morning to the sound of one in the bedroom. I jumped out of bed and woke Mrs Dazzler in the process only to find the thing hovering outside the open bedroom window with no intention of coming in. The beauty of living in the countryside with no road noise, everything as minor as it is becomes incredibly amplified!

[Dawlish]

Wasps: kill them; stamp on them; cut them into small pieces, painfully.

Total waste of time. Can't figure why evolution produced them. No purpose except to annoy, infict pain and bonk other wasps to make more wasps.

Paul

Edited June 14, 2006 by Dawlish

[Nick F]

Wasps: kill them; stamp on them; cut them into small pieces, painfully.

Total waste of time. Can't figure why evolution produced them. No purpose except to annoy, infict pain and bonk other wasps to make more wasps.

Paul

They are a pain in the butt, but they do have their uses, such as feeding on aphids and greenfly, good for gardners and commercial horticulture in general. Not so good if you want an undisturbed meal or beer outside.

[Dazza]

Wasps: kill them; stamp on them; cut them into small pieces, painfully.

Total waste of time. Can't figure why evolution produced them. No purpose except to annoy, infict pain and bonk other wasps to make more wasps.

Paul

:o Point taken Paul.

[PersianPaladin]

Wasps: kill them; stamp on them; cut them into small pieces, painfully.

Total waste of time. Can't figure why evolution produced them. No purpose except to annoy, infict pain and bonk other wasps to make more wasps.

Paul

Well i guess some people would think that about humans. We just annoy each other, inflict pain and bonk each other to produce more annoying pain inflicters.

:o

[Dazza]

Well i guess some people would think that about humans. We just annoy each other, inflict pain and bonk each other to produce more annoying pain inflicters.

Speak for yourself young man :o

[The Enforcer]

Now I remember a topic last year that was on about the lack of wasps around last summer. So far this Spring there has been an unbelievable amount of the little beggars, making me wonder if their appearance is cyclical, especially given that last summer was very warm and the spring has been comparitively cool.

Can anyone shed some light on this subject or am I the only one experiencing this infestation?

Spring 2005 was milder than Spring 2006, however, there was a very late widespread frost in June 2005 which may have nuked them.

[Mammatus]

Haven't seen 1 wasp this year unbelievably!! :o

I think because I killed a record amount last year (well over 50) , there avoiding me like the plague, and there giving me some respect. :lol:

Mammatus

[TheGardener]

I have only seen a couple of wasps this year but as everything in the garden seems to be 2-3 weeks late I would expect to se a lot more in about 2 weeks time. 50 years old never been stung but boy dont I look funny running away from those little stingers.

[Hairy Celt]

I have only seen a couple of wasps this year but as everything in the garden seems to be 2-3 weeks late I would expect to se a lot more in about 2 weeks time. 50 years old never been stung but boy dont I look funny running away from those little stingers.

aha, a bit of cross-thread fertilization here... maybe women put wax in their pants to lubricate their wasp-fleeing.

[SP1986]

Actually there is a reason for wasps, evolution, they are there to evolve into another species, like fish evolved into humans - think about it.

Ive just solved the purpose of evolution, now I want my money!

[Mammatus]

Actually there is a reason for wasps, evolution, they are there to evolve into another species, like fish evolved into humans - think about it.

Ive just solved the purpose of evolution, now I want my money!

LOL....

If only someone had solved this earlier we would all have had peace of mind years ago.

Mammatus

[Hairy Celt]

I know some people who have evolved from trout.

and codswallop from codpieces from codfish

[Snowyowl9]

Is it me or what as I havn`t seen many wasps about this summer.

Just the odd one or 2 about after such a hot July I would of thought there would of been more about.

Not many people like wasps me for one as when they start stinging they won`t stop and I swell right up if I get stung on my hands.

S9.

[Jane Louise]

Same here ! there have hardly been any wasps around this year Even whilst camping this year I have not seen many compared to loads that were around last year.

[Lincs Observation]

well i have to agree with the last two posts, as i have seen little in the way of the pesky insects,last year was the same im wondering if it has anything to do with the lack of water.

I did have a slight problem with queen wasps trying to nest in a roof void of a flat i was renovating but RAID sorted them out, However they have not been totally conspicious by thier absence ive seen the odd Small variety of wasp just a bit bigger than the hover fly which looks the same.

hopefully we will have a hard winter and we wont see any next year either as i have been on the recieving end of a swarm a few times as i used to be a garderner many years ago..

LO

[Trancemaster1966]

I absolutely hate the little blighters.

Funnily enough though I've hardly seen any in the West of Scotland this year but that doesn't mean it's over.

I was stung....on December 15th 2004. I couldn't believe it...second sting that year. It was a queen. I can only guess the little git had nested in the attic and found a way down but when I called the exterminators in they couldn't find any nest at all. Strange. Anyone else been stung later than that?

Edited August 26, 2006 by Trancemaster1966

[Hiya]

the mid 90's - be prepared to do the 100m sprint when u pop anything in a public bin in september. that cloud of angry wasps that rises forth and attacks u.