canalsiderenovation Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Just been up loft to discover this.... I think it's wasps, or could it be bees? It could be from last year when we had major issues with wasps which we put down to the fruit trees. I was walking around the loft and didn't see any wasps there but did a hasty exist. If they were there last year will it be more likely they will come back again to the same nest? Any good advice on how to get rid of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 Definitely wasps. At this time of year it will almost certainly be an old nest from years gone by, and they rarely, if ever, re-use an old nest. If you do get a nest like this in an enclosed space, it's not generally a good idea to try and tackle it yourself. We had a problem with a big nest at our old house, and I got a chap in to deal with it, and watched how he did it. When we had another a year or two later I made up a remote gadget to spray powder in and kill them, which worked very well. I wrote it up here at the time: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said: Definitely wasps. At this time of year it will almost certainly be an old nest from years gone by, and they rarely, if ever, re-use an old nest. If that's the case I'll leave it and hope the builders will remove it when they deal with the roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I dealt with a nest in the eaves of the house last hear waited till dusk and climbed a ladder and sprayed powder the protection I wore was definitely not overkill ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 @nod it wouldn't be so bad but I really, really hate wasps. Traumatic experience when I grabbed a t-shirt off the line and shoved it straight on (without a bra) and there was a wasp inside! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 My wife held the ladder But soon disappeared when they came out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A_L Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 3 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said: Just been up loft to discover this.... I think it's wasps, or could it be bees? Its wasps, in our climate wasp nests are not multigenerational. They die out each autumn, there have been a small number of cases where nests were kept warm by displaced insulation and these were multigenerational but they a trivial in number. At this time of year a wasp nest is golf-ball sized with only an adult queen and larvae at most. Last years nest is full of disease because of disorganisation in the colony in autumn and new queens instinctively avoid them. Builders might adopt an 'ain't my problem' attitude as they will not understand/know its empty. You can just cut it down with a saw, it only paper mache, or if your nervous about it leave it to January when it will very definitely be safe. Adult wasps get at least some of their energy requirements from an excretion produced by their larvae, when the larvae die out in late summer/autumn the adults intensify their efforts to obtain sugars from fruit trees etc https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-do-wasps-do.html 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 I don't like wasps (who does) but managed to overcome a phobia of them (and bees) when we had the kids as I didn't want to pass it on. Not that bothered now tbh and the more I learn about them the more impressive they are. Their nests are really beautiful structures - when empty that is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 21, 2020 Author Share Posted April 21, 2020 Thanks all. I'm not too keen to give it a go but I'm glad it's more than likely to be empty. Perhaps if I'm feeling brave at the weekend I'll try and hit it away with a brush or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 2 hours ago, canalsiderenovation said: Perhaps if I'm feeling brave at the weekend I'll try and hit it away with a brush or something. *following for updates* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted April 21, 2020 Share Posted April 21, 2020 A video of the action, perhaps? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamonHD Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Sound on and good mic for the screams and buzzing please. Rgds Damon 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFDIY Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Could you sheet off the area with clear plastic, both sides and floor seal off entirely. then cut a slit for access with a garden hoe or similar , then dislodge it and see if anything comes out, leave it for a few days then wrap up and remove from roof. I'd do all this with as much skin covered as possible. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 17 hours ago, Bitpipe said: I don't like wasps (who does) but managed to overcome a phobia of them (and bees) ... My older boy seems to have developed a phobia of wasps and bees over the last few years, despite the rest of us being very calm and relaxed about them. No idea where it came from, but it's been getting worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 3 hours ago, jack said: My older boy seems to have developed a phobia of wasps and bees over the last few years, despite the rest of us being very calm and relaxed about them. No idea where it came from, but it's been getting worse. As a teenager I once jumped into the path of an oncoming bus to try and get away from a wasp. Managed to jump back but it was an irrational fear. Maybe someone he knows has passed this on or he's had a fright from a wasp / bee encounter? My teens are being phobic about spiders at present. I love spiders. Have asked them not to make me choose... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I wonder whether we have an instinctive fear of things like wasps and spiders, whether we learn to be frightened of them from others, or whether we learn to be frightened of them by experience? I get the feeling that some fears like this are just instinctive, and perhaps not learned behaviour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 30 minutes ago, Jeremy Harris said: I wonder whether we have an instinctive fear of things like wasps and spiders, whether we learn to be frightened of them from others, or whether we learn to be frightened of them by experience? I get the feeling that some fears like this are just instinctive, and perhaps not learned behaviour. There's undoubtedly an underlying instinctive fear of creep crawlies - it makes perfect evolutionary sense to be nervous about all such things given the chance of being poisoned, hurt, infected (by disease) or even just exposed to the possibility of an infected bite. 48 minutes ago, Bitpipe said: Maybe someone he knows has passed this on or he's had a fright from a wasp / bee encounter? In my son's case, he was stung by a wasp when he was about two years old, but I don't think that's the cause. We think it's more to do with his mum being stung while she was putting him to bed about three years ago. I think she was lying on his bed waiting for him to return from doing his teeth, and was stung on the side by a wasp that had flown into his room during the day. It happened just as he walked into the room. Even though my wife hardly reacted (other than a loud "ouch") and we killed the wasp, he was extremely nervous that night and has been unhappy with wasps and bees ever since. It probably didn't help that we teased him about it a bit until we realised it was becoming an issue! Edited to add: I hadn't actually given this incident any thought until now, hence my earlier comment about not knowing where the phobia came from. 48 minutes ago, Bitpipe said: My teens are being phobic about spiders at present. I love spiders. Have asked them not to make me choose... I spent enough time in Australia when I was younger to have developed a healthy dislike of spiders, albeit not really a phobia. However, if you really want me to jump out of my chair, put a big cockroach in front of me (another side effect of having lived in Australia). Horrid, horrid, pointless, disgusting creatures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canalsiderenovation Posted April 22, 2020 Author Share Posted April 22, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, jack said: However, if you really want me to jump out of my chair, put a big cockroach in front of me Now although I don't like wasps, up until I was stung about 10 years ago they didn't really bother me and I won't go crazy seeing one (obviously a potential nest of them is a whole other issue). Cockroaches however, major fear triggered by my first holiday abroad to Fuerteventura when I was 20. I've travelled over 70 countries since and been lucky to only see one dead one. For anyone wanting to avoid bugs in home and abroad I always take a peppermint and citroenella essential oil mix and spray around any rooms or places we stay. Bugs and critters hate the smell (ok not keen myself but it does the trick). Edited April 22, 2020 by canalsiderenovation 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Harris Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 It doesn't take much to cause a fear that lasts a lifetime. One of my very earliest memories is of being out in the garden in a pram, that had a net over the top (used to be common practice years ago). A dog jumped up at the pram, and my mother over-reacted. My memory is mainly of her reaction, but I've always been really nervous around dogs, and I suspect that early encounter may be to blame. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 I have cleared loads of wasps nests when re roofing houses, as long as I can’t see any wasps nearby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bitpipe Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 2 hours ago, jack said: Horrid, horrid, pointless, disgusting creatures. They say the same about us Jack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenni Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 Hi, hope it's OK to bump this thread, it's a similar issue. I have wasps getting into the void between my rafters, via gaps in the eves boards. (vaulted inside with insulation fitted on the underside of the rafters) I plan to remove boards and fit mesh over the winter (when no wasps around hopefully). Will it be OK to leave until winter? I'm worried that the wasps might be able to damage the insulation in the meantime. (foil faced celotex type). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottishjohn Posted September 24, 2021 Share Posted September 24, 2021 buy a powder puffer and the wasp powder -shove the nozzle in a gap 0ne or 2 good puffs and they will die in a day -where the powder lands -any bug that walks in it from ants to wasp are dead 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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