Boy, we're in trouble

[manicscousers]

here are 2 jars out of 4, all the same, I think there's a wasps nest in an adjacent garden, we've been sharing our apple crop with these, some apples are hollowed out with 20 wasps in  :o

[manicscousers]

[saddad]

I had a couple in the Discovery when I picked them yesterday!!  ::)

[manicscousers]

we just can't go in the garden, we have to cook with all the doors and windows closed and the dog has been stung twice, she runs around mad, picks up an apple off the ground and runs with it, we're having to go out before her and pick them all up  ::)

[flossy]

  Ooooh, what a nightmare, wasps are nasty in any form  --  can you get Pest Control or

   the council involved ?

[saddad]

OH got stung on the tongue by one last year when they were sharing a mulberry... it didn't like being bitten...  :o

[manicscousers]

  Ooooh, what a nightmare, wasps are nasty in any form  --  can you get Pest Control or

   the council involved ?

we could but we can't find out where the nest is(large fences, never see the neighbours) ..nearly autumn, maybe when the leaves fall off everything..any ideas where they would nest?
ground level, trees, houses?

[small]

We have had nests made in the bathroom airbrick/ventilator, kitchen extractor fan space, loft (6 one year!), hanging from a flowering currant, corners of the sheds, and in a large clump of ivy. Nothing ever below head height though.  Bet that doesn't help much.

[lewic]

Yikes. I would put jars of Cointreau near their hideouts, they love the stuff and it seems to kill them quite well. Left a glass out in the garden once and the next day it was full of dead wasps!

[manicscousers]

Yikes. I would put jars of Cointreau near their hideouts, they love the stuff and it seems to kill them quite well. Left a glass out in the garden once and the next day it was full of dead wasps!

posh wasps  ;D
think I'll stick with the last of last year's jam  ;D

[Hyacinth]

OMG! That fills me with horror, Manics. Heard on the radio today of 2 peeps being stung to death - 2 different incidents - after being attacked by swarms.

Filthy looking things, wasps nests. Dirty grey colour, can get quite huge. One year I had to get the RatMan in to deal with a nest (still talking wasps here btw - our Pest Control man's always been called the RatMan :D)...anyway this nest was in the roofspace - and the house is three stories high. Agree with Small that they can nest anywhere. Take care Manics.

Lish x

[Emagggie]

That's a bummer Mal. We had several when we moved here and one was in the ground. We had a specialist come an clear them. Not cheap though. Might be worth ringing someone for advice on the best course of action, and to see if they will come and find it for you. Good luck. :-\

[lorna]

Oh manic, sheer misery for you.  One of my Granddaughter a couple of years ago
was drinking out of a can of coke, left the can on the lawn for a few minutes, went back had another swig... you guessed it.. got stung in her mouth. Be careful with opened cans folk.

[Robert_Brenchley]

Yesterday I watched one grab a bee. It bit its wings and legs off, then flew away with the rest, which was bigger than the wasp. They normally go for the 'crawlers', which are too worn out to fly. As long as they don't get inside in large numbers, I don't think they do any harm to the hive.

[flossy]

  Found a nest being formed in the roof of an empty bird box, small hole and

  ideal for them,    :P

[manicscousers]

well, apart from 6 jam jars full of dead ones, most of them  to have gone, maybe because we've cleared most of the apples and pears..still a few at the top of the tree but that's about 20' tall so they're not bothering us  ;D

[GrannieAnnie]

well, apart from 6 jam jars full of dead ones, most of them  to have gone, maybe because we've cleared most of the apples and pears..still a few at the top of the tree but that's about 20' tall so they're not bothering us  ;D

Good to hear you've had some relief, Mani. We took down a seckel pear tree- its tiny pears on the ground always attracted  hundreds of yellow jackets- I don't know if you have them, they're like an ill-tempered honey bee in size and love to sting and we feared for the grandkids' bare feet.

[Digeroo]

Our apples are covered with them, especially any windfalls.  Problem is that OH has had anaphylactic shock after a sting a few years ago so they are a bit of an issue here.

Some of the apples have about fifty of them crawling about.  Several apples have been totally eaten and only the skin is hanging up.

[manicscousers]

bit difficult for you, digeroo, I've been stung 4 times this year so not got your oh's problems sounds like ours,though , I've been picking the ones with wasps in and dropping them(carefully) in a big bucket of water  ;D
no, grannieannie, thank goodness we haven't got yellow jackets, enough trouble with the wasps, don't know why there's such a llot about this year  ???

[chriscross1966]

Always a problem at this time of year when they switch from collecting protein (other insects basically) to feed their young to sugar to feed the overwintering nest. Problem is that the easiest place to find the sugar is windfall fruit but that will contain a lot of alcohols of various descriptions, they're like a city centre street on a friday night.....

chrisc

[saddad]

.... but without the vomit...  :-X