Allotments 4 All

I was unfortunate enough to have a wasps nest on my allotment in an old oil drum that I inherited and intended to get rid of come the autumn when wasps had died and I could dispose of nest and drum safely. Have a morbid fear of wasps as was stung by a large swarm of the b*ggers at the age of 7 so was approaching the lottie on a different path so I did not have to walk near the drum. Last week I found that a "helpful" lottie neighbour had tipped over the drum so the wasps nest was out on the path and loads of v. angry wasps swarming around with  a cohort  flying in and out of my compost bin through one of the slots in the side.  I got some "bio"  powder from the allotment shop which claimed to kill wasps so, at dead of night and wrapped up like Lawrence of Arabia, went and squirted the broken nest and for good measure put a few blasts through the slot in the compost bin.

A couple of days later I dared to venture back and sure enough all the wasps were gone but of course when I looked in my compost heap all the other creepy crawlies had  gone belly up too.

The bin was full and the powder went into the top layer - which was quite dry and twiggy - if I just take all that layer out and throw it away will the creepy crawlies come back and bring the heap back to life or have I done irreparable damage and am I better off just bagging the whole lot up and throwing it away and starting again  ??? Any ideas?

You may not even have to throw it away because the powder is unlikely to last forever.  It should say on the tin/boxor whatever how long it lasts.  Once its effect has gone the bugs should return.

That's very good news - I'll go up tomorrow and check the tub

If everything in the compost was dead then the issue may be persistence of compounds that are toxic to you. Even if you only applied the compound to the top layer it could get washed, or simply diffused, further into the material. It sounds as if this may have happened. Most compost is broken down by fungi or bacteria, not insects, so breakdown will continue if you rebuild the heap but it sounds as if you have overapplied the product and sufficent breakdown of the residue is not assured.

I would apply copious amounts of water to dilute and dissipate the compound. As Icy said, the compound should become inert after a period of time, and the effects diminished. If you can identify the active ingredient, you may be able to access the COSHH data sheet for the chemical, which should indicate means of neutralising the toxic effects.

Derekthefox :D