Allotments 4 All

Today at the allotment we noticed a steady stream of wasps entering and leaving the compost heap! *plastic darlek type compost bin* through a small gap in the trap door. So we decided it was a good time to turn the compost heap over. We couldn't find a wasp nest ...so does anyone know why they might be so active in and around it ? There was no fruit in there just the usual garden waste and shredded paper!

Duke

Hi Duke Ellington,

I've got a few in my heap on the plot. I'm not sure what they are in there for either. Found them a while ago while i was digging some out for the plot. Stuck my fork in, then heard some buzzing and two came out. ??? Maybe it's nice and warm, but i could do without it.

Possibly looking for a nest site or there are some juicy (live prey) morsels in there for them to stun and take back to the nest.  They will make mince meat of catterpillars so there may be something in the heap that they like too.

they probably hunting for meat (of the living kind) for their young! ;)

So you want us to go and check your dalek to see if there is a wasp's nest in it, on line do you?

Put on your wellies and wear the wifes tights over your head plus the daughter's silk scarf and check it out.

Are you sure they were wasps? It's very early for them. I found a nest in one of my empty hives the other day; there was a single small comb, with half a dozen larvea in it. A nest that size is tended by a single queen; none of the workers has hatched out yet.

If you wear something tight over your face they can get you through that. Youn need a loose veil.

My son caught a wasp starting to make a nest in the roof of my shed the other week......she had just formed the 'stalk' of the nest and was going around in circles forming the rest....I'm afraid we knocked it into a pot and put her outside, not seen any more since!

Quote from: PurpleHeather on May 09, 2009, 20:05:22
So you want us to go and check your dalek to see if there is a wasp's nest in it, on line do you?

Put on your wellies and wear the wifes tights over your head plus the daughter's silk scarf and check it out.

And don't forget to post up photos of yourself dressed like it!  ;D

i had to evict a wasp after easter weekend from my green house you can read up on it here, http://kellasvegeplotandothermusings.blogspot.com/search/label/Wasps there are also pictures of the nest.

Quote from: siandc on May 09, 2009, 20:24:01
And don't forget to post up photos of yourself dressed like it!  ;D

Tights over the head are very effective against the Scottish midge, as it's so small it can't bite through it. Bees can sting through leather gloves; wasps are somewhere in the middle.

It was probably not a steady stream of wasps but an odd one or two going backwards and forwards.  The attraction would be the shredded paper which the queens would be chewing up into papier mache and using to build their nests.  You can see them doing the same thing on untreated wooden posts, garden seats, and anything else they can chew bits off at this time of the year