[Lincolnshire Floyd]

thx for the info very interesting.

It was a very big brown bee not a bumble and not a hornet, it seemed ill.
 I let it climb on a cane and lifted it up in the air to see if it would fly, it did a little but then crashed down somewhere in next doors garden.

If you are sure it wasn't a hornet (bit early for them I admit) my guess is that it was a drone bee which is slightly larger than a worker bee. Drones are males and worker bees are females so I would guess it was a drone on a mating flight with a queen and had done his job and just dropped to the ground worn out. They mate in flight and if I had to do that I'd probably drop near dead afterwards too.

[Salmo]

I keep seeing spherical bags hanging in gardens. They are supposed to look like a wasp nest and wasps keep away in case they are attacked.

Do they work?

[Growing4mykids]

I've had leafcutters nesting in a crack in the garden wall, they've absolutely hammered my strawb leaves, but not bothered us or the kids so going to leave them to it, just see it as another trial and tribulation of growing our own! 

[mumofstig]

leafcutters are bees , rather than wasps, I think 

[Growing4mykids]

That'll be them then    thanks mos   

[pavery026]

I keep seeing spherical bags hanging in gardens. They are supposed to look like a wasp nest and wasps keep away in case they are attacked.

Do they work?

I have one in my plum tree, doesn't stop the wasps though. I can understand that they eat pests, but having a real phobia with them I would just be happy if they were extinct. I try not to panic if one is around me, but it's no good fear takes over and I flee.
Regarding the queen, first half of summer there is only one queen who produces male and infertile females. During late summer she then produces fertile females which then will then hibernate over winter. So the only way to really reduce numbers is to get the queen coming out of hibernation.

It's the only way I can deal with the fear know your enemy.

[sarah1983jane]

I have also seen them fake nests for sale but have not heard anyone say if they work or not. I have made a wasp trap for my garden, it's a lemonade bottle, cut the top off about an inch down the bottle, below the shoulders. Turn the top upside down and push into the body of the bottle thus making a funnel into the body. Tape the top edge, I taped in some ribbon to tie into tree then put an inch of something sticky in the bottom. I hope it will reduce the numbers if wasps that hang around my garden.
I seem to be easily stung by the horrid things, last year I was stood on the footpath outside my house chatting to a neighbour with my tiny baby in my arms and a wasp landed on my arm, crawled up my sleeve and stung me, it hurt for days on end. Pleased it got me and not my son but I didn't even move or try to seat it or anything!

[Sparkyrog]

Your idea will work but add some water and give it a shake or a stir . They drown then 

[pavery026]

Last year we couldn't go in the garden because of them, they were everywhere. Turns out there was a nest in next door's wall. I decided to buy a wasp trap it had a cylinder with holes and it went down into a chamber where you mixed the wasp killing powder with beer jam etc. It was designed to not let the wasps out so they couldn't tell their friends. Once set you didn't have to touch it again. I couldn't believe at the end of the year the amount of wasps it caught and killed, some were queens it was jam packed. This year so far not been bothered by them, I can even sit out. 

[Lincolnshire Floyd]

Last year we couldn't go in the garden because of them, they were everywhere. Turns out there was a nest in next door's wall. I decided to buy a wasp trap it had a cylinder with holes and it went down into a chamber where you mixed the wasp killing powder with beer jam etc. It was designed to not let the wasps out so they couldn't tell their friends. Once set you didn't have to touch it again. I couldn't believe at the end of the year the amount of wasps it caught and killed, some were queens it was jam packed. This year so far not been bothered by them, I can even sit out. 

It's early days yet so don't get too relaxed. 
Thanks for the information about the queen I didn't know that she produces infertile queens in the early part of the year. Seems a daft thing to do as it's a waste of time. Are you sure you are correct?

[pavery026]

Yes i tried to combat my fear by researching them, and read a lot of information on the web. first lot of males (drones) and females are the workers they are there to feed the other eggs laid by the queen and build the nest. Once it is to a size the queen is happy with then she lays the eggs for the fertile females. Now it is said but don't know if to believe that there can be a 1000 queens laid in one nest. I am taking that with a pinch of salt. It's amazing really how they do it but I still think they need to be extinct.

[Lincolnshire Floyd]

Yes i tried to combat my fear by researching them, and read a lot of information on the web. first lot of males (drones) and females are the workers they are there to feed the other eggs laid by the queen and build the nest. Once it is to a size the queen is happy with then she lays the eggs for the fertile females. Now it is said but don't know if to believe that there can be a 1000 queens laid in one nest. I am taking that with a pinch of salt. It's amazing really how they do it but I still think they need to be extinct.

I think you might be confusing workers and queens. Workers are females but not necessarily queens. Only queens have the egg laying capability.

[pavery026]

Yes as before only the queen can lay eggs, but the eggs have different characteristics depending on what stage the nest is at e.g sterile females, males or then fertile females who will mate with the males. All laid by the one queen in that nest.


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasp