[disasterdave]

hi all,
first question of many i expect.
had first trip to allotment today to start to clear it of weeds and grass, and upon strimming it i upset 2 wasp nests and found a 3rd in the ground and yes they were very active (see my diary). whats the best way to destroy the nests?
dave

[8doubles]

Most garden centres and DIY stores stock wasp nest killer for about £5 a can.

Or if you can leave them for a couple of months they will die off naturally, no nasty chemicals and no expense.

[Ropster]

if you are allowed bonfires, it may be a good place to burn the weeds you have just strimmed

[Salmo]

Tubs of wasp killer powder are cheap at garden centres.

Look carefully to see where the nest entrance is. You may have to push grass aside to improve access. Creep up as it gets dusk when most of the wasps are inside the nest and sprinckle powder into and just around it. Beware, they always leave a few guards posted near the entrance.

It may help to stick a cane in about 6 inches away so that you can locate the hole easily.

It makes it easier if you tie a plastic spoon or scoop on to a cane so that you do not have to go too near.

The wasps will carry the powder into the nest as they go in and out and poison their queen and babies. A few wasps may hang around for a day or two and they will attack you.

[Trillium]

I use the special long distance wasp sprays, wait until dark and use my flashlight to quickly aim and spray. That usually finishes off most of them.

[madcat]

But - if I can put in a plea for the wasps - they do have their place in the ecology of our environment.  They arent just a stinging nuisance.   They eat flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates, making them important insect-controlling predators and they are important polinators - particularly giving the reducing populations of bees.  The queens will move out in the next month, leaving the rest of the nest to die.  So if you can, please leave them be to finish the season naturally!

[Elcie]

But - if I can put in a plea for the wasps - they do have their place in the ecology of our environment.  They arent just a stinging nuisance.   They eat flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates, making them important insect-controlling predators and they are important polinators - particularly giving the reducing populations of bees.  The queens will move out in the next month, leaving the rest of the nest to die.  So if you can, please leave them be to finish the season naturally!

Must admit if I had a wasp's nest think I would like to get rid of it.  However, having said that this is the second time today that I have read that wasps eat caterpillars.  Now, it may just be a coincidence but I have noticed lots of wasps on my plot this year and very few caterpillars.  I didn't net my brassicas before I went away for 4 weeks in the summer and there is no way the OH spent the time I usually do picking the caterpillars off.  So maybe I have the wasps to thank for the lack of caterpillar damage to my brassicas?

[madcat]

PS  I should add that I am horribly allergic to the stings, but the wasps nest in the loft has stayed untouched.  So I practice what I preach!   

[JamPan]

I had one on my muck heap, recently.  I only knew about it from the evidence after it had been dealt with as some of the lads on the site found it and did the necessary.  They used ant powder, apparently.

[solway cropper]

We had one between the inner and outer skins of our caravan this year but we just left it. The buzzing was bit annoying but they've moved on now.

When we were kids we used to fill old cartridges cases with home-made gunpowder, stick a short fuse through a hole in the side, light and throw into wasps nests. It didn't half annoy them!!

there's probably some health and safety reason why you can't do that nowadays.  

[disasterdave]

going to go with ropster's idea, going to teach those wasps a lesson.

[8doubles]

going to go with ropster's idea, going to teach those wasps a lesson.

How long does that antibiotics jab you had last ? 

[Babstreefern]

We had a wasps nest on our previous plot, but during the summer they never bothered us, even though we had to go close to it to weed the cabbages :happy:.  But at this time of the year, they will attack if you go a certain distance to it .  At one stage, when my OH was trying to destroy it, they attacked us en-masse - we legged it to the greenhouse on the other side of the plot, and shut ourselves in .  Boy were they angry, they were hitting the glass :blink:.  We just had to wait until they went away before we could come out.

Apparently, they get short-tempered at this time of year, because they are dying off, and its getting cooler .   If you can just work away from the nest, then do so, and they will be dead by end of October.  Also, they don't come back to the same place twice.

[SnooziSuzi]

If you absolutely have to get rid of them then call a professional.

Personally I'd leave them be until they've died off then remove the nests then, that's what I'm doing with the nest in my metal shed and I too have noticed far fewer caterpillars and aephids this year...

[Elcies OH]

But - if I can put in a plea for the wasps - they do have their place in the ecology of our environment.  They arent just a stinging nuisance.   They eat flies, aphids, caterpillars and other invertebrates, making them important insect-controlling predators and they are important polinators - particularly giving the reducing populations of bees.  The queens will move out in the next month, leaving the rest of the nest to die.  So if you can, please leave them be to finish the season naturally!

Must admit if I had a wasp's nest think I would like to get rid of it.  However, having said that this is the second time today that I have read that wasps eat caterpillars.  Now, it may just be a coincidence but I have noticed lots of wasps on my plot this year and very few caterpillars.  I didn't net my brassicas before I went away for 4 weeks in the summer and there is no way the OH spent the time I usually do picking the caterpillars off.  So maybe I have the wasps to thank for the lack of caterpillar damage to my brassicas?

Ahem. Perhaps you had forgotten that I joined this forum before you went off on your travels! 

I did inspect for caterpillars every day. But there was rarely any of them to sort out. Or it didnt look like there was, baring in mind the amount of time I spent looking for them depended very much on the amount of attention the wasps were giving me.

To the original post,  I dont particularly like killing any living creature. Even if they are annoying. Can you not just let them be (get it) and let nature take it course?