Been doing a running battle with a paper wasp nest which located itself just above my front door! I realized that there were wasps when I went outside Saturday morning and I looked up and sure enough, there was a nest about the size of a grapefruit under my roof overhang. Just a few ft above my door!
Heard some buzzing a day or two prior to this when I went in and out, but nothing sounded an alarm.
I've had this happen before when I lived in my former house, and the buggers made a nest in some wind chimes just outside my back door. One day I came home and was stung several times on my forehead before I knew what was happening. The stings burned like hell. And unlike a honeybee, wasps can sting as often as they want and keep living.
Went into town and got a can of wasp spray. This stuff can be sprayed from about 12 ft away and foams. Came back and doused the nest several times. Was careful to wear a hat and gloves, and didn't get stung.
Exhausted the can of spray, and there were still some swarming from the ones that were airborne. Had to go back into town and get another can. Sprayed that one too, but saved about 1/4 of it just in case.
Yes I know it says to wait until dusk when the swarm is mostly back to the nest. But based on the location I wanted to get on with the task.
Figured I got them all, but the instructions said to wait 24 hrs before removing the nest. Did that today.
There must have been some stragglers that didn't get sprayed, and have spent today spraying the odd ones that have come back to presumably rebuild the nest. Tomorrow when I go into work it'll be just dark, so any of the rest of the hive will get justice meted out to them then.
Even though I removed the nest, there's a mark where the nest was attached. They must still be attracted to it somehow through Pheromones, but hard to grasp how the spray could not have eliminated this .
Probably need to scrub that off somehow. But I'll need to do that when I'm sure none of the little bastards are around to sting me. Paper wasps are nasty, make no mistake. Very aggressive pests. No use for them at all.
I'll enquire tomorrow about putting something up in that area that would discourage them. Maybe a sack of ammonia pellets or something.
So how was your weekend?
:suspect:
Cheers,
RR
Heard some buzzing a day or two prior to this when I went in and out, but nothing sounded an alarm.
I've had this happen before when I lived in my former house, and the buggers made a nest in some wind chimes just outside my back door. One day I came home and was stung several times on my forehead before I knew what was happening. The stings burned like hell. And unlike a honeybee, wasps can sting as often as they want and keep living.
Went into town and got a can of wasp spray. This stuff can be sprayed from about 12 ft away and foams. Came back and doused the nest several times. Was careful to wear a hat and gloves, and didn't get stung.
Exhausted the can of spray, and there were still some swarming from the ones that were airborne. Had to go back into town and get another can. Sprayed that one too, but saved about 1/4 of it just in case.
Yes I know it says to wait until dusk when the swarm is mostly back to the nest. But based on the location I wanted to get on with the task.
Figured I got them all, but the instructions said to wait 24 hrs before removing the nest. Did that today.
There must have been some stragglers that didn't get sprayed, and have spent today spraying the odd ones that have come back to presumably rebuild the nest. Tomorrow when I go into work it'll be just dark, so any of the rest of the hive will get justice meted out to them then.
Even though I removed the nest, there's a mark where the nest was attached. They must still be attracted to it somehow through Pheromones, but hard to grasp how the spray could not have eliminated this .
Probably need to scrub that off somehow. But I'll need to do that when I'm sure none of the little bastards are around to sting me. Paper wasps are nasty, make no mistake. Very aggressive pests. No use for them at all.
I'll enquire tomorrow about putting something up in that area that would discourage them. Maybe a sack of ammonia pellets or something.
So how was your weekend?
:suspect:
Cheers,
RR