Wasps & Hornets - Of all the pests treated, nothing sends more fear into people than Wasps!  Whenever these 'Striped Invaders' suddenly appear in someone's home or garden, either streaming out of a roof void, magically disappearing into a hole in the ground or flying into a beautifully crafted nest built into a tree or hedge, the result is usually often the same - panic! These intriguing insects, with complex social structures and amazing architectural building skills, are often misunderstood, and usually little is known about them. However, they are a species which should be respected for many reasons; not only for their unique nest building skills, the actual benefits they offer gardeners with regards to pest control, but also for the concerning fact they can kill, a number of people sadly dying each year through reactions to stings and suffering from anaphylactic shock, either through accidental stings or attempting to treat wasp nests themselves, often with disastrous results.

In the UK there are a wide variety of what are classed as 'Social Wasps' which include Hornets, in the order Hymenoptera (Greek meaning humen = membrane, pteron = wing) and family Vespidae, numbering some 300, if you include hoverflies, saw flies and the suchlike. Realistically though, only around seven or eight main types of wasp are dealt with, and of those only a small number regularly encountered.
The most commonly found wasps are The Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) - The German Wasp (Vespula germanica) - The Norwegian Wasp (Dolichovespula norvegica) - The Tree Wasp (Dolichovespula sylvestris) - The Red Wasp (Vespula rufa) - The Cuckoo Wasp (Vespula austriaca) and the new invader, everyone has heard about and fears for it's aggression - The European  or 'Euro' Wasp (Dolichovespula media). There is one species of Hornet, The European Hornet (Vespa crabro).

Most of these wasps build their nests from wood pulp, gathered from scraping and eating wood, forming the 'paper-mache' paste into an architectural wonder. However, unlike the Honey Bee, who can be classed as the Wasps 'more intelligent' cousin, the Wasp has not developed the ability to store food over the winter period (bees create and store honey as a natural food source) and so have a 'Live Today - Die Tomorrow' attitude to life, lasting only one season, the newly mated young queen being the only survivor over the winter. The mated, hibernating queens will often seek refuge in a loft, and this is why in the middle of winter, people often find a 'large' wasp in Christmas decorations (where it's warm) or crawling about a warm loft space, the shocked finder wondering where on earth the wasp came from in deep winter.

Any hibernating, freshly mated queens will usually emerge from their winter resting place in early spring, and will begin by making a small 'starter' nest. This is usually a small, golf ball sized nest, into which she will lay ten to twenty eggs. One of the first signs you may have of a wasp nest is by spotting these strange, small 'paper golf balls', often attached to a rafter in the loft. Often these nests are never seen, and the eggs become larvae and emerge as infertile female workers. These then build a larger nest around the queen, who then takes up residence in her new home, laying more and more eggs, the nest increasing in size and being built around her and her increasing nursery.

The first larvae to hatch, and in fact the majority of wasps in the nest from then on, are sterile females.
 

M

 

The first workers develop and gradually take over the nest building duties and feeding activities in the nest, feeding what are in fact their younger sisters. The workers forage continuously, which is why in the earlier stages of nest development you can stand close to a nest (not too close!) and watch the wasps and they are too busy in their work to care about the giant watching them. The workers search for caterpillars, grubs and other insects, which they attack, paralysing with their sting, as well as collecting carrion, such as other discarded dead insects. The wasp cuts the insects up using its powerful jaws and chews the meat, regurgitating the feed and passing it onto the developing grubs within their individual cells. In return, and to develop a bond, the grubs secrete a sweet syrup fluid, which the worker wasp takes and feeds on. The larvae are carnivorous, but the mature worker wasps are in fact vegetarian, living on nectar, fruit and any sweet liquid or feed they can find (especially children's ice creams and jam sandwiches at picnics!) If you have a wasp inside, you can sometime hear a 'clicking ' sound, which is actually the grubs attracting the attention of the workers wasps - rather like young birds.

Warning! - Do Not Take risks with Wasps Nests - Wasp Stings Can Cause Anaphylactic Shock - Which Can Kill!

T

Oh My God! - Why I love treating wasp's nests, but also why you need nerves of steel!

The following photos shown the size some wasp nests can reach and how caution (and a great deal of nerves) are required to treat them. This wasp nest was found in a large detached house in Brundall, Norwich in 2007, close to the river. There were actually two nests in the loft, either side of the hip, the second about half the size of this massive nest. That's a lot of wasps in one house and the dilemma of which nest to treat first! Several thousand potential stings! Ouch - or more like possible death, even with a beekeepers suit on, through which they can sting! When observed from outside, a column of wasps could be seen patiently queuing up along the fascia in black streams, waiting to crawl in through a small hole, a continuous stream flying out of another hole. These were Common Wasps, as can be determined by the creamy white coloured nest, German nests usually being a darker, grey colour. This (to date) is the largest nest I've treated, although some have come close! It was a very aggressive nest, with wasps attacking as soon as I shone a torch on them, the camera flash really upsetting them!
To give the nest proportion, the 'dots' are wasps, approx' 25mm long. The rafters were 100mm (4") square, spaced at 500mm centres. Therefore the nest was approx' 700mm (2' 6") wide at it's base, spreading up from deep in the eaves along the hip rafters to over a metre high (3' 6"). It's a very big nest!	In this photo, after I'd woken the wasps up with the first camera flash, a number of white 'dots' can be seen in the air. These are wasps flying about, ready to attack. One was quicker than the rest and can be see in the bottom left section. The 'Yellow Star' is actually a wasp attacking my face 'bum first' - A bit too close!

This Page is Under Construction

We apologies for any links which do not work or incomplete pages, whilst the site is being constructed.