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[RSettee]

There's a wasp hive in the outer bricks of my apartment. Literally, every five seconds, wasps are going in or out. Several. Dunno whether it's 20 of 'em taking a couple of shifts, or whether it's many more than that. I'm usually just content to leave things be and I don't want to spray anything in there to kill anything, but if I leave it too late, who knows--they may find a way into the apartment through some sort of crevice. They're not really disturbing anything--not yet, anyways. Has anyone had any horror stories of wasp hives getting out of hand?

[jetbase]

I was once stung in the face by a wasp after I bumped a bush containing a wasp's nest whilst mowing the lawn. When I was a kid I accidentally stepped on a wasp and was stung multiple times in the foot, which resulted in blisters all over my foot. Best not to have wasps nests where people regularly are IMO. If I see a nest around the house I wait till evening & then spray it with bug spray & run. Next day I knock it off with a broom & throw it in the bin so that it can't be used again.

[ssltech]

Wasps -especially paper wasps- can be very destructive in terms of weakening wood structures.

Aside from that, the risk of accidental stinging can change, specially if the nest is 'discovered' by mischievous children, for example... Wasps from a colony which has been fairly easy-going and not bothersome to humans can become more pro-actively aggressive if they identify human shapes as 'tormentors'.

They usually -depending on the species- stay fairly close to the nest, gathering food and chewing wood from close by, to feed the young and expand the nest.

They usually die down (but not out) during the winter, but I make a point of removing active nests from around the house. -I usually have to remove around three nests each year. -Around here they also build nests under broad-leaf palms, which I discover when I trim the palms, and get stung by enraged wasps right after I cut the palm leaf in question...

Keith

[RSettee]

They're right by my window--i'm on the third floor, so there's no worries really, I think, about kids being stung. But seriously, i've watched them for awhile....every second, every five seconds, two or three wasps are leaving or entering the hole. I just wish that they'd built a hive near the forest by the river that's right behind the block. I think that they're going to the elm tree right by me, because they're flying short distances, and they're carrying what looks to be little parts of the leaves....maybe there's some sort of pollen or something sweet on those leaves.

Even if I did want to spray in there, i'd have to sort of go outside of the window and stretch--not easy to do, and with that much activity, i'd probably have a few seconds to do it before they'd alert each other and I could get the shit stung out of me anyways....this is probably one of the weirdest threads that i've started here, heh.

Is there anything to spray in there that makes it unpleasant enough to get them to leave without killing them?

[PookyNMR]

RSettee wrote on Sun, 01 August 2010 17:49

is there anything to spray in there that makes it unpleasant enough to get them to leave without killing them?

Smoke.  They hate smoke.  With smaller hives it can work quite quickly.  With larger hives it can take a while for them to move one.

[arconaut]

You said, "apartment," so maybe there is a super or landlord who might deal with it? Or wouldn't they be responsive to this sort of thing?

[Bill_Urick]

http://www.homedepot.com/Outdoors-Garden-Center-Animal-Pest- Control/h_d1/N-5yc1vZ1xg1Zars1/R-100185806/h_d2/ProductDispl ay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

[compasspnt]

In our case, where my wife is deathly allergic to wasps, we have to take them out wherever possible.

Be sure to use the special wasp and hornet spray that can be shot at force from up to twenty feet away. Instant knockdown, little danger.

[fiasco ( P.M.DuMont )]

compasspnt wrote on Mon, 02 August 2010 06:21

Be sure to use the special wasp and hornet spray that can be shot at force from up to twenty feet away. Instant knockdown, little danger.

Just put out your cigarette first.

[Taproot]

A thick mixture of dishwashing liquid and warm/hot water will do the trick too. Not instant, but it works and not as toxic.

They are going to the Elm tree to get bark, to make the paper for their nest.

[Barry Hufker]

This is tangential but I've been reading several threads today so forgive me.

Once the hive has been removed (and you're back from the hospital), take one of the more "open" sections of the hive (of the kind below) and try it as a windscreen/pop filter.  I don't know if it works.  I'm just suggesting to try it - seriously.  What is there to lose?  I think it might work quite well.  After all, penicillin came to us as a medicine because somebody didn't keep his home particularly tidy.




Barry

[RSettee]

arconaut wrote on Sun, 01 August 2010 21:44

You said, "apartment," so maybe there is a super or landlord who might deal with it? Or wouldn't they be responsive to this sort of thing?

I could get them to do it, yeah. Maybe i'll go that route.

Taproot wrote on Mon, 02 August 2010 08:40

A thick mixture of dishwashing liquid and warm/hot water will do the trick too. Not instant, but it works and not as toxic. They are going to the Elm tree to get bark, to make the paper for their nest.

Good to know, thanks!

[RMoore]

RSettee wrote on Mon, 02 August 2010 01:49

I think that they're going to the elm tree right by me, because they're flying short distances, and they're carrying what looks to be little parts of the leaves....maybe there's some sort of pollen or something sweet on those leaves.

They might be collecting insects for food.

In the early part of the Summer & Fall wasps (yellowjackets) forage for protein-rich sources & feed them to their larvae who give off drops of a sweet nectar for the adults - when the larvae are full grown, that's when you see wasps becoming more of a 'nuisance' out searching for sweet stuff, drinks, rotting fruit etc.

Ever been 'dive-bombed' by wasps in the forest? Its not an aggressive move - its that they perceive us as a big lumbering animal which might be surrounded by flies. They are looking to pick off a fly.

I was amazed to learn this & ever since, I have a lot less fear about wasps.

[arconaut]

The worst thing about a wasp is the horrible racket they make:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tp0s27tIqRY&feature=relat ed

[Taproot]

FYI, once you get rid of them, get the nest and go fishing. The larvae make excellent bait for Bream.