Bees or Wasps? Experts please take a look :)

[s4k1b]

I have some bees/wasps entering an air brick under the damp course on my house.
I'm not sure if they are honey bees or wasps.

Could someone take a look and let me know?

If the are wasps, which is my guess, what is the best way to remove them ?

Thank you

 

[sherwood]

wasps

 

[Jules59]

They look like wasps. I would leave them alone - they won't be there next year as they die come the autumn and a hibernating queen will start a new nest somewhere else in the spring. But if you must kill them them then they are plenty of things you can buy.

 

[s4k1b]

Thank you

Do they cause any damage to the property? I can hear them under the floorboards of the house when its very quiet sometimes.

 

[madasafish]

Wasps make a nest. Apart from that, will leave property as found.
Our house used to have c 20 old wasp nests in roof until I removed them when insulating.

 

[s4k1b]

How big are wasp nests usually? I found a paper type cocoon in the loft of my house and in the garage, but it was only the size of a cadburys creme egg, Is this usually the size of a wasp nest?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

How big are wasp nests usually? I found a paper type cocoon in the loft of my house and in the garage, but it was only the size of a cadburys creme egg, Is this usually the size of a wasp nest?

No, that would be the primary nest started by the queen, once the first workers emerge they will build upon that and it will get to the size of a football or bigger

 

[oliverkelly]

They are wasps. Wasps do eat wood to make their nest, and also will eat plasterboard and insulation to expand their nest.

 

[BeeAdmin]

They are wasps. Wasps do eat wood to make their nest, and also will eat plasterboard and insulation to expand their nest.

Are they bees?

 

[Ian123]

Are they bees?

No they are wasps and any damage would be absolutely minimal.

 

[enrico]

They are wasps. Wasps do eat wood to make their nest, and also will eat plasterboard and insulation to expand their nest.

They don't really eat wood, they scrape an absolutely minute amount off the surface that they mould into their nests. It would take many many years for them to scrape down 1cm! I would imagine the same is to be said for other materials. So...... Damage would not be noticeable!

 

[Scots_Mike]

Pictures I took a couple of weeks ago showing yellow jacket scraping wood off some fence boards. You can see all the lines this one and its buddies have done this year. As enrico said will take them years to do anything significant.

 

[s4k1b]

That is amazing. Excellent photo taking by the way.

The traffic was growing hour by hour and there were hundreds of wasps nesting under my house so i decided to take some action - not for the risk of damage, but more the risk of stings, my kids were refusing to play out in the garden and my wife was nervous about putting the washing out on the line !

I bought some wasp nest powder from B&Q and squeezed half a tub into the air brick.
The results were almost instant. No more wasps. RIP.

 

[ericbeaumont]

the risk of stings, my kids were refusing to play out in the garden and my wife was nervous about putting the washing out on the line !

Pity you felt the need to kill them because unless you interfere with a nest, wasps will not bother humans unless you drink one or step on one, and this would have been a good opportunity to show your family the value of giving way to nature for a while.

Have you tried feeding a wasp from your hand? It's as easy as feeding a cat and does demonstrate that the perception of scary risk is usually unrelated to the reality.

Young people must learn how to manage fear and risk and to tolerate and accept the different unknown, whether that is an insect, a religion or a novel culture. If not, down the road to hell we walk.

squeezed half a tub into the air brick

Now you must remove the excess and seal the airbrick permanently with a mesh, or run the risk of poisoning other curious pollinators and animals, and breaking the law.

In 2008 John Allison was prosecuted and found guilty, partly because he had failed to take all reasonable precautions to protect the health of human beings, creatures and plants and was ignorant of the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Have you tried feeding a wasp from your hand? It's as easy as feeding a cat and does demonstrate that the perception of scary risk is usually unrelated to the reality.

Amen to that
Wonderful experience. They like ham but prefer raw meat. I’ve got my grandchildren to do it. They were petrified of anything that buzzed but now they take great interest in the comings and goings of all buzzy things.