Treating wasp nests within domestic dwellings

[Karol]

I've no wish to undermine the moderators who have recently closed a thread but I do think there are a couple of salient points that need to be made.

Wasps are without exception the most deadly insects in the UK and need to be treated with respect for the health risk they represent. That being the case, nests within domestic dwellings that represent a hazard need to be safely eliminated. Blocking up entrances without destroying the nest first is a recipe for disaster. In such situations wasps have been known to chew their way through plasterboard only to find themselves in direct contact with the occupants of the dwelling putting the occupants at elevated risk.

It is relatively simple to destroy a nest in a domestic dwelling without the use of pesticide. It simply requires setting a vacuum at the entrance used by the wasps and vacuuming them up until the colony collapses and then vacuuming up the nest itself. Takes a few hours all told but relatively easy to do. Best vacuum is a Henry (or George) with the bag removed and replaced with about 2" of water with a splash of detergent. Failing that, a bagged vacuum can be used but the vacuum needs to reach 40°C plus for several minutes to kill the trapped wasps. This can be done by running the vacuum with the intake blocked/reduced for a time or until the overheat cut out cuts in. Bagless vacuums are not an ideal option as you'd have to retain the wasps until they die by dessication before emptying the vacuum.

 

[Treegazer]

Thanks for this very helpful and considered response, we will look to see if we can do this, but I don't think we can get the vacuum pipe around to the access point at the corner of the window because of the way the window opens. Also on the third floor so we can't access from the outside.

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks for this very helpful and considered response, we will look to see if we can do this, but I don't think we can get the vacuum pipe around to the access point at the corner of the window because of the way the window opens. Also on the third floor so we can't access from the outside.

I keep a sachet of ficam W for absolute necessities. I've had it three years which demonstrates how often emergencies actually happen. Mix a half sachet with half recommended measure of water and spray heavily into the entrance with a garden sprayer fold over sachet and seal. No drama, no guilt.

 

[enrico]

Thanks for this very helpful and considered response, we will look to see if we can do this, but I don't think we can get the vacuum pipe around to the access point at the corner of the window because of the way the window opens. Also on the third floor so we can't access from the outside.

I will be honest, using a preparatory wasp nest killing powder will be far easier and will do the job quickly and with relatively little harm to anything else. Shake the plastic bottle well and squirt the powder straight in the entrance, preferably at dusk, close the windows. Repeat the following day if necessary.
I am not going to apologise for the way you were spoken to in the previous post as many on here believe wasps are as important as bees and should be preserved as much as possible. Wasps will leave the nest in Autumn and will not return to the same nest so that will be the end of them but it will help to seal the entrance in case other flying insects invade the same space.

 

[Mint Bee]

I find spraying anything at the nest entrance requires some form of protective equipment as they are easily pi$$ed off

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I find spraying anything at the nest entrance requires some form of protective equipment as they are easily pi$$ed off

spraying things in - or waving a hoover around whilst leaning out of a third floor window without the correct PPE using advice/methods gleaned off the internet/yootoob/facebook, and especially whilst using toxic chemicals without training is a recipe for disaster.

 

[Karol]

spraying things in - or waving a hoover around whilst leaning out of a third floor window without the correct PPE using advice/methods gleaned off the internet/yootoob/facebook, and especially whilst using toxic chemicals without training is a recipe for disaster.

There's no waving of any hoover . Granted it'll be harder seeing as how it's the third floor. I use extension poles that I picked up second hand on ebay. The vacuum nozzle is simply set at the entrance where the wasps go in. As they try to enter they get sucked up. Leave the vacuum running whilst you make yourself a cup of tea and read the paper. Come back an hour later and see what the remaining traffic is like. Foraging wasps average 3 trips per hour so running the vacuum for an hour should collapse the colony provided that the nozzle is set in the right place and that's the critical bit. Very simple and given the distances involved quite safe even without ppe.

 

[Treegazer]

I keep a sachet of ficam W for absolute necessities.

Thanks for the reply on this - is Ficam W better than Ficam D? e.g. less likely to spread outside the target area? I will get a trained person to do this, but the person who will do it is pretty open to using different products.

 

[Treegazer]

I will be honest, using a preparatory wasp nest killing powder will be far easier and will do the job quickly and with relatively little harm to anything else. Shake the plastic bottle well and squirt the powder straight in the entrance, preferably at dusk, close the windows. Repeat the following day if necessary.
I am not going to apologise for the way you were spoken to in the previous post as many on here believe wasps are as important as bees and should be preserved as much as possible. Wasps will leave the nest in Autumn and will not return to the same nest so that will be the end of them but it will help to seal the entrance in case other flying insects invade the same space.

Thank you for your reply.. I'm not looking for any apology. I was only ever looking for level headed advice and I'm grateful to have received some on this thread as opposed to the comment yesterday you refer to yesterday which was fully intended to offend. I don't disagree wasps are very important, I am fully invested in not using insecticides wherever possible and don't in our garden - but as OP suggests wasps in the home space is something different and not without risks. People on this forum may decide to allow wasps to take up residence in their own homes, and accept the risks and potential major inconvenience, but being rude to someone who quite reasonably doesnt want to let the situation continue untreated is pretty poor, particularly when that person is going to some lengths to try to do this in a way that limits unintended harm.

 

[Treegazer]

There's no waving of any hoover . Granted it'll be harder seeing as how it's the third floor. I use extension poles that I picked up second hand on ebay. The vacuum nozzle is simply set at the entrance where the wasps go in. As they try to enter they get sucked up. Leave the vacuum running whilst you make yourself a cup of tea and read the paper. Come back an hour later and see what the remaining traffic is like. Foraging wasps average 3 trips per hour so running the vacuum for an hour should collapse the colony provided that the nozzle is set in the right place and that's the critical bit. Very simple and given the distances involved quite safe even without ppe.

Thank you for this, we looked at some youtube vids on this last night !! it does look a pretty neat and effective approach, but our vacuum cleaner doesn't seem set up for it, and I don't think I'm going to be able to get all the extension tubes together to get high enough. I do wish there were pest control companies setup to use such an approach, I would gladly pay extra to avoid the use of the insecticides. If we ever have something similar at a more accessible location we'd definitely give it a go...

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've no wish to undermine the moderators who have recently closed a thread but I do think there are a couple of salient points that need to be made.

I was late to the party but did post a reply.
Thanks, @Karol for starting a new thread.

 

[Sutty]

It might be worth looking at plastic waste tube (eg B&Q) if you can fit it to your vacuum (duct tape?)

 

[Gilberdyke John]

Thanks for the reply on this - is Ficam W better than Ficam D? e.g. less likely to spread outside the target area? I will get a trained person to do this, but the person who will do it is pretty open to using different products.

I understand the W signifies wettable. When I use it a adjust the sprayer nozzle to a loose jet so it directs the liquid into the hole and catches the edges. No need to splatter it all over.

 

[ericbeaumont]

level headed advice

Advice has come from all corners of the spectrum of opinion, and the level head to formulate a strategy will have to be yours.

Not many of us intend to cause offence, but a robust challenge to a held opinion may sometimes be taken as such; inevitable, occasionally.

If you use pesticide to terminate the nest you should be aware (as Hemo pointed out) that it is essential to seal all entry points to or near the nest to prevent access by other pollinators, which will otherwise rob it and take the chemical back to their nests.

This will not be easy to achieve at the height you suggest, but will avoid transgressing the spirit (if not the wording) of the Wildlife & Countryside Act. Some years ago Rentokil were prosecuted, found guilty and fined in relation to the termination of a honey bee nest; the court found that the operative had not ensured that other pollinators could not access the poisoned nest.

There used to be an online blog which gave the details of the case, but although it used to pop up in a search, I could not locate it today. I find wasps quite harmless, and can feed one from the hand, but their close proximity to humans from mid-summer can be unnerving for those unused to intimacy with nature.

 

[Karol]

Advice has come from all corners of the spectrum of opinion, and the level head to formulate a strategy will have to be yours.

Not many of us intend to cause offence, but a robust challenge to a held opinion may sometimes be taken as such; inevitable, occasionally.

If you use pesticide to terminate the nest you should be aware (as Hemo pointed out) that it is essential to seal all entry points to or near the nest to prevent access by other pollinators, which will otherwise rob it and take the chemical back to their nests.

Definitely true of hives but not something that happens with wasp nests.

This will not be easy to achieve at the height you suggest, but will avoid transgressing the spirit (if not the wording) of the Wildlife & Countryside Act. Some years ago Rentokil were prosecuted, found guilty and fined in relation to the termination of a honey bee nest; the court found that the operative had not ensured that other pollinators could not access the poisoned nest.

There's a more cogent reason why I dislike pesticide treatment of wasp nests and that is the fact that pesticides used during the day will kill the sentries that give access rights to returning foragers so foragers don't then re-enter their nest. If the nest is in the hunting phase it will result in thousands of hunting foragers turning into sweet feeding nuisance wasps instead of hunting wasps which elevates the risk to both people and hives.

There used to be an online blog which gave the details of the case, but although it used to pop up in a search, I could not locate it today. I find wasps quite harmless, and can feed one from the hand, but their close proximity to humans from mid-summer can be unnerving for those unused to intimacy with nature.

I'm afraid that's not a message that I could support. Seen too many patients harmed by wasps for that statement to stand unchallenged. You may have been lucky to date but that's not a basis upon which to dismiss wasps as a hazard.

 

[Garry R]

I was given some advice a long time ago about wasp killing. I generally leave them alone - they are a pain in the proverbial for a relatively short time but if they decide to nest in a place where the public or home owner is at risk then something needs to be done. The advice was to puff ant powder into the entrance (often in an awkward place and narrow. Use plenty of it and a good lot outside. The theory is that the returning foragers get it on themselves - feet etc and carry it into the nest where it needs to be. It keeps the treatment localised and I have found it effective on a number of occasions and it comes with thanks from the home owners. BUT I don't go looking for wasp nests to destroy

 

[ericbeaumont]

dismiss wasps as a hazard

Far from it: the nest must be treated with distinct respect, but foraging wasps are no more harmful than any other stinging forager; just make sure not to sit on one, or drink from a can in August.

One year we had a late summer lunch in a Suffolk pub garden holding a dozen tables; wasps were everywhere, clouds of them looking to nip in and steal from plates. None of the lunchers abandoned ship to eat inside, no-one screamed or moaned or complained, and we all just carried on eating. Everybody had twigged that the wasps were only interested in the lunch; nobody was stung.

That event reminded me to differentiate between what human pre-conviction imagines might happen, and the reality of what does, a principle that serves well in life.

 

[Karol]

Far from it: the nest must be treated with distinct respect, but foraging wasps are no more harmful than any other stinging forager;

Not sure I follow? What kind of other stinging forager do you mean?

just make sure not to sit on one, or drink from a can in August.

One year we had a late summer lunch in a Suffolk pub garden holding a dozen tables; wasps were everywhere, clouds of them looking to nip in and steal from plates. None of the lunchers abandoned ship to eat inside, no-one screamed or moaned or complained, and we all just carried on eating. Everybody had twigged that the wasps were only interested in the lunch; nobody was stung.

That event reminded me to differentiate between what human pre-conviction imagines might happen, and the reality of what does, a principle that serves well in life.

Out of interest, what do you imagine to be the reality?

 

[ericbeaumont]

What kind of other stinging forager?

Honey bee, or bumble bee, or hornet; perhaps even mosquito, and certainly the Blandford fly, which one year turned my working summer into an itching hell.

what do you imagine to be the reality?

In the story above, we had a damned good lunch. When the public prefer to flap about and kill without real reason, that is because its default setting is fear, closely followed by panic and a rolled up magazine.

 

[Karol]

Honey bee, or bumble bee, or hornet; perhaps even mosquito, and certainly the Blandford fly, which one year turned my working summer into an itching hell.

I know three people who have died from wasp stings. One a nineteen year old from my daughter's school and two pest controllers. Honey bees obviously are a hazard but still don't compare with wasps primarily because conditions for serendipity aren't as high and their venom is not as immunologically aggressive.

In the story above, we had a damned good lunch. When the public prefer to flap about and kill without real reason, that is because its default setting is fear, closely followed by panic and a rolled up magazine.

Which makes my point. That is your reality not the common reality. When undertaking research in the early days about the interaction between people and wasps in public spaces I witnessed 29 people being stung in an outdoor amphitheatre at a sealion display at a zoo within a 45 minutes time frame. No one was particularly 'flapping' because everyone was fixated on the show. The background population of wasps was just too high to avoid stings.