We live in a slightly rambling edwardian house, which has been extended at various times over the years and somewhere, we have a wasps nest! My son is in an attic bedroom, and over the summer, we often find dead or dying wasps in his room. It doesn’t bother him and he’s only been stung once, but it seems to be getting worse now and I have been stung 3 times in the last couple of months, once while I was asleep in bed, last week several times in the toe as one was in my shoe, and today on the sole of my foot as one was crawling around the bathroom floor!

I can’t find a nest anywhere as there is no concentration of them anywhere, we just seem to get random ones in different parts of the house at different times.

I tried setting off some fumigation smoke bombs in the attic but that didn’t work.

Anybody have any ideas on what to try? I’m happy to get a professional in, but given that I know the house better than they ever would and can’t find a nest, I’m unsure what they could do apart from charge me to guess at where the might be?!

… fire … on reflection may not be the best thing for you as you don’t know where to apply the fire!

I hate wasps.

Finding the source is usually the best approach, if you hang around outdoors I assume you can’t see them coming and going?

I’d be interested to hear what attracts them. As our neighbour* has a new (winter) nest in his soffit, yet I’m coming down to the kitchen and finding them inside and outside. The ones outside are attacking the windows and outside light (now being turned off overnight) & we have no idea how or why they are coming in.
This maybe less of a problem now the weather is turning colder, as we’ve had two morning in a row without any sign of them

* I pointed it out to him, and he said “another?”, apparently they’ve had 3 other nests so far this year… but he hasn’t rushed to do anything about this one

142. Clash in the Attic

(Re-post, but still makes me chuckle.)

You do need to keep watching for where they are coming and going from.

found mine in a nest hole in the ground … 60 ish feet away from the house. nest was about the size of football so called in the experts !!

I like the idea of napalm, but unsure the house is fireproof enough!! I suspect that they’re dying off for the season now and all being well, we’ll be doing a big extension and refurb next year, so I might just bide my time and let the builders find them…

Open to any sensible suggestions though if anyone has found any miracle cures…

You do need to keep watching for where they are coming and going from.

yup. I had some in the roof. Called the council, less than £50 and all gone (did take a day or so to finish them all off). You just need to able able to point the council guy to where the nest is.

£50?

gaffer tape a few lengths of 2×4* together, however long you need to reach the eaves/soffit/whatever

gaffer tape length of garden hose to 2x4s

load up end of garden hose with wasp killer powder

aim loaded end carefully at nest entrance

blow… hard.

rinse and repeat a few days later if necessary

wasp killer powder, about £5 from b&q

done 3 nests this year like that, they get a bit angry but stick close to the nest entrance, so if you’re the length of a very long stick away from them, its no drama

* or whatever you have handy

https://generallucifer.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/142-clash-in-the-attic/

(Re-post, but still makes me chuckle.)

Thanks for sharing this. I’ve done no work since opening the link. Brilliant (until tomorrow when I’m rushing all outstanding work).

This time of year I wouldn’t bother. I had an underground nest at the back of the garden all summer. I just ignored it and there is no activity now. In my experience wasp don’t return to the same nest and that active nest that’s the size of a small football now will be empty and the size of golfball in no time.

Wasps are actually a very important part of our ecosystem, and we’re surprisingly dependent on them. They are pollinators, and eat insects and larvae which attack food crops; without wasps, we’d have a significant amount less food. Wasps are also an essential part of wine production. And have all sorts of other positive benefits to us.

So, leave wasps alone is the best advice.

As xico and clodhopper said. By now you can just leave them alone and they shouldn’t come back. Had a nest under eaves got last 3 months. Just left them and its all quiet now

https://generallucifer.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/142-clash-in-the-attic/
(Re-post, but still makes me chuckle.)

I was under the impression that I’d read the Internet, but that blog had passed me by. Brilliant, thanks for that.

You need a badger. They’ll sort it out in no time.