Wasps in the loft

[NBee]

Hi guys. Not really sure where to post this, or if I'll get a reponse, but let's see!

We had a wasps nest during the summer in our eaves. I foolishly didn't do anything about it as it wasn't really affecting us, but decided to let it die out naturally. Since the cold weather set in, I've been popping up to the loft every few days, but once the lights go on, a few wasps have been appearing, so I just shut the hatch and wait. Finally on Satuday I went up in the loft, not seeing any around, and what do you know, I got stung!

I ended up having a serious allergic reaction, swelling to mouth and tongue, paramedic called, adrenaline shot and all that, the afternoon in A&E. Fun.

So, I need to find a way of ensuring the wasps are well and truly dead, including any hibernating queens. I want to go in my loft again! What's the best course of action? Is there any DIY kit for this, or if not, who should I call? Any experience of this? Cheers.

 

[Bosswhite]

Rentokil

 

[motorbiking]

It costs me £20 to get a guy out who promised to be on site within the hour. He went up there, injected the nest, 2 days later all dead, chucked nest in a bin. Chap even gave a warranty that he'd come back and redo it, if they weren't dead within 2 days

Letting them die out naturally is a mistake, they are eating your roof.

 

[crystal ball]

I bought a spray foam on eBay, but our nest was easy to get at, dropped it into a bin full of water after spraying, must admit I did not like doing it, but they were causing havoc for our visiting youngsters in the garden

 

[Curlewhouse]

I've made a "fly grenade before" that should work on wasps too ! I've lived in 2 houses now where flies also hibernated in the loft somehow (presumably come in from outside rather than via the house as there were literally thousands of them!) 1st time I was in the loft in winter and noticed several flies buzzing around. Took up a tin of fly spray and squirted it generously - mistake! In seconds flies were dropping in my hair and there were hundreds of them. Couldn't get out of the loft fast enough and they were dropping through the hatch as fast as I was closing it yuk! So next time I got a tin of fly spray, popped the hatch, strong rubber band around the tin (test it first), and lobbed it into the loft and closed the hatch! opened it a week later and no flies!

 

[bolo 2]

It costs me £20 to get a guy out who promised to be on site within the hour. He went up there, injected the nest, 2 days later all dead, chucked nest in a bin. Chap even gave a warranty that he'd come back and redo it, if they weren't dead within 2 days

Letting them die out naturally is a mistake, they are eating your roof.

Council guy did exactly the same for me 30 years ago! All dead the next day so gifted the 2' wide bike to the local schools biology department. There it was sliced in two and one half displayed in a glass case, dead wasps and all.
Not sure if councils provide the service nowadays.

 

[Ihavenojob]

Not sure if councils provide any service nowadays.

 

[DaveHerns]

Doing my loft insulation 2 weeks ago and with lights shining where they'd never shone before, my stepson saw a wasps' nest asked me for a stick and knocked it off into a carrier bag. Braver than me.

 

[conny]

Get someone in to deal with it. If you have a reaction to the sting it could be far worse next time.
They don't all die off during the winter, some hibernate and some larvae can lay dormant but these may contain emerging Queens for the following year.
We didn't have a nest but last year, (2015), they were getting in through the ventilation slits under the eaves. We stapled some fine cloth mesh along the entire length of the eaves and gave the whole loft a good spray with wasp killer, (wearing a boiler suit, goggles, respirator, gloves etc). Blocked up any small, none ventilation holes/gaps and also gaffa taped over the open ends of the rungs of the loft ladder after finding a few hibernating in there. They were removed with the help of a vacuum cleaner first and destroyed. As stated earlier, they will feed off the timbers in your loft so you really need to clear the loft out and vacuum along all surfaces of the timbers before treating.

 

[foxhole]

I used a can of spray , coats the nest completely and soaks thru killing them .

Can be used from about 6-7 feet away as it sprays a jet of foam that distance. Kept a can of fly killer handy to pick off any stranglers.

 

[Newboy]

If you suffered such an extreme reaction you shouldn't be near a wasp! Might be worth checking with your GP if you should be carrying an 'EpiPen'

 

[mattylad]

I had similar in the chimney, I bought a container of ant powder for £1.29, put it in the holes they use to get to their nest.
I could hear them falling on the fire below, ping, ping, ping...

Killed them all off, then I went and removed the nest.

AFAIK It's the same potent stuff that rentokill etc. use.
Certainly works well, the spray mentioned above (that I also got) has remained under the sink ready for the next need.

They are more docile in the evenings.

 

[DaveHerns]

Ant powder for wasps? But you'd have to get pretty near the nest to use it though.

 

[JohnD]

like fox, I used the spray can. It doesn't come out in a spray or a foam, but in a jet, so you can aim it at the nest from several yards, and coat it. I believe the chemical soaks in and releases the poison so best done at night when they are all inside.

A science teacher may appreciate the dead nest as a teaching aid. if you want you can cross-section it with a breadknife.

 

[big-all]

It costs me £20 to get a guy out who promised to be on site within the hour. He went up there, injected the nest, 2 days later all dead, chucked nest in a bin. Chap even gave a warranty that he'd come back and redo it, if they weren't dead within 2 days

Letting them die out naturally is a mistake, they are eating your roof.

could be wrong
but from watching wasps in the summer in my garden where i spend most summer days they only remove loose or decayed timber i have noticed several fence panels and next doors shed have several areas where they have removed the furry top layer off perhaps 0.5mm or less with no intrusion into the actual structure
indeed i leave slightly softened timber out for them to chew on to help them along
funny enough i was sitting there as i do and a wasp decided my rather dry craggy lips where timber and it decided to try and harvest the skin and god it hurt you wouldnt think such a small insect could give such pain