wasps!?

AndrewSchofield · 22 Jul 2012

Some of you may recall I posted on here earlier this year asking for advice about an allotment we had just taken on. Well, it pretty much rained ever since, so with this better weather, we've finally started to tackle it!! Its turned into a jungle since then, so armed with a petrol strimmer, I've set about it today. Got about half way across the allotment and came across an old rusty oil drum on its side, strimmed around it and carried on. Five mins later the missus is shouting me to tell me there's a load of wasps flying around me, maybe 50 of them!!! End of job for the day, but it appears there's a nest inside the oil drum.

So, anyone any advice on what we should do??

xr4x4 · 22 Jul 2012

Petrol bomb it...!

Or wait until dark, they are less active then and unleash a whole can of wasp killer on it.

HERTS P&D · 22 Jul 2012

As above, wait until dark and give them a coat of this:

http://www.diy.com/nav/garden/garde.../B-and-Q-Wasp-Nest-Killer-Powder-300g-9436450

Then run like ****.

Andy

AndrewSchofield · 23 Jul 2012

Thanks guys, so when you say dark.... This is not in our garden but on our allotment and there's no light down there, so gonna be somewhat hazardous doing it after dark!! I'm amazed I didn't get stung yesterday, and how calm I was when the missus shouted - i just calmly turned around and walked off, they followed me for a bit and then just left me. Not relishing going back to tackle them though!!

Off to B&Q tonight to get some of the nest killer!!

wotan · 23 Jul 2012

Everything on this planet is here for a purpose, rather than kill them, could you not encourage them to find somewhere else to live, just smoke them out, then once gone, remove oil drum.

Wotan

xr4x4 · 23 Jul 2012

wotan said:
Everything on this planet is here for a purpose, rather than kill them, could you not encourage them to find somewhere else to live, just smoke them out, then once gone, remove oil drum.

Wotan

good idea..

AndrewSchofield · 23 Jul 2012

wotan said:
Everything on this planet is here for a purpose, rather than kill them, could you not encourage them to find somewhere else to live, just smoke them out, then once gone, remove oil drum.

Wotan

Wotan, i'm all ears for alternatives! The point i'm at now is that a choice between the wasps living there and my children being in the allotment without risk of being stung, the wasps i'm afraid lose. And just to play devil's advocate - what purpose do wasps have? I'm not being rude - I genuinely don't know! Do they have a natural predator? And therefore form part of the food chain?

They are also on a loser because I was stung twice by wasps as a child, I can still remember both occasions vividly and on both occasions it happened miles from home and completely ruined my day

.

All that said, if I can get them out of our allotment, I've no particular desire to kill them, they just can't stay where they are!! So how would I smoke them out, make sure they're all out, make sure they don't go for me while i'm doing it and that they stay away long enough for me to remove the oil drum??

xr4x4 · 23 Jul 2012

They help control the insects and pests that harm our crops.

That's why they become a pain in late summer, when the crops are harvested....they have nothing to do.

imamartian · 24 Jul 2012

Everything is here as a consequence, not "for a reason"... burn them !!

Otherwise, you wouldn't use bleach to clean your house, or wash you hands after you'd wiped your arris !!!

imagine if tigers were indigenous to this area, would you let them roam you're allotment whilst your kids dug up potatoes? no.

Phone the council and get the wasps deaded!!

wotan · 24 Jul 2012

if you lived in an area that had idiginous tigers, surly you would learn to respect them and try to co-exist, just killing things for killing sake, is no reason enough, though your view comes as no surprise.

wotan · 24 Jul 2012

AndrewSchofield said:
wotan said:

Everything on this planet is here for a purpose, rather than kill them, could you not encourage them to find somewhere else to live, just smoke them out, then once gone, remove oil drum.

Wotan

Click to expand...

Wotan, i'm all ears for alternatives! The point i'm at now is that a choice between the wasps living there and my children being in the allotment without risk of being stung, the wasps i'm afraid lose. And just to play devil's advocate - what purpose do wasps have? I'm not being rude - I genuinely don't know! Do they have a natural predator? And therefore form part of the food chain?

They are also on a loser because I was stung twice by wasps as a child, I can still remember both occasions vividly and on both occasions it happened miles from home and completely ruined my day .

All that said, if I can get them out of our allotment, I've no particular desire to kill them, they just can't stay where they are!! So how would I smoke them out, make sure they're all out, make sure they don't go for me while i'm doing it and that they stay away long enough for me to remove the oil drum??

To smoke them out, burn cotton rags or as some bee keepers use, empty sugar bags.

Wotan

ABCwarrior · 24 Jul 2012

Nuke em....barstewards that they are. Our house has larch cladding and I've had to go around the eaves sealing up the gaps where the rafters protrude with silicone cos for the last 3 years they've come back. Was out on the porch a few weeks ago and one was hanging about despite me blowing smoke at it, it then made it's way in behind the cladding on an internal corner right above the front door....half a can of RAID later out came the wasp and another pal, both half dead. Damn sure they were scouting for a suitable nest area for their Queen or something...

imamartian · 24 Jul 2012

wotan said:
if you lived in an area that had idiginous tigers, surly you would learn to respect them and try to co-exist, just killing things for killing sake, is no reason enough, though your view comes as no surprise.

Yeah tigers, cause they're at risk... but wasps !!! i would love them to be at risk of extinction !!! no reason for them to exist !!!

xr4x4 · 25 Jul 2012

xr4x4 said:
They help control the insects and pests that harm our crops.

That's why they become a pain in late summer, when the crops are harvested....they have nothing to do.

Ermm?

b3taman · 25 Jul 2012

Errr... if they're in an oil drum, is there some way you could block up the plughole to contain them inside, and then just roll the drum with the nest still inside out of the way - or is the oil drum full of holes?
If its tricky, I'd get the Council pest control to deal with it.

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wasps!?

imamartian

imamartian

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