Wasp Nest in Garden - DIY job or hire the experts?

Dohvolle · 29-07-2021 9:01am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117675557#Comment_117675557

They do, where they lay eggs.

They don't have hives, like honey bees do.

They are solitary in spring, when they lay eggs which emerge as female workers in early summer, at which point the queen returns to the next to lay unfertilized eggs, which emerge as male drones. By autumn, the remaining eggs, now fertilised emerge as queens, mate with the males, and Hibernate again over winter, in a hole in the ground, or wall.

bmc58 · 29-07-2021 4:34pm

Thank you very much for going to the bother of such a brilliant reply.I thought I knew a little about Bumble bees but obviously it was only a little.I know more now thanks to your reply.Thanks again for going to the trouble.👍️

Dohvolle · 29-07-2021 9:34pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117679266#Comment_117679266

No problem. Bees are our friends in the garden, we should appreciate them. And not just the honeybee. Even the wasp has it's place, as they like to feed on greenfly larvae.

We have Cotoneaster as a hedge. Its awful to look at, but the bees adore it, when it flowers so I'm stuck with it. Its like bee cocaine when its out. I have often had bumbles land on me and walk on my face while watching them feeding in late spring. Shortly they'll be back to fill up on the ivy when it flowers.

We have a nest of mason bees in the wall opposite the house too. They like to cut little holes in the azalea leaves when they are building their nest.

Effects · 30-07-2021 12:22pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117675557#Comment_117675557

That's not the case actually. And people come across Bumblebee nests all the time in Ireland, mistaking them for wasps or honeybees.

Effects · 30-07-2021 1:22pm

Just realised Dohville posted a great reply above.

machaseh · 30-07-2021 1:32pm

Drive to northern Ireland
Get some nice fireworks and bind them together
Light them at the entrance then run away before it goes boom

(take this with a grain of salt)

Garlinge · 30-07-2021 1:44pm

Over the years I have dealt with wasps nests in single story roof spaces of house. I used that powder ( malathion?) and made a little landing strip from cardboard/tinfoil that was pinned just at the small entry point so they got a dose of powder that was carried inside to the nest. A good time to locate the nest is when there is rain just started and they head home. Only one did we need to get in the experts when hundreds of wasps were getting into a bedroom. We never could see how they entered the room.... just 10 or so every time we looked in. But there was a tiny hole high up in the outer plaster. The chap came and was 10 minutes max and did not even use a ladder ... just a very long pole that injected the powder.

30-07-2021 3:39pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117676071#Comment_117676071

Scorched earth policy seems to be the way to go, Pouring petrol on it and setting it alight seems the best way to achieve this.

Edit, Advice not given in earnest, take with a pinch of salt, come to think of it, could use that to salt the earth.

bmc58 · 30-07-2021 4:50pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117680393#Comment_117680393

I have a bee friendly garden myself.I have a small "wild area" in the back with wild flowers planted for bees and other insects.And have some herbs growing in the front garden.Thyme,Rosemary,Parsley and Origano.The Bumblee bees and the honeybees,hover flies go nuts for the Origano when it flowers(It's in flower at the moment,lasts for about four weeks).Great to see them at it.