European Wasps!

[erick]

These fellas have taken up residence somewhere in my home! Hopefully it is just in the ground beside the side wall. Standard brick veneer house with cemented driveway against the bricks. Small entrance hole between cement and bricks has heavy traffic - at least one wasp coming and going per second! Nest could be underground, under the slab, but maybe also under the house somewhere. I don't think they will be up in a wall cavity and then exiting so low?

We'll call in the wasp killers, but any experience out there?

My daughter wants to leave them alone and observe their interesting behaviour. I've reminded her they are killing off out honey bees!

[taminga16]

Erick,

Contact your local Government authority , a lot of these bodies have a protocol for wasp infestations.

Regards,

Greg.

[erick]

Our local council states:-

What to do about Wasps and Bees on Private Property?
Council does not treat wasp nests or bee hives on private property.

If you have found a wasp nest on your property it is recommended that you contact a licensed pest controller from the Yellow Pages to treat the nest. If you are confident enough to treat the nest yourself there are a number of products available through hardware stores or supermarkets. You are always advised to carefully read and follow any product instructions. DO NOT treat a wasp nest yourself if you are allergic to wasp or bee stings. For detailed instructions on how to treat wasp nests an information brochure titled ‘Living with European Wasps’ is available from Knox Council’s Health Services on 9298 8000 or from the Department of Primary Industries on 136 186."


There it is. We'll leave it to the professionsals - well someone with a sign on the side of their truck, anyway!

[ving]

make sure they arent a native species b4 you go all ape**** on thier little backsides.

[erick]

They look like their mugshot!

[GeoffW1]

If European wasps, they will be nesting in some place they regard as underground, a cavity or crevice. It would be quite risky to leave them there.

We had them in the front garden, and after much research and contact with the local Council I found:

- anywhere near their landing flight path is a dangerous place to stand

- if one attacks you then others will be close behind

- they cannot see in red light

- Baygon or similar is good to use as they groom each other and transfer it inside the nest

So I waited until full dark, no moon, and put several layers of red cellophane over a torch. I put on a boiler suit, gloves, and insect mesh over my head, and securely taped all the cuffs and neck with duct tape.

I took Baygon powder, and went slowly to the nest entrance where I could see a few sentries moving around. They knew something was going on, but could not see what in the red light. I dusted around the nest entrance and the "runway apron" with a good layer of Baygon and retired.

Just the one application took care of them as by the end of the next day they were gone. I am not allergic to stings BTW.

Cheers

[AndrewJ]

Same here.
I had them under the slab of my shed.
I got Hortico Ant&Roach dust ( which also does European wasps )
Waited for a cold night, got out the red flashlight and dusted the entrance
Did that for the next two nights and they were gone.

Andrew

[Jen]

:scared::scared: ewwwwwww
hey try doing it the way these guys got rid of them hahaha much cheaper than calling in the exterminators :lol::lol::lol: no bloody way :scared::scared:
:scared3:
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=p-aSLqTlKvc&feature=related
http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=yhW3tk17Y_M&feature=related

[acropolite]

Ditto what the others have said about Baygon. Simply leave them a decent meal at the entrance of the nest, they'll be gone in a short time. I didn't wory about skulking around at night with a red torch, just rocked up with a small piece of tin bent to use as a tray at the entrance to their nest and sprinkled 1/4 inch of baygon on the tray. I have had the pleasure of sharing a jumper with one of these critters, the bites hurt, the worst thing being that they repetatively sting.

[Ian Robinson]

What about the ones pupating in the nest .... you'll likely have them coming out and picking up where the others left off in a few days.

We tend to get mud wasps (the big ones) and paper wasps here .... those paper wasps are nasty if you approach the nest too closely .... but a blast of Baygon Exterior Surface Spray from about a metre away sorts them.

[GeoffW1]

Who was skulking? I had an audience of hundreds, and played Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries on the stereo.:D

[Bassnut]

Nah, Ive uses a wasp spray (specifically made for the job, at any hardware store) , which unloads a veritable deluge of deadly liquid at the entry/exit points, several times over the years. NZ has had this problem for decades, what gets them angry, is pokeing the naked nest with a stick (done that as a kid in NZ, very painfull). Once the cracks in the bricks are drenced, they give up after a while and move on.

[styleman333]

Ok well im the licensed pest controllerand the guys are right , cheapest and easiest way is to use the dust . A chemical formulation wont get into the nest so therefore its difficult to use . The roach and ant dust u can buy at bunnings etc should contain permethrin D , erick . So make sure what u use has that , ditto for doing it at dark too , unless u are one for extreme sports lol. If u cant do it then get the pest controller out , wasps are quite cheap , i usually charge bout a hundred bucks cos it only takes a few minutes . But if u are doin it yourself , Permethrin D ! and would be good if u can buy it in a puffer bottle .
Good Luck

[OneOfOne]

About 15 years ago I was up on the roof with my brother in law installing a roof exhaust fan when we were bugged by wasps hanging around and ducking under the tiles. I had noticed that someone in the area must have a nest somewhere because they kept annoying us in the backyard and on the patio. I thought to myself, why don't these people do something about the nest, surely they must know.

Well, we got the Flick man in and he climbed up on the roof. His words were "that has to be one of the largest wasp nests I have seen!" :sadeyes: So the person who "should do something" was me :( In the end he took out 4 or 5, 20 litre buckets of nest and dead bodies :D

[TrevorW]

Was there 200 of them ???

:rofl:

[Ian Robinson]

Would have been real bad news if the ceiling sheeting had failed and the nest had fallen into the house on top of someone. Would have been some real weight in that nest.

[BerrieK]

We had a nest of the nasty little buggers alongside our driveway where the kids walk to the school bus. After many brave sorties by hubby and I with wasp bombs, powder, other insecticides, we came across a solution that worked!

There is an ingredient in tomato dusting powder that knocks them dead. They take the powder back to the nest and it seems very effective. We like a challenge and did it in daylight (how stupoid are we!!) and put a nice dusting at the entrance and voila! Dead nasties.:thumbsup:

[mrsnipey]

Just throw a cup of metho on them. Kills them instantly.
No need to light it either. It will evaporate in a minute or
so and there's no poison around for the kiddies (or animals)
to get into.

[ving]

man i want to take a pic of one :(

[erick]

Yep, they look beautiful, but you might be too late for the ones in this nest. My children were calling in the Ex-Terminator a day or two ago.


Hmmm? haven't heard from them since? Maybe the wasps won?

[erick]

Now, if you'd come to Snake Valley camp, I had one for you. I was heading for bed around 4:30 and just as the light was about to go off, I heard a loud buzzing. Blast, says I, a blowie in the room at this time! Well, I then saw it flying around the room - that's no blowie!

Finally swatted it out of the door, slammed the door, light off and went to sleep. A few hours later I wake up and look down at the floor and it had marched in under the door looking for revenge. At that stage it was time for the size 12 snow boot. RIP that wasp!

[erick]

OK, last word.

The Exterminator solved the problem for $198. No more wasps. Seems the nest was under the concrete driveway. Killed or chased them away and removed various "stuff" all from the small crevice between cement and bricks. I'll have a look on Saturday.

[Jen]

$198 :eyepop::eyepop:

[Glenhuon]

A little tip i got a few years ago on how to tell the native wasps from the imports was to watch them flying. Natives have their legs dangling down, imports tuck them up to the body.

Bill

[Bassnut]

Jen, exactly, :P.

A bit of ballsy experimentation is part of the rich fabric of life. Purchase some over-priced commercial products and go for it, always the 1st choice. If you fail, then submit, the learning experience is always worth the effort, regardless of the risk. Hell, the more the risk, the funner it is :thumbsup:

[erick]

$198 :eyepop:, I also agree. Would have done it myself, if I still lived there. I had plenty of promising suggestions from all of you. I did show the children and they just said - "We've called the Exterminator". I guess if cleaning the bathroom is too much trouble, removing wasps is way over the top.

Mind you, I've promised myself I'm never going to crawl under a house or into a roof space again. I've done enough of that in my life!

[Jen]

:lol::lol: yep funny alright i would have least given it a go and tried to do what those guys did on the utube video that i posted :lol::lol::lol: but then i would have ran for my life down the street :rofl::rofl:
:whistle:

[Glenhuon]

When I was a kid I put my foot into one of those nests when walking over a paddock. Got stung about a dozen times on the ankle. Bloody things were down my sock too. Lucky I'm not allergic, but hurt like hell for a few hours.

Bill