Being prepared for next year

Do you know I don’t think I’ve seen a wasp this year

Well, I hung two waspinators near to the back wall of my house. There is a lot of mortar missing from the main hole that the wasps were coming and going from but, thus far I haven’t seen any wasps. My neighbour had someone out last week to fill in areas where wasps had been getting into his house. I’m hoping that the waspinators have worked. Or, does the bad weather mean that the wasps aren’t active yet anyway?

We used to have a waspinator that we used down in the south of France each August. It did seem to keep them away from our pitch.

ExDancer

Waspinators don't kill them. That was the whole point of buying one/some - to discourage them from nesting near the house!

Precisely. I can’t open my windows because my dog is probably allergic to their sting: my last dog had to be rushed to the vets. They’re also damaging the mortar on my house. I try not to kill anything if possible but I can’t have this.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41042948

What use are wasps? See link

Waspinators don't kill them. That was the whole point of buying one/some - to discourage them from nesting near the house!

Summerfly

Unfortunately wasps are pollinators and boy do we need them! Please try any other method, but don’t kill them.

100% agree. Wasps get bad press.

Unfortunately wasps are pollinators and boy do we need them! Please try any other method, but don’t kill them.

Bee and wasp stings can be fatal for some people. That’s terrifying.

I’m not sure what the best method of eradicating them is but here’s what I learned from a friend… she was digging in her garden one beautiful sunny day and she hit a nest underground. They came at her with a vengeance and was stung 70 times‼️
Ended up in Emergency, she thought she was going to die.

I only thought wasp/hornets nests were in trees or behind shutters or under eaves. They may be underground in your garden. Best to have them professionally removed.

She now carries an Epi-pen in her purse during warm weather.
USA Gundy

For my birthday last week a friend bought me some tulip bulbs and a lovely plant with orange berries. Have planted those today.

I bought 15 cyclamen plants for my window boxes and I went out to do those today but my marigolds and petunias are still flowering and I can’t bear to pull them out. The blue lobelia has finished though so they came out. Have to wait another week I guess.

Yes, we take one on holiday to Greece and hang it under our parasol at the accommodation (near the outside dining table) and have noticed the difference in the amount of wasps nearby.

The first time I had one I made it myself from bin bags pulled into shape .
Definately keeps most of them away. I pnly see the odd one or two.

I maybe wrong but Im sure i read they only use their nests once. We had an enormous nest in the loft the year we moved in but the builders dealt with it. This year i did find a few wasps in the front bedroom crawling on the carpet and up the curtains - i just shut the small window. I am impressed with their nests just as long as it is somewhere far from the house.

What is annoying is that they’ve been using the wood from my garden fence to build it.

I have 2 where wasps had had nests in the past and they have definitely worked

MayBee70, I have the same problem on a south facing wall, can't sit outside without swiping away wasps, can watch them going into the tiny holes in the between the bricks. Never heard of waspinators before but my order will be going in asap.

I’ve never heard of those. I’m not sure they’d help with our problem of ground wasps. Our entire front garden, lawn and borders are full of hundreds of individual wasps’ nests. They are everywhere. Called our local council (who dealt with a large nest previously) but they no longer offer that service.

I’ve used waspinators successfully to persuade the wasps to move further away from the house. There are plenty of trees around.

Found a thriving wasp nest in a dilapidated allotment shed. Was told to get in touch with the council, who would remove it free of charge. And they did.

Thankfully they aren’t getting into the house but it means I can’t open any windows. My last dog had to be rushed to the vets after being stung by a wasp and I would assume my current dog would be the same. Whippets have very little body fat and do tend to over react to things. They can get in through the tiniest spaces though. When I was working I kept finding wasps everywhere. They were coming in from the loft via a tine hole where the burglar alarm sensor wire went through the ceiling.

I hate wasps. I was stung on the lip by one as a child and my face swelled up. I had to be taken to A&E and it seems Im allergic to wasp stings.

MayBee70

I’ve got holes all over my back wall. In fact when I was looking at it a few months ago something else started exploring another hole in the masonry: I think it was a large bee. They’re getting in around the windows, too. Our local handyman is going to fill the holes in but it wouldn’t surprise me if they find another way in.

I do sympathise if they are getting into your house through your back wall though.

I feel sorry for the wasps and bees and all animals displaced by humans. My garden is bee and butterfly friendly. And birds, and wasps and so on. Somehow it’s not a problem even though I’ve been stung twice this year.

I’ve got holes all over my back wall. In fact when I was looking at it a few months ago something else started exploring another hole in the masonry: I think it was a large bee. They’re getting in around the windows, too. Our local handyman is going to fill the holes in but it wouldn’t surprise me if they find another way in.

MayBee70, it's too late for this year - and they should die out soon in the cold weather. They won't use the same nest next year - but could find another place in your wall. There are fine mesh airbrick covers - and you can have any entrance holes blocked once they have gone.

At the college (where I worked) a caretaker decided to cement over the entrance to a nest - in mid summer. The result was an entire outside wall and windows covered with thousands of returning wasps - unable to go home - and we evacuated for the afternoon, calling in the experts!