Gransnet forums

House and home

Wasp nests anyone ever had one in garden?

(18 Posts)
Oopsadaisy1 Fri 21-Jan-22 18:26:32

We had an old one , kids took it to school for show and tell.

Our Council have stopped doing free wasp nest removal, we had to get a local person in a year or so ago to sort an active one, it cost us about £70.00.

rubysong Fri 21-Jan-22 17:41:10

OK if you know where they are, it is the ones you find by accident when gardening or in the countryside that may be a problem to some people. My sister is highly allergic and someone in her village died by disturbing a wasp nest whilst clearing some ground.

BlueBelle Fri 21-Jan-22 16:20:20

You don’t need to remove it they do not use the same nest twice and they were all gone by last November
Leave it be they are absolutely beautiful when you see one closely

MaizieD Fri 21-Jan-22 16:02:39

What MOnica said.

Unless they are in a place where they are going to make you really uncomfortable, or potentially sting a child, I'd just leave them alone. They'll get on with their lives without bothering you.

If they are in a position that makes you feel vulnerable your local pest control officer may be able to move the nest to a better location (after tranquillising its inhabitants) That's what one offered to do for me when I had a big nest in a frequently used outbuilding close to our back door. Unfortunately I'd already promised the amazingly beautiful nest to the school I worked at...

Oh, just reread the OP. No, the neighbour shouldn't get pest control in, the wasps, if they build there again, won't do any harm high up in a tree.

DiscoDancer1975 Fri 21-Jan-22 16:02:30

It’ll be an old nest. They don’t return to them. You shouldn’t need to worry.

Skydancer Fri 21-Jan-22 16:00:03

Don't get rid of them. They are part of our ecosystem. The grubs of wasps are food for Honey Buzzards. They are fascinating to watch and if you leave them alone they won't bother you. We watched in amazement when wasps made a nest in our garden. They went in and out all day long. At the end of the summer they were gone and the nest had been eaten by woodlice. They don't return to the same place so are little problem.

Baggs Fri 21-Jan-22 15:50:30

If it's high up in a tree it shouldn't cause much of a problem to people.

Most years we have a wasp nest in the garden. Last year's was in a hollow at the bottom of a shrub. An ideal place. Another year it was in a retaining wall two or three metres away from our back door (which is the one we use for pretty much everything). Neither presented any problem.

Most years I have to discourage queen wasps from building nests on our shed. This involves my standing on a stool and scraping their early attempts off the shed ceiling into a jar and disposing of it. Some years I have to do this several times.

AGAA4 Fri 21-Jan-22 15:46:20

We have a wasps' nest every year as although they don't return to the same nest they will build one nearby. We only have them removed if they start to come into people's homes and can be a danger to those who are allergic to the sting.

M0nica Fri 21-Jan-22 15:40:57

We have had three or four in our loft and in a flat roof. Unless they are causing problems I just leave them.

They are an essential part of our ecosystem and numbers have been dropping in recent years

A recent report said Wasps deserve to be just as highly valued as other insects, like bees, due to their roles as predators, pollinators, and more, www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2021/apr/wasps-are-valuable-ecosystems-economy-and-human-health-just-bees

Fridayschild Fri 21-Jan-22 14:44:37

Ladyleftfieldlover

We found an enormous - disused - wasp nest in our loft years ago. The children took it into school for show and tell. It was beautiful.

Our last house had huge eaves in which we found a disused one too. It filled the area between the joists. Yes as you say it was beautiful. There were two or three other small ones further along. Thank goodness they weren’t live!

Kim19 Fri 21-Jan-22 14:35:30

We had one similar in the garden years ago. My husband took one of the children's fishing nets, knocked it off into it and safely disposed of it. I stayed indoors watching!

Kali2 Fri 21-Jan-22 14:31:16

Last year's nest- no problem. They never return to same nest. They are so so beautifully made.

Yammy Fri 21-Jan-22 14:29:13

If it's low enough she should be able to knock it out herself it should as others have said be empty. If it is really low we were told to put on rubber gloves encase it in a large plastic or paper bag and pull it away.
Some household insurance covers them but not sure about the garden.

Casdon Fri 21-Jan-22 14:24:48

*Peasblossom is right, wasps won’t rebuild in the same nest next summer, and the one you can see will be from last summer, and empty now. The time to watch out for new nests being formed is late May and early June, if you see one in the very early stages you can get rid of it yourself - I had a new one in my shed, so I knocked it out with a stick, and blocked up the gap the wasps were using. If it’s bigger, you need to get in pest control - most councils can no longer afford to provide the service unfortunately, so you have to pay.

Ilovecheese Fri 21-Jan-22 14:20:39

Ask the local council. They removed one for us.

Peasblossom Fri 21-Jan-22 14:20:08

It will be a last years nest and empty.

Wasps die in the Autumn. Only the Queen survives by hibernating and then builds a new nest in the Spring.

You don’t need to do anything except watch for the new nest in March or April.

Ladyleftfieldlover Fri 21-Jan-22 14:18:00

We found an enormous - disused - wasp nest in our loft years ago. The children took it into school for show and tell. It was beautiful.

Audi10 Fri 21-Jan-22 14:12:27

Just discovered my neighbour has one high up in a tree in her garden, only noticed it when watching a cat climb up in tree, I didn’t even know what it was, Should she get pest control in, I’m afraid I know zilch about these things, wouldn’t want anyone to get stung