Questions and Answers about wasp nests


Welcome to the questions and answers page about wasps and wasp nests. We invite you to ask any questions or queries that you may have about wasp nests or hornet nests and we will try our best to answer them in a timely fashion. Please note: we have thought of as many swear words as we can and have added them to a filter (it was fun creating the list), any words contained within this filter will be displayed as "boop". We have also disabled html tags, so no naughty images or any other nasties can be displayed.


Peter Lewis asked: ask a question about wasps


I've had a nest in the soffit and it is now presumably inhabited by a hibernating queen. Should I bung up the entrance now or wait until April when the queen will have moved out?
This question was asked on 2010-01-12

Paul Sweet replied: Hi Peter, the will be no queen hibernating in the nest, they usually find somewhere like a shed or loft to hibernate in. Once the nest has died off at the end of the autumn the new queens leave the nest. So you may as well block up the entrance now or before the coming spring to prevent another nest being built within the soffit area. The nest that is already there will not be used again, but there is a chance that if there is enough space to fit another nest alongside the old one, then a new queen might make the most of this opportunity. Hope this helps. Regards Paul Sweet.
This reply was made on 2010-01-12

Laurence Hall asked: ask a question about wasps


I have a large Hornet's nest (2.5ft x 1.5ft) inside the ridge of my roof space, too high up to reach. Large quantities of Hornets died off during October and November, the last living ones seen at the end of Nov. There is no activity I can see now. The house is in France and we have recently suffered temperatures of -10. Is this nest dead, and should we try to remove it before Spring? What action can we take to prevent a new nest being built next to or near this one? Thanks in advance!
This question was asked on 2010-01-12

Paul Sweet replied: Hi Laurence, what you have witnessed is normal, the hornets die off through the autumn and the new queens leave the nest to hibernate, once this has happened then that is the end of that nest. Most nests die off by late November/early December, only a really large nest will survive until the end of December. Your nest will be dead now and you have a choice of leaving it where it is (they won’t use it again and over a year or two it will degrade and fall off on its own) or if it is bothering you then you can knock it down now without worrying about getting attacked. The only advice I can give to prevent further nests being built in your loft is: try and block up all entrances where they can get in. A monumental task granted, but it is the only way that you can stop this from happening again. Don’t forget that a wasp or hornet can squeeze through the smallest of gaps. Hope this helps. Regards Paul Sweet.
This reply was made on 2010-01-12

David White asked: ask a question about wasps


I have found a nest in an area of my loft,the nest is not easy to get to. I can see the nest in between a fake ceiling. there are a few dead wasps above the nest area. the reason I went in to the loft to look about is because at night I sometimes hear humming sounds,directly above. is it possible at this time of year they can make a noise? what can I do to find out if its active, one way or another? and if so get rid of the nest.
This question was asked on 2009-12-01

Paul Sweet replied: Hi David, take another look at the nest, and watch it for a while, if you cannot see any live wasps walking about on the nest, the chances are that it is dead. Most nests at this time of year have died off anyway, only really huge nests stand a chance of still being active. If you cannot see any live wasps, just forget about it, it wont be re-used and will just fall apart over time. Regards Paul Sweet
This reply was made on 2009-12-01

[1] 2 3 > >>

ask a question about waspsTo ask a question Push this button