Questions & answers about wasp nests
David White asked:
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.
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, forget about it, it won't be re-used and will fall apart over time. Regards Paul Sweet
Daryl M. asked:
Hi Paul, I'm from Pa.I have two questions. 1. Why is it when I mow my lawn, the hornets will not bother me, but when I look directly at the nest, they will attack? 2. I recently removed the hornets nest and opened it up. I found a couple of different sized bees hibernating inside of it. One was very small and is still alive and crawling around in a glass jar. The bigger ones seem like they are still hibernating. What do I have here?
Paul Sweet replied:
Hi Daryl, Very often Hornets are not that aggressive and in my experience, they are nowhere near as bad as regular wasps. You can get away with mowing your lawn, and they won't bother you. However, if you approach their nest or interfere with it in any way, then this could provoke a defensive response. I am not sure what the bees are without seeing them, and I am also unsure of the different types of bees that you guys get over in the states. They could be solitary bees that happen to have chosen your hornet nest to hibernate in. Do a google image search and see if you can identify what they are. Regards Paul Sweet
Steve T. asked:
I live in Pennsylvania. Now that all the leaves have fallen from the trees I can see a wasps nest the size of a basketball hanging from a branch - much higher than I can reach. Will this nest be active next year? Or should I not worry about taking the nest down?
Paul Sweet replied:
Hi Steve, the nest will not be active next year. If you cannot see any wasps coming to and from the nest now, it has already died it is safe to remove. Or leave it there, it will degrade over the winter and will drop off on its own. Wasps always build a brand new nest every year. I hope this helps.