Wasps nest in shed

[Jamesy_uk]

Personally I stick a match to any I find as soon as I see them as I don't want my son happening on it.

[bario1]

Mine looks like a very large and attractive lampshade full of wasps. They don't seem bothered about me nipping in to get the odd tool, so i'm just leaving them to get on with it.

[BertieFox]

Do NOT smoke them

Do NOT try to simply smoke them out as this will just cause the workers to fly out in confusion. Smoke is used by beekeepers as it sedates the bees. There are various theories about this but the probable explanation is it disguises the 'alarm' pheromone. The Queen wasp which is at the centre of the nest will NOT leave and you can only destroy the nest completely by killing her. The flying wasps will have nowhere to go and that is when they can be a problem as they fly hopelessly around.
If you want to destroy the nest then the only way is to apply a standard poison from an aerosol at night when they are all in the nest. This will kill both the flying wasps and the queen and you can then safely remove the whole nest.
Alternatively you can ask for help from a local beekeeper who has the protective clothing, who could remove the nest when the wasps are in the nest at night and take it away somewhere else. One method we use is to place the whole nest inside a tightly wrapped sheet and take it away to another spot.
All in all, much though I hate doing it, using an aerosol of poison is probably the most effective and relatively quick method.

[Noosner]

Thanks everyone! The man from the council came and sprayed some stuff on and took the nest away. Sad to see all the dead wozzers but its done now.

[bario1]

Update - mine just seems to have died naturally. There's loads of dead and dying jaspers lying around in the shed and the nest is quiet as the grave. I wonder what happened? Maybe all the heavy rain got through the leaky roof and started some sort of fungal infection in the nest?

[BertieFox]

I would guess it was far more likely that your wasps have brought back something to the nest that is toxic, maybe a neighbouring farmer or gardener who has sprayed some pesticide and the wasps have brought back dying caterpillars or other larvae. Wasps don't usually just die in mid summer but only at the end of the season when the weather turns cold. A fungal disease would be more likely to affect the brood rather than adults. A bit worrying that this can happen as it indicates something going on in the local environment which is harmful for many other forms of wildlife.

[bario1]

Yes, in a way its sad - i hope it's nothing serious. On the other hand, i'm happy to have my shed back, as the wasps were getting bigger and more fractious all the time. What will happen to the nest now? Should i remove it?

[BertieFox]

Wasps make a new nest each year so it's not essential to remove it, though if all the wasps are dead then there's no reason not to. We have had far fewer wasps and hornets this year, which maybe is because of the cold spring.
The Asian hornets haven't put in an appearance yet also, which is good news for our bees, though we are keeping our eyes open for them.

[Driftwood]

Wasp nest in shed

I have a wasp nest at the entrance of our open shed. The entrance is completely open and wide ( 2 cars wide).
I would love to not destroy it until the wasps have finished in late autumn. Any comments on how safe it is to leave it. It's the size of a grapefruit.

[burnie]

This may help
https://www.buzzaboutbees.net/wasp-nests.html

[nickdub]

I have a wasp nest at the entrance of our open shed. The entrance is completely open and wide ( 2 cars wide).
I would love to not destroy it until the wasps have finished in late autumn. Any comments on how safe it is to leave it. It's the size of a grapefruit.

Any prolonged movement ie 5 minutes or more within about 6' of the nest may be picked up on by the wasps with obvious consequences - if you do need to move in and out of the area frequently then a temporary barrier in front of the nest like a piece of plywood could be used as a screen - out of sight out of mind principle - the nest will cease to be in operation around October.

[greenishfing]

Do NOT do what someone I know did. Evidently someone had told him to smoke them out.......I don't know what ultimately happened to the wasps but he had several stings.

[Broomers]

Wasp nest

At the peak of summer a wasp nest will house around 250,000 wasps and can be the size of a football. Dangerous things to tamper with and very scary to share a shed with! Anything on that scale should be dealt with by a professional but early nests that are the size of a tennis ball can be sprayed with a wasp killing spray in the evening when they are all in bed

[Snoop Puss]

If I was going in and out of the garage, I would destroy the nest.

Another option to destroy it if you can't get the council or a professional service to deal with it is:

Wait till it's very cold at night or very early morning, when the wasps are very dopey, very quickly encase it in something like a bag that you can draw tight with a drawstring around the nest so no wasps can escape, then cut off the point at which the nest is attached to your garage. Place the nest inside another receptacle closed absolutely tight so not a single wasp can get out. Something black is very suitable because then, I'm sorry to say, you leave it exposed to sunshine. The wasps will overheat and die.

You need to be very careful about this, especially if you have to go up a ladder to reach the nest. Dress up well and wear safety goggles. We would feel obliged to do this ourselves because we have a friend who is very allergic to wasps and there is no local professional service. If I had access to a professional service though, I'd get them to deal with a nest of the size you describe.