to be scared, very scared!?!

I inadvertently disturbed a wasp nest a couple of years ago while sorting out some old stuff in the garden. One minute there wasn't a wasp to be seen, the next I was running for my life being attacked as I went. I got indoors and stood fully clothed under the downstairs shower watching as they dropped from my hair in numbers. I ended up with more than 30 stings to my face and chest, and was VERY sore for about 3 days, the first day I couldn't bear to have anything over me, even a sheet as I was so sore. Thankfully I didn't have an allergic reaction, as I'd have probably been dead by the time we got to the hospital. So please everyone be VERY alert to wasp nests, and stay clear, as it was one of the most stressful and frightening experiences of my life.

They'll have been hibernating in your loft OP. We start getting them on upstairs windows at this time of year, through to late May/early June every year. They have just woken up with the sun/warmth and are looking for a way out. We had 3 today. I just open a window and flick them out.

We hardly had any last year, usually have a nest in the eaves, we tend to leave them alone if they leave us alone. Last year was a poor year for the plum tree, which generally means this year will be a bumper crop so expect them back any day !

We have previously put up a fake bike near an old wasp's nest, which seemed to deter them from making a new nest.

A crumpled up/stuffed brown paper bag.

Through the summer I usually turf out around 5 wasps a day. I'm more used to them now but sometimes they just crawl around the floor which worries me as I'd hate to stand on one. I would see how it goes over the next few weeks.

I don’t know why it changed to feed, I mean kill!

We had hornets in our house, they make wasps look like harmless gnats!

You should be more scared about not seeing wasps - that is truly terrifying.

Unless youre allergic then please try not to feed wasps, the stings (I have had many, many stings, often multiple at once due to my job) are actually fairly mild, the fear is greater than the actual pain.

Wasps are important pollinations, JUST as important as fluffy bees. Please don’t consider killing them, we are in the middle of a biodiversity crisis and the loss of insects is huge, more so than any other animal group. It’s also one of the most devastating.

I know wasps are a pain and if you’re allergic then I get it, but if not please, please don’t kill them. Let them do their job, it’s such a vital one.

The good thing is that they only use a nest for one year/season.

I had a nest above my bedroom window one year, stuck some fine netting (IKEA cheap curtain net) to it with self adhesive velcro, only needs one side - the hook side - and was able to open the window with no intruders.

We have nest every year somewhere in the house or garden, I don't kill them as they are pollinators and we need them, especially with bees dying out.

I would smoke them out rather than destroy them.

I'm really scared of wasps, wish I wasn't but they give me the absolute horrors. Had a nightmare with them on holiday last year so less than delighted to hear it's likely to be a bumper summer for them. I try to be friendly to all insects but wasps are proper dickheads.

I’ve just put the 5th one outside in 4 days, obviously they’re waking up from hibernation. They’re a minor inconvenience at this time of year, I fully expect to find more. I have never been stung by one at this time of year, they’re generally a bit dopey.
Every year they appear as if from nowhere; I have never found out where they hibernate and we’ve had the whole house decorated and new flooring since last autumn.

I got several 'drunk' wasps down my top whilst walking in the woods one day. 8 stings. It was awful but I don't know who suffered most, me or the man I ran up to taking my top off and asking him to check they were all gone!

@ArabeIIaScott

'On the whole, wasps are not an issue until late summer, when they can be sleepy and confused.'

Oh my goodness, I think I might be a wasp!

I knew that doctor wasn't taking me seriously, well I'll be right back there and jab him on the back of the neck. Sleepy or not sleepy.

On the whole, wasps are not an issue until late summer, when they can be sleepy and confused.

The queens secrete pheromones, which keep them reasonably docile, but towards the end of summer, this drops off. The workers go looking for sweet foods, often associated with fermenting fruit, which basically turns them into pissed up skinheads.

They go looking for a fight and it's in late summer that stings are most common. Once the queen leaves the nest to find somewhere to hibernate, they go completely kamikaze.

We've generally lived with wasps without problems - they tend to nest in the attic - but if you have vulnerabilities/allergies and need to get rid of them, give the council a call. They can deal with nests.

On the whole, wasps are not an issue until late summer, when they can be sleepy and confused.

Oh no. This isn't what I want to hear. 2 years ago I felt I was removing a wasp every other day. My cat ended up with a badly stung paw. Her wee foot was double the size. So I was relieved to barely see any last year.

Queens aren't looking for any sort of aggro and are fine to remove with a glass and card. They want to survive, breed and build a nest.

I'm actually terrified of ordinary wasps, as I'm really allergic to their stings. If they leave quickly, through a door / window I've opened, fine. If they don't and start getting agitated, they get batted. I've seen them get into a tizzy and sting window frames, they're not bloody rational.

Get a zap-bat, much easier to get rid of them that way rather than spraying.

Very easy to get a nest dealt with. I wouldn’t stress.

HOWEVER we had an absolute horror film experience last summer in the heatwave. I was woken up by being stung. When we turned on the light we discovered the room was rapidly filling with wasps through the open window.

I fled downstairs while dh sprayed a great many of them. The next day we watched outside and found where the nest was…. It was in the sash box of our bedroom window, which a crack in the brickwork was allowing them to access! Exterminator came that day and fixed it, no trouble since.

Keep an eye, if you see more than one try to work out where they’re coming from.

Had a massive one in earlier

Worth getting someone to scope your loft.

Two big ones flew in my kitchen yesterday when the door was open.