Ahhh, massive wasps

[BlackAmericanoNoSugar]

I let the dog out this morning and when I opened the door to let him back in three wasps flew in past my head. Two of them are really big and I think might be queens. It's pitch dark here, why are they even awake? They are really pissed off and buzzing angrily around in the kitchen. I should really deal with them before the DC wake up and come down for breakfast, but I don't want to.

They might be hornets. They fly at night and are massive.

I have turned the light on in the utility room and turned off the kitchen light and they have obligingly flown in there. There's not need for the DC to go into the utility so I can deal with the wasps later.

Are hornets more or less likely to sting than wasps? They seemed very angry but they weren't dive-bombing me or anything. Though that may change when I try to swat them with a rolled-up newspaper.

They’re louder hence the noise. No they’re less likely to sting but will do if provoked obviously!!

I’d try and let them out when it warms up.

Letting them out might work, they are in a very small room with an outside door at the moment, so once it's daylight they might be willing to leave.

With rotting fruit on the ground at this time of year, they may well be intoxicated which their aggression!

• increases their aggression!

It turns out that I have four insects. Three in the utility (I'm not opening that door again, but I did count them), at least two of which are large and buzzy, and one still in the kitchen. The kitchen one is completely silent and looks like a normal-sized wasp. Fortunately it appears to be completely obsessed with my LED ceiling lights, so the DC should be ok for breakfast. It's starting to get bright now anyway, so perhaps that one would leave if I opened a window.

To be fair I'm surprised you haven't moved out! I'd have woke the children out and moved out 😂

Let them out before they decide to hibernate in your warm house. It’s getting cold out!

They'll be looking for somewhere to hibernate. Dont be surprised if you can't find them later on.

It's actually really warm outside here, unusual for Ireland. It was 18.5C on the school run according to the car thermometer.

The kitchen wasp has disappeared, it'll probably reappear somewhere upstairs, it was a worker/male so it'll probably die soon. The utility room wasp has been evicted, also doomed to die soon as a male. The two larger utility room insects have disappeared and I don't know where to. So I don't know whether they are hornets or queen wasps. I've opened the outside door and closed the internal door so hopefully they will decide to leave instead of hibernating.

Hi OP, if you keep the windows wide open, the wasps or hornets will likely go back outside. However, if they are juvenile queens, they may look for a place to hibernate. You could trap them with a glass and then move a piece of solid paper or cardboard between the glass and the window/wall/... and thus trap the wasp or hornet and then release it outside.
I have attached a picture I recently took of a hornet and a wasp - the hornet is a lot bigger.