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Original poster

Where are the giant wasps coming from?

26 replies

Player456 · 16/04/2022 12:55

About 6 years ago, we had a period of having wasps in the bathroom. I found out they must have been coming in through the fan (which had lost it's cover outside, due to the absolute cowboys who did our bathroom, putting it on with silicone sealant and not screwing it in). DH put the cover on properly.

We still found the odd wasp, mainly due to the fact that the slats on the cover, kept staying up - DH sellotaped them down (we don't use the fan, it is huge and our bathroom is small with two windows).

A couple of days ago, DH found a giant wasp in there. Although the fan is taped up outside and the windows were closed. He said it must have come in through the trickle vent. I closed the trickle vents.

This morning I was on the loo, when a buzzing caused me to run out of the room. DH at work, so I grabbed a can of Raid, and sprayed the giant (it is humongous), whilst it walked around our toothbrushes (which I guess are going to have to be binned now).

After a while I went to check in there (with DM on the phone for support), the giant was laying on the floor but still moving, so I squished it Sad The floor was wet from Raid (I sprayed it again to be doubly sure).

The windows are now open in there, but the room is heavy with Raid scent. Poor DD needs the loo, as do I , but I'm too scared to go in there.

I have no idea how it got in. I've checked outside, I can't see anywhere. The only thing I can think of, is the fan cover has gaps around it, which would lead to the large, round hole. The fan inside has no real cover and the outer edges are pretty open; it would let a mouse in, so no problem for a wasp...if that is where they are coming from.

I should add that I am extremely phobic about wasps. Enough that I have run in the road and tried to jump out of moving cars if they are around. The first time we had them in the bathroom, I was having EMDR and the therapist tried to use that to stop the phobia; it didn't work.

Where are they coming from?

OP posts:
RomeoMcFlourish · 16/04/2022 12:58

Have you popped the panel off the side of your bath and checked under there?

chickyellowcute · 16/04/2022 12:59

I've run into the bloody road to get away from a wasp before like a giant idiot so I feel this in my soul

We have the odd massive one get in and I hate it - I've also tracked down everywhere I could think of they might get in and covered/adjusted etc but there's still maybe 2 or 3 a year, there were eighteen total before I tracked down possible vents etc so must have made some difference! Still would rather that 2 or 3 don't make it in though. Shudder.

chickyellowcute · 16/04/2022 13:00

Oh and this time of year the giant ones are queens I think, looking for nesting spots. Urgh.

Original poster
Player456 · 16/04/2022 13:00

@RomeoMcFlourish funny you should say that, as coincidentally DH fitted new thermostatic taps yesterday, so I did look in there (after the first one), there is nothing under there (apart from a pair of DH's shorts, not sure why the bathroom fitters left them there), but nope, nothing there.

OP posts:
Original poster
Player456 · 16/04/2022 13:02

@chickyellowcute Omg, Queens?! That was my fear. I hate killing things, but really? Not in the bathroom thanks .

OP posts:
YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp · 16/04/2022 13:02

Sounds more like a hornet if it’s that big!
We’ve put outside 7 Queen wasps over the last few weeks. DH destroyed 3 wasp nests in the attic in December but we’re still finding the queens 😳

chickyellowcute · 16/04/2022 13:06

@Player456 me too. I've got very good at catching them and putting them out unharmed but sometimes if they are just too evasive or surprise and scare me witless, raid is the only answer. I'm allergic to raid as well and then can't go in whatever room its been used in for hours hence learning to catch them but yeah, sometimes not possible

MushroomQueen · 16/04/2022 13:18

Weirdly I live abroad and in my utility room where all the windows are shut and door shut a huuuuge bug I think a hornet was around - thinking about it prob a Queen (shudder) I managed to open a little window and they managed to get out I was feeling quite sick I'm so so glad it didn't get into the kitchen tho I would have freaked it was huge. So I'm guessing it's the time of year all over

TheCanyon · 16/04/2022 13:23

We had a giant one in our bathroom today too. No idea how it got in.

Original poster
Player456 · 16/04/2022 13:29

Seems it is that time of year! Think that it was the only one (touch wood), as I've just been in there to inspect (plus my bladder wouldn't wait any longer). I've left it under DH's shoe, put the bathmat and a step over it too. I am just not brave enough to get rid of it. DH is not home till 8.45pm, so it can stay there for now.

We seem to have a problem with bugs. The last couple of years we've been overrun with ants. Easy to ignore when they're just ants, but then the flying ants swarm (they are in the middle of the house, no idea how they get in as there is no external wall). Baits seem to work for them, but wasps, inside, are a different matter.

I'm putting up a photo of the fan inside, you can see (hopefully), the large hole which goes straight outside.

Where are the giant wasps coming from?
OP posts:
chilledteacher · 16/04/2022 13:31

Do you have spotlights? Ours were coming through the light sockets in the bathroom. Was actually the stuff of nightmares 😬😬😬

Deathraystare · 16/04/2022 13:34

Something giant flew in reception the other day. Too busy flapping around like the big girl I am to see if it was a wasp, hornet or a moth. Our hero of a porter picked it up and took it outside. So I am guessing the fact that he picked it up means it wasn't something too nasty!

Leonberger · 16/04/2022 13:35

We had them coming through our spotlights from a nest in the roof. It was horrific, there was hundreds in one day at one point covering the windows. I’m praying they don’t bother returning this year.
I squish every single one that’s in the house now!

mumda · 16/04/2022 13:49

Almost certainly a queen wasp. They might overwinter inside somewhere but will be looking either for a nest site or for places to chew wood from to build the nest.

There's a lovely ID chart here
www.bigwaspsurvey.org/identification/introduction/

Original poster
Player456 · 16/04/2022 13:50

No spotlights, just an ordinary flush bathroom light.

I've just taken a photo of the fan outside, one of the flaps is open a bit, plus there are large holes around it. Hopefully that is where they are coming and DH can sort it.

@Leonberger that really is the stuff of nightmares, I would have slept outside in a tent rather than that Shock hope they don't return this year.

@Deathraystare thank goodness for the porter!

@chilledteacher I'd have let the wasps have the house I think!

OP posts:
CrotchetyQuaver · 16/04/2022 13:53

I share your pain, I developed a wasp sting allergy in 2020 so every room in our house has a fly swat and a can of wasp killer. No mercy or tolerance towards wasps any more. I can't risk another sting even if I am now having immunotherapy for it. I know it'll happen one day but do everything I can to prevent it happening now.

Deathraystare · 16/04/2022 14:05

@Player456 -Deathraystare thank goodness for the porter!

He is the same one that helps me out with my mobile phone (I am a techno bimbo). Worringly, this Christmas he plans to go back to the Philippines for 4 weeks. What will I do without him???!!!

TheChurchOfEli · 16/04/2022 14:08

If you’ve got a hole to the outside it’s likely where they’re getting in. I really feel your pain. We have a tiny gap in the soffits on the roof and noticed wasps going in and out there last year. Right in between the bathroom window and back bedroom window. They often end up in the bathroom or hallway, I assume they can squeeze in somewhere from getting in from the soffit. I’m desperate for DP to get up and seal it up before they start coming back. Weirdly they’re often dead too…

Pixiedust1234 · 16/04/2022 14:30

If they are that big then they are probably hornets. One of the good guys. Rarely sting and eat spiders. Also a good pollinator for crops and we need as many of those as we can. Just catch and release.

gamerchick · 16/04/2022 14:37

The young queen's are coming out their hidey holes. They aren't aggressive, they've nothing to protect.

Beachsidesunset · 16/04/2022 14:40

I heard a muffled buzzing coming from my loo cistern once - a huge wasp had come in the overflow pipe (shudder!)

BarrowInFurnessRailwayStation · 16/04/2022 17:05

They're just hibernating queens. Let them out of a window or trap them with a cup and cardboard then put outside. They're not aggressive, they just want some food and to find a nesting location.

Not everything has to be killed.

Pemba · 16/04/2022 17:17

You don't need Raid or other insecticides. IMO, it is just the liquid in the spray that weighs down their wings, so I use air freshener or anything in a spray can that is around (I suppose even water would do), they will fall down and that's when I squish them. Avoids having to have poison sprayed around the room all the time.

I am sorry wasps! But I can't get stung. Sometimes I'll open the door /window and try to usher them out, but they tend to be uncooperative.

Lightning020 · 16/04/2022 17:42

Can pest control help at all? Though obviously not on a Bank Holiday weekend.

CutesyUserName · 16/04/2022 19:22

Every room in our house has beams. Windows have all been closed, and I've had 3 giant wasps in 3 separate rooms today. They must be finding a way through the beams somehow. Time for a respray of Indorex I think!