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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how you dealt with a wasp nest?

63 replies

elm26 · 23/08/2023 09:04

I've been noticing lots of wasps in our kitchen the past 2 weeks but just thought it was the season for them and got on with it.

This morning, DH left for work at 4:30am and I got up to a big note across the bedroom door saying "put your flip flops on, killed at least 20 wasps in the kitchen, too early to put hoover on" with my flip flops chucked next to the bed for me.

They are everywhere, kitchen sides, floor etc. I've looked outside my kitchen window and there must be at least 100 buzzing around the same part of the roof (we are first floor flat but nobody above us).

We rent, I've contacted landlord but is it his job to sort? I'm not scared of them but don't particularly want a nest right outside my kitchen window and I have a 13 week old DD I don't want to be stung.

OP posts:
Caroparo52 · 23/08/2023 10:03

Amazon wasp catcher jars. £10.00 each. Put a few spoons of jam/ honey in each.
Hang a near nest but away from windows. Watch the little bastards insects fill the jar. They can't fly downwards.
Simple but effective

frazzledasarock · 23/08/2023 10:05

We called pest control the time we had a wasps nest in the wall cavity.

meantime keep windows closed, wasps can be nasty.

Purpleraiin · 23/08/2023 10:10

I had the same problem last year and was told pest control is the tenants problem. Was quoted £50 to have the nest removed or wait as they'd die off soon anyway so I just left it.
Little shites have turned up again this year in the exact same spot and stung me on the nose while i was half asleep 😭

Fairyliz · 23/08/2023 10:15

Just phone pest control. We had a man come out spray them with something which seemed to make them drunk (flying around in wobbly circles) and 24 hours later they were all gone.
It cost £50 and he said to ring him if there was any sign of them after 2/3 days and he would come out and respray for free.

Topseyt123 · 23/08/2023 10:29

This happened a couple of times at my mother's house over the last couple of years. The first time they had made a nest in the apex of her roof in a small area that we discovered needed to be repointed.

The second time in a different area of roof under the overhang of some tiles.

On each occasion we got a pest controller in (same man each time) who donned a beekeeping outfit, went up his ladder and pumped insecticide of some sort directly into the nest. Within a few hours there were noticeably fewer of them and within 24 hours they were completely gone.

Your landlord might arrange it, but if not then I have found that a pest controller will very likely come out for somewhere in the region of £60 - £80 (ish).

Bearbookagainandagain · 23/08/2023 10:52

We had a wasp nest in our roof a few years ago, the landlord got a pest controller out and it was gone within a few days

Passe · 23/08/2023 13:35

We've suddenly got loads of massive hornets flying around - huge feckers! Shock
Can't see a nest but think the best is somewhere in the garage roof or soffit boards.
Did think we'd need pest control but wondered if a pressure washer might do the trick.

Don't want to be murdered by really pissed off hornets though!

LimitIsUp · 23/08/2023 13:49

I have had a wasp nest for the last 3 years (in different locations around the house). I have left them to it but I understand why you might not want to with a baby in the house

gamerchick · 23/08/2023 13:52

I wouldn't leave them. The fuckers can chew through ceilings at the light fittings.

PickAChew · 23/08/2023 13:57

We had a nest in ds2's bedroom wall, a few years ago and the council pest control dealt with that for a modest fee. We were finding half dead wasps in the house daily for the next month.

We spotted them trying to build a nest in the drainage channels above our patio doors, this Spring. A bottle of powder squirted into the holes put a stop to that one.

Fieldofbrokenpromises · 23/08/2023 14:00

I am on our second one this year. First one I got a pest controller to deal with as the neighbours on that side were complaining.
Current one is on the other side of the house and they aren’t doing any harm (wasps are pollinators) so I am leaving them in peace.

SingingSands · 23/08/2023 14:44

gamerchick · 23/08/2023 13:52

I wouldn't leave them. The fuckers can chew through ceilings at the light fittings.

This happened to us last year. Suddenly started filling up the bedroom and I couldn't understand where they were all coming from.

They had chewed through the flat ceiling of our bedroom bay window. Grim. I taped up the holes with the only tape I could find - kinesiology tape! - and that blocked them. They haven't been back this year.

userxx · 23/08/2023 14:55

gamerchick · 23/08/2023 13:52

I wouldn't leave them. The fuckers can chew through ceilings at the light fittings.

And this is why I didnt. I've heard too many horror stories about nests falling through the ceiling.

Ibizafun · 23/08/2023 16:28

My window cleaner has a little side business getting rid of wasps nests.. only charged £50. He sprayed a viral chemical into the nest. It only had to reach one wasp who spread it to the others and the nest was dead a couple of hours later.

Ibizafun · 23/08/2023 16:30

To add, I also hated the thought of killing them but the nest was just outside my dd's window

EvilElsa · 23/08/2023 16:32

We had a nest a few years ago. Rang a local guy, came same day and was sorted very quickly. Less than £50, worth every penny.

LBOCS2 · 23/08/2023 16:35

The problem with leaving them until winter is that it relies on some really significant cold snaps - last winter they were still hanging around in November and that's a long time to live with them 😬

It's less than £100 to get a pest controller out to look at it - I'd just get it done and then see what your landlord says.

WiddlinDiddlin · 23/08/2023 16:39

Passe · 23/08/2023 13:35

We've suddenly got loads of massive hornets flying around - huge feckers! Shock
Can't see a nest but think the best is somewhere in the garage roof or soffit boards.
Did think we'd need pest control but wondered if a pressure washer might do the trick.

Don't want to be murdered by really pissed off hornets though!

If you can leave them, I would (and I am terrified of wasps, to the point of ridiculous behaviour if there is one in the room!)...

They will predate on other insects, particularly wasps. Wasps won't nest near them because of this and they are actually FAR calmer and far less likely to be defensive and stingy towards you than wasps.

Sadless · 23/08/2023 16:40

I recently found one in my shed looked like a golf ball attached to the roof. My son smacked it with a brush and run in house. My council will only deal with rats and mice for free charge about £50 for a nest.

Irridescantshimmmer · 23/08/2023 16:47

Your local council will treat this as an emergency.......or should do. You will find their number on their website.

Tell them its a swarm and its in your home, they need to come out right away due to the danger of anaphylactic shock with stings etc. Get your selves, kids and animals out of the property and don't swat any in case they start to attack.

Don't delay.

Changingplace · 23/08/2023 16:53

Fairyliz · 23/08/2023 10:15

Just phone pest control. We had a man come out spray them with something which seemed to make them drunk (flying around in wobbly circles) and 24 hours later they were all gone.
It cost £50 and he said to ring him if there was any sign of them after 2/3 days and he would come out and respray for free.

Yep we did the exact same, guy came out within 24hrs and all sorted for £55, haven’t had to call him back luckily.

Ours was in the wall cavity 😫

BarelyLiterate · 23/08/2023 17:07

We had a nest behind the wall above our front door a couple of years ago. They were flying in & out of a tiny crack in the brickwork. DP dressed up in hat, goggles, gloves & long sleeves then climbed up on steps & emptied a full can of fly spray into & around the crack. Didn’t get stung once.
The next morning we woke up to find the doorway & path carpeted with literally hundreds of dead & dying wasps. Some were still twitching. I have never seen anything like it, they were everywhere. We hoovered them all up & that was it. He had killed the lot, & spent the next 6 months boasting about it.

MargaretThursday · 23/08/2023 17:18

I don't think that's a landlord problem.

I'd phone an exterminator. Ours costs about £25 for a call out and gone that day.

BellaTheDarkOverlord · 23/08/2023 17:26

We had one in the loft. My dad got rid of it for us by donning full coat, hood and gloves and picking it up in a bag and taking it outside. It’d been up there a couple of years and most were dead however some still alive and they managed to get under his coat and sting him about 5 times!

My dh is scared of wasps. A lot had died in the loft. A lot of dead wasps had managed to get into the light fitting above the toilet under the loft. Whilst dh was sat on the toilet having a poo, the light fitting above his head gave way and around 30 dead wasps came cascading down on his head from the loft. I’ve only heard my dh scream so shrilly once and this was it 😂

FrontEnd · 23/08/2023 17:31

Are they gone yet? Just dropping in to say ignore all the DIY tips and any guilt trips 😄 when my (unknown) nest reached tipping point it all went nuts...steaming through light fittings like something out of a horror movie...the nest had to be removed because it was so huge the powder poison wasn't enough. Never again!