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Original poster

Tiny wasp nest developing

32 replies

tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 18:59

Hi all,

I spotted a tiny shell like thing in the roof of our garden/open shed. Over the week it's getting bigger, still inky the size of a large marble, but also a single wasp going in and out. Looks like honeycomb inside.

I'm assuming it's a wasp nest. Still small. Now I'm all for pollination and living things, but we use the shed for outdoor cooking- barbecue, preparing food etc so we use it every day/weekend.

Can I get rid of it now it's small?

Apparently it dies off after the summer but im concerned we'll end up with lots of wasps in and out of it. I could literally flick it off with a brown as it's small, and only one wasp. What would you do? (Currently empty I see it go in and out, sometimes when im in there there isn't a wasp in it).

OP posts:
StaySpicy · 07/05/2023 19:03

It'll be a queen. We had one forming on our outdoor office right over the for which would have been a nightmare for DH getting in and out. So I protected myself (long coat, gloves, netting over my head etc.!) and used a drawstring bag. I manoeuvred the bag so the best was inside and then pulled the drawstrings so it fell into the bag as it came off. Then we dumped it in a bucket of water.

I hate killing living things but really, the last thing we needed was a massive wasps' near right by where DH works all summer, plus we don't have a massive garden so it would have been really difficult to avoid them for us and DS.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 07/05/2023 19:04

Yep. Swat it with a broom and be prepared to leg it sharpish if the Queen has decided to populate it over the last week. She'll have several nests because of this and will shift to the next one, which is usually a more suitable distance for the workers to only come over to divest you of caterpillars over the summer.

Polik · 07/05/2023 19:05

Squrt it with the hosepipe and bash with a brush

Snowite · 07/05/2023 19:06

Remove it now. These things can get massive, fast. Unbelievably enormous and totally out of control. Yes they die in the cold but that's months away.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:08

Okay...good to hear- feel bad but like you e said, really don't need it in a relationship place we use often. Not sure about legging it if it's so small and I've only see one clearly....but if you're advising it - now I'm scared! Just don't want it to get worse.

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Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:09

Not relationship place!!! Weird! A place we use often.

So whack it off with a broom? Why does it need water??

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PollyPeptide · 07/05/2023 19:10

You don't need to kill it. Just take it to the park to release it.

Snowite · 07/05/2023 19:14

Once upon a time I also felt bad...so I left a wasp nest alone, comforted by the fact it would naturally die when the cold weather came. Couple months down the track wasps start swarming in the house like some grim 70s horror movie, dining in the garden was off limits and we needed a pest controller round (twice) to spray and then remove it. It was so huge he could barely get his arms around it...these days I'm "show no mercy, feel no guilt". Good luck!

ChopperC110P · 07/05/2023 19:16

Just knock it off the shed. The Queen will go elsewhere. They usually get dug in by the end of May. Catching it early is just moving them on.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:17

Oh god! Now I'm more worried than before! Might go out there now with a hose and broom. I'm sure the power of the hose will be enough. We had a problem with wasps when we first moved in (last summer) so def don't want this in the garden too!

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ChopperC110P · 07/05/2023 19:17

Polik · 07/05/2023 19:05

Squrt it with the hosepipe and bash with a brush

This is how to kill the Queen. The cold water stuns and bashing kills.
If you just knock it off when it is empty, the Queen will buzz off and make a new home not near humans.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:18

And you don't reckon her mates will come after me! I'll be terrified to go back in there.

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Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:19

Okay! Going to get the house out. Wish me luck!!

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Fixesplease · 07/05/2023 19:19

We've had a tiny one a couple of times in DC's playhouse. Just knock it off with a broom and run away. 😁
They go elsewhere.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:20

Wait!! Better now in the evening or morning??,

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ChopperC110P · 07/05/2023 19:20

Fixesplease · 07/05/2023 19:19

We've had a tiny one a couple of times in DC's playhouse. Just knock it off with a broom and run away. 😁
They go elsewhere.

That’s what I do. I’ve never had any wasps come after me for revenge.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 07/05/2023 19:20

tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:08

Okay...good to hear- feel bad but like you e said, really don't need it in a relationship place we use often. Not sure about legging it if it's so small and I've only see one clearly....but if you're advising it - now I'm scared! Just don't want it to get worse.

It's more the noise they make in the paper that'll make you jump when you knock it down than anything else - the anxiety that the buzzing starts off is hardwired into humans and you don't need to trip over the threshold and break an ankle because you didn't expect the noise.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:23

Urghhhhh!!!

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GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 07/05/2023 19:24

I had one about that size, just knocked it down with a hoe and ran away in case they came after me, but they didn't.

They didn't rebuild. I went in a few days later and had a look at the (empty!) nest, it was fascinating.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:25

This!

Tiny wasp nest developing
OP posts:
Hiddendoor · 07/05/2023 19:25

Wasp nest spray - it's like a foam that dissolves the nest. Wait till evening so all wasps have returned for the night then spray. It means you don't need to leg it but it will destroy the nest.

I hate wasps. We had nests before and the wasps stripped layers from the fence to make the nests.

Bananah · 07/05/2023 19:26

Wasps pollinate the plants. I’ve had a few nests in various places over the years. I just ignore them for the good of the planet and they die off when the weather gets cold. We had one last year and DC enjoyed watching them buzzing in and out.

If you really can’t stand it though, just knock the nest down with a broom and run away. The wasps will bugger off.

PoseyFlump · 07/05/2023 19:28

Yes wasps are accidental pollinators and we don't have enough pollinators as it is so please don't kill them. Knock off the nest while it is still small.

DobbyTheHouseElk · 07/05/2023 19:28

They will die off naturally in the autumn so months away. Get rid now. We paid £140 for a pest control man to dispose of one we had in a shed last year.

Original poster
tryingsomethingnew · 07/05/2023 19:31

Eeeeek! Did it!! Came off easily with a spray of the hose then carried on as it broke off on the floor. Sprayed the floor. Soaked myself with the hose too. But gone. Thanks all- saviours!

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