Wasps

[Wieas]

I have a bungalow and noticed today in the space of about 5 minutes
3 wasps flying in and out underneath one particular roof tile.

I assume there must be a wasp nest somewhere. I'm hoping there won't be too many wasps in the nest at this time of year and that I should try and kill them off sooner rather than later before more wasps come along. Should I be thinking of going out and putting some wasp nest spray foam up there? Might have to leave it until tomorrow evening as it's too dark now for me to see what I'm doing.

Any advice please?

Yes if wasps better to sort it sooner rather than later. Councils will usually do it for around £50.

But - are you sure they're wasps? A certain type of bee (can't remember which one) make their nests at this time of year. They buzz around for a few weeks then die off.

Yes, I'd just deal with it yourself if you can reach it and can run off if they get angry! I had a nest in an air brick last year, I used the foam spray but then used powder too. I looked online and it seemed dawn or dusk was the best time, and to liberally coat the entrance so they carry it in to the nest. Just did it once and after a couple of days there were no more wasps. I'd recommend the powder over the spray foam. It wasn't very foamy and pretty much disappeared as soon as it was on. The powder is still there almost a year on! I'm hoping it'll deter this years wasps from setting up home there!

Firstly are you certain they are wasps and not bees? Or Mason bees? It is quite early for an established wasp nest, although not impossible if you live somewhere warm. Normally you would be seeing queens still nest building now. I am allergic to wasp stings, and so sadly I do have to destroy any we get in the garden, and I am now an expert in the life cycle of wasps....
IF it is a wasps nest, and you don't want to just leave it alone, then yes, you need to spray poison into the entrance, and night or dusk is the best time. Or you can get the council or a pest controller to do it. Check closely that it isn't bees though, as bees are best left alone, and also there are solitary bees that don't sting, and they often are buzzing around walls etc, nest building, but they are completely harmless.

They definitely looked like wasps. But will watch again for a while tomorrow to make doubly sure.

I only mention it as many people confuse wasps and bees, and solitary bees for stinging bees. Wasps are noticably black and yellow, bees are less noticably striped, and might look darker from a distance. You may be seeing the queen going back and forth, she looks like a very big wasp, or you might already have an established wasps' nest, if you have had a very mild Spring especially. I still have queens here, no nests yet (no workers in my garden, just the odd queen). Either way, if it is wasps, then you may only have one to kill, or a dozen or so workers, you shouldn't have lots of workers yet, so it will be a small nest to destroy, if it is wasps. Can you see any sign inside your house? They do often nest in attic spaces if there is a way out through the eaves.

google mason bees - we have them and they fly around at this time of year and in our house make holes in the soft mortar between bricks, lay their eggs and then go away. They don't even sting so are quite safe. I rang the council th inking they were wasps and they said wasps don't start nest building this early.