Holy Wasp nest!

[DBR]

I don't really have a good answer why I didn't notice it, just a combination of things.

A crew looks after my yard, and I don't spend a whole lot of time back there. I haven't really noticed a wasp problem the few times I've spent any longer amount of time in the yard -- even when I've been out there to BBQ, no wasps harassing me.

The window I took the photo from is a spare room that has had the shutters closed for pretty much the whole summer to help keep my house cool. Plus the location of the nest was closer to my neighbour's deck than mine, which might be why he noticed it first.

And in hindsight, I still can't believe I didn't spot it: it was HUGE!

I asked the exterminator how long he thinks it'd been there, and he said either the first or third week in May (I forget).

 

[Sephiroth]

*pumps shotgun*

 

[JuanBolio]

Help me out here: It's all men who are offering these Fun-with-Fire-and/or-Explosives "remedies," isn't it? Then again, I think at least some of the For-the-Love-of-God-Just-Call-an-Exterminator folks are male as well, so I'd like to emphasize that I am not generalizing about all males when I say...

Are you INSANE? Or do you hate DBR and/or DBR's house that much? What did either one of them ever do to you?

DBR, you did good. Dealing with swarms of angry, aggressive creatures who are armed should be left whenever possible to those who are paid to do so.

Now, now, you're not giving males our due credit. Some of us non-professionals are really good at killing and destroying things with fire/explosives/chemicals, and would prefer the satisfaction of doing it ourselves over paying someone else to do it in probably a much less dramatic fashion. The way we see it - what's the point? We're out money and not half as entertained.

THERE ya go!

 

[JustKate]

^ I'm still leaning toward "INSANE," but maybe I need to expand my definition of sanity. Maybe. I don't think so, but it could be. I do not find that photo to be particularly compelling evidence, though.

 

[Too Much Fun]

I have a bee problem too. Twice now, I've left my car sitting in one place for a few months (went to work overseas) and when I came back the car was infested with bees. They built little nests in the gas tank, under the doors, and two (!) in the trunk. Really freaky. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about them. My father's vehicle has big rearview mirrors on its sides and they even set up nests behind a mirror! You gotta check every crevice of your car, because you never know where they'll set up shop.

 

[Aurian]

I have a bee problem too. Twice now, I've left my car sitting in one place for a few months (went to work overseas) and when I came back the car was infested with bees. They built little nests in the gas tank, under the doors, and two (!) in the trunk. Really freaky. It makes my skin crawl just thinking about them. My father's vehicle has big rearview mirrors on its sides and they even set up nests behind a mirror! You gotta check every crevice of your car, because you never know where they'll set up shop.

OMG.. that would have been right out of my worst nightmares.. You did not take any pics right? *shudders*

 

[Too Much Fun]

No, no pictures. I couldn't stand to be even close to those nests, let alone snap pictures of them! It was just spray the nests off, stomp 'em, and run like hell. Let that be a lesson to all of you...never leave your car in one place for a long time, especially in the hot summer months, or you could come back to it and find yourself driving a beemobile.

 

[Lindley]

Stanley: Hello?
Joan: Stanley, are you there? You must beware of the drive bee!
Stanley: What the hell is the drive bee?
Joan: I... don't know. But any error you make with it could be fatal!

 

[JuanBolio]

^ I'm still leaning toward "INSANE," but maybe I need to expand my definition of sanity. Maybe. I don't think so, but it could be. I do not find that photo to be particularly compelling evidence, though.

Nah, see an insane persons burns/blows up ANYTHING just for the fun of it.

 

[M'Sharak]

Help me out here: It's all men who are offering these Fun-with-Fire-and/or-Explosives "remedies," isn't it? Then again, I think at least some of the For-the-Love-of-God-Just-Call-an-Exterminator folks are male as well, so I'd like to emphasize that I am not generalizing about all males when I say...

Are you INSANE? Or do you hate DBR and/or DBR's house that much? What did either one of them ever do to you?

To be fair, the first suggestion involving fire (Post #2) did call for first removing the nest from the eaves and moving it to a safe distance before igniting.

 

[judge alba]

What is YTS training, and remind me to never take that!?!

its the old youth training scheme the government set up years ago to 'help' school leavers in getting a job. you get a couple of qualifications and experience in a full work environment .took two years on it about just over 20 years ago, when the safety rules were a little more relaxed.
not sure if it's still going now or has been renamed.

 

[JustKate]

Help me out here: It's all men who are offering these Fun-with-Fire-and/or-Explosives "remedies," isn't it? Then again, I think at least some of the For-the-Love-of-God-Just-Call-an-Exterminator folks are male as well, so I'd like to emphasize that I am not generalizing about all males when I say...

Are you INSANE? Or do you hate DBR and/or DBR's house that much? What did either one of them ever do to you?

To be fair, the first suggestion involving fire (Post #2) did call for first removing the nest from the eaves and moving it to a safe distance before igniting.

Yes, but that would involve moving the nest. Which is full of wasps. And if it's not full of wasps, that would mean that the wasps were all out in the yard. Where you'd be, trying to move their nest.

I'm still thinking "INSANE," but that could be gender bias.

 

[Plecostomus]

I have moved plenty of nests over the years using this method and have not been stung.

It requires some common sense on your part that's all.

Don't move the nest when it is warm out, that's when there will be high traffic in and out of the nest. Do it when it is cooler out and the bees are "sluggish."

Drop them into a bucket partly full of kero, the opening will be submerged in the liquid the bees will not escape. Kero is toxic and it will quickly saturate the nest.

The fire part disposes of the now saturated nest, dead bees and contaminated liquid.

Ironically my neighbor Mary taught me this trick. SHE was a Marine, so most of her suggestions involve violence or extreme violence in some way. Not random lash-out-crush/kill/destroy sorts of stuff but well though out explosions, fires, collapses, implosions... that sort of thing.

 

[Mr. B]

We had a similar nest under a 2nd floor deck a number of years ago and dad torched it... of course it wasn't 20 feet in the air like yours is.