Wasp hive?

worlds goodest teecher

Found this little beauty in the shed of the house I recently rented. Can someone please confirm that it is a wasp nest and point me to a thread advising how to safely remove it?

DBB

Hi OP,
I'll move this over to Nature & Birdwatching, you should get some good and targetted advice there, but do bear in mind that a different charter applies now.
All the best,
DBB

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

It is the beginnings of a wasp nest. Knock it down with a brush at night and thoroughly spray the shed with wasp spray.

worlds goodest teecher

Reign Most Lineman wrote: »

It is the beginnings of a wasp nest. Knock it down with a brush at night and thoroughly spray the shed with wasp spray.

Forgive my ignorance but why tackle it at night? Are the wasps asleep or out for the night?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

They are torpid at night. It's small, so there will not be many of them at present.

Cork boy 55

How big can they get?
is there an average size?

I have seen a few of them over years, I never saw one bigger than a golf ball.
I always just leave them be.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

How big can they get?
is there an average size?

I have seen a few of them over years, I never saw one bigger than a golf ball.
I always just leave them be.

I have seen several as big as a football.

I would also leave them be but not in a shed or adjacent to areas regularly used by householders

Cork boy 55

Is there a link with information on this species and its life cycle?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

Is there a link with information on this species and its life cycle?

Google Common Wasp Lifecycle for loads. But here is one -

http://www.irelandswildlife.com/common-wasp-vespula-vulgaris/

worlds goodest teecher

Can anyone tell me based on the photo in the opening post, how old this hive is likely to be? I have not noticed any wasps in the shed.

MrWalsh

Cork boy 55 wrote: »

How big can they get?
is there an average size?

I have seen a few of them over years, I never saw one bigger than a golf ball.
I always just leave them be.

I saw one in an attic once that had spread through to the next properties attic also so it was in effect shaped like a brain with each hemisphere in a different attic. The hemisphere visible to me was enormous, bigger than a beach ball. I didnt see the other hemisphere. We called pest control out and the guy said he had never seen one so big. It must have been forming for years. I was just visiting in the property, it was a rented house in Dublin City Centre. The guys I knew moved out shortly after, I often wondered if the wasps ever came back.

worlds goodest teecher

Reign Most Lineman wrote: »

It is the beginnings of a wasp nest. Knock it down with a brush at night and thoroughly spray the shed with wasp spray.

What would be the best way to dispose of the hive afterwards and does it have to be pitch dark when it's done? Is it okay to have the shed light on while knocking it off the roof?

A pest control professional has quoted me €60 to remove it.

whyulittle

I took one out of our shed last week. Quickly covered it with an empty jam jar, and slid in a flat hand shovel to detach it from the roof of the shed.

At that size, there aren't a million angry wasps lying in wait just to sting ya!

worlds goodest teecher

Would anyone be able to tell me how old this wasp nest is based on the photo in the opening post?

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Would anyone be able to tell me how old this wasp nest is based on the photo in the opening post?

From a couple of days to a week.

CardBordWindow

worlds goodest teecher wrote: »

Would anyone be able to tell me how old this wasp nest is based on the photo in the opening post?

Only a few days. The odds are that there are no 'worker' wasps hatched out yet, and it is just the queen at the moment. She will have laid some eggs already at that size.
The sooner you get rid of her, and the nest, the better.

paranoid user

FYI WD40 works great on wasps, no need to buy anything special. It coats them and kills them in seconds. I've used it on a small nest. But a mate used it on a large one and it worked a treat