Wasps

bnt

I'm sharing a rented house, and we appear to have a wasp nest in the attic. I haven't seen the nest itself, but they're getting in and out through a vent near my bedroom window, so I think that's where they are. And ... totally not bothered. One or two occasionally bumble in to my room in the early morning, attracted by the light, and I can usually point them at the window once it's daylight outside. I don't get the panic in threads like this, for example. The cold is affecting them, of course - pretty docile when they aren't dropping dead. I might not be as sanguine next summer, but then that nest was probably there over summer this year, and I barely noticed them. The wasps aren't bothering me, so I'm not going to bother them. :cool:

Optimalprimerib

So you bothered to open a thread about how not bothered you are. I like your style

dr.fuzzenstein

Wasps are great and vastly misunderstood. They are harmless and won't sting unless you're stupid. And they'll keep flies away. And midges if you have any.

jamesbere

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Wasps are great and vastly misunderstood. They are harmless and won't sting unless you're stupid. And they'll keep flies away. And midges if you have any.

Midgets! That's great I've a load of them.

McDermotX

Fire.

It's all they understand.

Don't underestimate them....they'd kill you and every one you care about given half the chance.

Simple rules for dealing with wasps

Canis Lupus

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Wasps are great and vastly misunderstood. They are harmless and won't sting unless you're stupid. And they'll keep flies away. And midges if you have any.

How do they target only stupid people? Do they have access to my Leaving Cert results or something?

Fleawuss

Send for the pros. You need that nest gone. Wipe the fcukers out.

faceman

*Shakes fist at those damn White Anglo Saxon Protestants living in the OP's attic*

Akrasia

Wasps don't keep their nests over the winter. They'll die off in the cold and the queen will build a new nest somewhere else in the spring

Watch out around your house for the queen wasp. She'll find somewhere warm and cosy to sleep for the winter. (check the corner folds of curtains or the sheets of the guest bedroom if it isn't used very often) They're pretty impressive animals but can sting repeatedly if you threaten them.

hairyslug

Fleawuss wrote: »

Send for the pros. You need that nest gone. Wipe the fcukers out.

Preferably from orbit

maudgonner

jamesbere wrote: »

Midgets! That's great I've a load of them.

You're meant to call them 'little people' now, Snow White.

bnt

Aw, no, one of the poor wee buggers has drowned in my coffee. I hope it's still drinkable ...

Fleawuss wrote: »

Send for the pros. You need that nest gone. Wipe the fcukers out.

Akrasia wrote: »

Wasps don't keep their nests over the winter. They'll die off in the cold and the queen will build a new nest somewhere else in the spring

That's excellent, guys, thanks. :pac:

Cina

Wasps, nature's c**ts.

riffmongous

bnt wrote: »

I'm sharing a rented house, and we appear to have a wasp nest in the attic. I haven't seen the nest itself, but they're getting in and out through a vent near my bedroom window, so I think that's where they are. And ... totally not bothered. One or two occasionally bumble in to my room in the early morning, attracted by the light, and I can usually point them at the window once it's daylight outside. I don't get the panic in threads like this, for example. The cold is affecting them, of course - pretty docile when they aren't dropping dead. I might not be as sanguine next summer, but then that nest was probably there over summer this year, and I barely noticed them. The wasps aren't bothering me, so I'm not going to bother them. :cool:

Eh yeah that's why you don't get the panic, try waking up with the whole swarm buzzing around your bedroom and stinging you. We had no spray so I squashed everyone one of the ****ers myself with a rolled up RTE guide.. looking back I'm not proud of it.. not ashamed of it either

bnt

Some other folks going a little non-linear about Wasps:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFJL5xDNNoY

Grayson

I'm pretty eco friendly. I hate the idea of harming living things. And I know there would be big consequences if they were removed from the environment. Still I wouldn't mourn a single one of those fcukers. Kill them all with fire.

Fleawuss

Flame! FLAME!

bnt

Typical: the day I say "I'm not annoyed by wasps": is the day they annoy me a little. One quietly crawled up my leg, probably looking for warmth; I brushed it off and it landed in a slipper without me seeing where it went. So next time I put the slipper on, it stung me on the toe. I don't really blame it - you wouldn't want one of my toes in your face - but it's a pain, literally.

Galwayguy35

Nobody seems to have anything good to say about wasps but they actually kill flies for food so they're not all bad.

Edups2.0

Galwayguy35 wrote: »

Nobody seems to have anything good to say about wasps but they actually kill flies for food so they're not all bad.

They can go **** thenselves. They are black and yellow bastards. They emit pure evil and do nothing good.

Do wasps make honey? Do they ****. Even if they did it would be sour probably taste like piss. **** wasps.

hannible the cannible

I read somewhere that all life would die out on earth within a decade if all insects were wiped out , even midgets have a purpose , they feed other insects , everything has a purpose which might not suit us but then again we're the biggest threat to life on earth anyway

Galwayguy35

Edups2.0 wrote: »

They can go **** thenselves. They are black and yellow bastards. They emit pure evil and do nothing good.

Do wasps make honey? Do they ****. Even if they did it would be sour probably taste like piss. **** wasps.

Don't ever watch Candyman.

LordSutch

...funny you should mention wasps, I've seen a few in the last few weeks, one tried to get into the car, another lay dying on the kitchen floor, no doubt with its deadly sting intact. Surely its too late in the year for wasps?

bnt

The mixed messages I'm getting from this thread are inspiring me to learn a bit more about wasps. I'm pretty sure that what we have is the common wasp (vespa vulgaris). As already pointed out in this thread, only the queen survives the winter, and this type doesn't swarm. I don't think it's quite normal for them to be active, if only barely, in December.

Capt'n Midnight

You should try to identify which species you are dealing with.

You may need to get in touch with Justin Schmidt , he of the pain index,

Anyway.

The world's leading expert on European wasps walks into a record shop and asks the assistant “Do you have ‘European Vespidae Acoustics Volume 2? I believe it was released this week.”

“Certainly.” replies the assistant.“Would you like to listen before you buy it?”

"That would be wonderful." says the expert and puts on a pair of headphones.

He listens for a few moments and says to the assistant “I'm terribly sorry but I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and this is not accurate at all. I don't recognise any of those sounds. Are you sure this is the correct recording?”

The assistant checks the turntable, and replies that it is indeed European Vespidae acoustics Volume 2. The assistant apologies and lifts the needle onto the next track.

Again the expert listens for a few moments and then says to the assistant "No, this just can't be right! I've been an expert in this field for 43 years and I still don't recognise any of these sounds."

The assistant apologises again and lifts the needle to the next track.

The expert throws off the headphones as soon as it starts playing and is fuming with rage. "This is outrageous false advertising! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps and no European wasp has ever made a sound like the ones on this record!"

The manager of the shop overhears the commotion and walks over.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?"

"This is an outrage! I am the world's leading expert on European wasps. Nobody knows more about them than I do. There is no way in hell that the sounds on that record were made by European wasps!"

The manager glances down and notices the problem instantly.

"I'm terrible sorry, sir. It appears we've been playing you the bee side."

machiavellianme

bnt wrote: »

I'm sharing a rented house, and we appear to have a wasp nest in the attic. I haven't seen the nest itself, but they're getting in and out through a vent near my bedroom window, so I think that's where they are. And ... totally not bothered. One or two occasionally bumble in to my room in the early morning, attracted by the light, and I can usually point them at the window once it's daylight outside. I don't get the panic in threads like this, for example. The cold is affecting them, of course - pretty docile when they aren't dropping dead. I might not be as sanguine next summer, but then that nest was probably there over summer this year, and I barely noticed them. The wasps aren't bothering me, so I'm not going to bother them. :cool:

bnt wrote: »

Aw, no, one of the poor wee buggers has drowned in my coffee. I hope it's still drinkable ...




That's excellent, guys, thanks. :pac:

bnt wrote: »

Typical: the day I say "I'm not annoyed by wasps": is the day they annoy me a little. One quietly crawled up my leg, probably looking for warmth; I brushed it off and it landed in a slipper without me seeing where it went. So next time I put the slipper on, it stung me on the toe. I don't really blame it - you wouldn't want one of my toes in your face - but it's a pain, literally.

So, you've gone from being so unbothered by wasps that you went to the bother of starting a thread about it this morning, to one ruining your coffee, to being stung violently all within a few hours?

Well, I've no sympathy for you. You had your chance and were fair warned to kill them with fire. Maybe you've learned your lesson? Kill em all and let God sort them out.

Grayson

Edups2.0 wrote: »

They can go **** thenselves. They are black and yellow bastards. They emit pure evil and do nothing good.

Do wasps make honey? Do they ****. Even if they did it would be sour probably taste like piss. **** wasps.

Although they are quite stylish in those stripey benneton tops.

LordSutch

Grayson wrote: »

Although they are quite stylish in those stripey benneton tops.

Those little feckers may be quite stylish & 'stripey' in their Benneton tops, but they're so naughty & stingy. I presume (hope) they will all die off before Christmas/mince pie season.

TheMercenary

LordSutch wrote: »

Those little feckers may be quite stylish & 'stripey' in their Benneton tops, but they're so naughty & stingy. I presume (hope) they will all die off before Christmas/mince pie season.

Even their tops are nasty. Bees wear nice stripey wooly jumpers. Wasps wear some sort of hard stripey shell. Even their clothes are a bit sinister.

andekwarhola

faceman wrote: »

*Shakes fist at those damn White Anglo Saxon Protestants living in the OP's attic*

Leaving a pile of deck shoes and RL polo shirts with popped collars at the bottom of the garden should tempt them out of the house.

bnt

machiavellianme wrote: »

So, you've gone from being so unbothered by wasps that you went to the bother of starting a thread about it this morning, to one ruining your coffee, to being stung violently all within a few hours?

Well, I've no sympathy for you. You had your chance and were fair warned to kill them with fire. Maybe you've learned your lesson? Kill em all and let God sort them out.

The problem with the "kill them with fire" advice is that it would probably result in killing the whole house with fire. Make that two houses, since we're semi-detached. Who needs the hassle? Compared to the other annoyances I face every day, mostly involving work, a wasp sting is minor. I've already had a couple of stiff G&Ts since I was stung, so I'm feeling no less pain. :cool: