Wasp nest in Roof / attic ..

Morlock · 04-10-2012 10:53am #1

Hi not sure if this is the Correct Area to post this thread , but could someone advice me on the removal of a wasps nest which seems to be between the roof tiles and the felt in the attic.

What should I do with this nest,
1. do wasps migrate for the winter and if they do would they normally move soon ?

2. Should I cover up and blast them out with a can of wasp killer spray ?

3. Get someone in that does this ? are they a rip off price ?

If someone has cleared This problem please let me know, or feel free to suggest a professional.

Thanks in Advance

Happyman42 · 04-10-2012 11:36am

I got rid of them by using a tub of wasp powder, if you can get near, blast the space with the powder and they will leave,(it was 100% effective) then seal the entry point if possible.

Morlock · 04-10-2012 11:47am

thanks Happyman, I will try that before I get a professional in !! 60€ for them and by the sounds of it they will do the same thing , spray a powder in.

Dara Robinson · 04-10-2012 12:18pm

Fake wasp nests seem to help.
Conflicting data out there but if you go to the forums and read what people are saying seems that they are working.

Happyman42 · 04-10-2012 12:27pm

Dara Robinson wrote: »

Fake wasp nests seem to help.
Conflicting data out there but if you go to the forums and read what people are saying seems that they are working.

Never heard of them, could do with one on the patio!

martinn123 · 04-10-2012 4:17pm

Morlock wrote: »

Hi not sure if this is the Correct Area to post this thread , but could someone advice me on the removal of a wasps nest which seems to be between the roof tiles and the felt in the attic.

What should I do with this nest,
1. do wasps migrate for the winter and if they do would they normally move soon ?

2. Should I cover up and blast them out with a can of wasp killer spray ?

3. Get someone in that does this ? are they a rip off price ?

If someone has cleared This problem please let me know, or feel free to suggest a professional.

Thanks in Advance

The nest is made of pulped timber, like paper, so it will disintegrate over the winter.
Wasps die off at this time of the year, only the Queen cocoons over winter and re-emerges in spring to lay eggs and start a new nest.
They will not return to the same nest next year.

So using a spray will kill them off, but they may want to defend the Queen, so be prepared to Run, try late at night when they are asleep.

Otherwise leave it alone, maybe hit it with a power hose in Jan/Feb and it will fall apart.

paddy147 · 04-10-2012 4:24pm

Inside a real wasps nest show you some more detail of what goes on inside it.:)

Wasps are vital for us and for gardening,they feed on aphids and greenfly.

Deangodsell · 10-10-2012 9:05am

Hi Morlock,

I have worked with wasps for the past 20 years and here are some simple tips. If you wish to do a DIY treatment then a can of spray would be useless, the foam sprays are only effective if you can see the nest and can cover it with the foam. DIY powders are far more effective and you do not need to be able to see the nest, simply pump the powder into the entry point the wasps are coming in and out from. Be sure to be covered from head to toe because wasps will attack if they feel threatened. A single nest can contain 20,000 or more wasps and all can sting multiple times so an attack is only ever going to have one winner. Apply the powder at dusk as there will be less activity but I would recommend a professional if you need to use a ladder and 60 Euros seems to be a fair price and remember that the poisons used by professionals are a lot stronger and far more effective than shop bought products.
In regards to your other questions - a wasp nest does not just disintegrate, it can remain there for years. A nest does not always have to be a nice spherical shape ball that you see in all the photos, it can be any size and any shape - made to fit into the area the wasps have to build it in. Nests can easily reach the size of an armchair or can be totally flat and fill the whole space of your roof and under the tiles.
There is no evidence whatsoever of fake nests working, I often come across a wasp nest attached to an old nest and have treated many nests next to fake nests. My opinion is that they are a rip off.
Wasps do not migrate they only live for one year and only the new queens for the next season survive. An average nest will produce about 2,000 new queens for the next year.

I have given a link at the bottom for more information about wasps. Hope this helps.

www.wasp-nest-removal.com

Morlock · 12-10-2012 1:14pm

Thanks Deangodsell, I went with the powder ( Nest Killer from B&Q) and havent seen any wasps since, now my next task is to remove the dead Wasps and the nest.

The hoover will Be the only man To Get into the tight space to clear them, however , is there something I can do to Stop them coming back next year ?

Deangodsell · 12-10-2012 3:42pm

Hi,

There is no real way you can prevent wasps from building a nest on your property, its really down to luck. You can try sealing any obvious holes that could be future entry points but wasps have the capability of chewing through brick and so can make there own entries. Wasps do like humid places and so if your loft is humid a dehumidifier may help.
The nest you have at the moment does not need to be removed as wasps will never reuse an old nest and it may stop them using that particular entry point again.
Go careful if you do try to remove the nest as shop bought powder is not very strong and may take a few days to kill all the wasps. The powder will not kill the grubs either and the eggs can still hatch so I would suggest a pair of gloves.
Good luck.

www.wasp-nest-removal.com

Markwasp · 31-10-2012 2:27pm

I agree with the above. I have been in the pest control industry for over 10 years and there is no way to stop a nest from starting on your property. To be honest the best advice is to call in a professional to remove it or even your local council? This may help wasp info

theoneeyedman · 29-10-2014 2:51pm

Hi,
resurrecting an old thread here, but I'm guessing the same questions advice applies.
Discovered a good size nest in the attic today, I'd estimate 18 to 24 inches across. Had a quick check on rentokil site, and while they will kill it, they won't remove it.
So some questions to the experts.....
There is still some activity around the nest. Will this soon die off ? When would you expect wasps to die in a mild year like this one !
Should I kill the nest now, or will it die off Itself?
Assuming it dies off (or is killed off) does it still need removal, will it house wasps again next year ?
If I'm to DIY it, what product would you Recommend?
The nest is pretty accessible, but blasting it with a hose isn't an option (sitting on the ceiling). When the nest is dead, is it fully safe removing with a shovel or something simular !

Thanks in advance.

Ambersky · 29-10-2014 5:51pm

If the wasps and the nest have been there in all probability all summer long without you even being aware of them and they are dieing off now why bother doing anything about them?

Why buy poison or hire someone when they are already dieing, if you read the thread others who seem to be experts say they wont build in the same nest again and you cant stop them setting up somewhere else.

I have had wasps nests in different places in my attic for several years. In the winter they die off. This year I was able to watch them come and go about their business entering and exiting through a little hole near my home office window. They did not swarm in autumn as I had been warned nor was I plagued with them any more than usual in my back garden, no one complained, nobody noticed really and everything has to live somewhere.
The nests have always been near the edge of my attic and I am still able to get the few things I occasionally need to in and out of the attic.

slave1 · 29-10-2014 9:59pm

I found one above my utility room ceiling a few months back, all the wasps were dead, loads undeveloped in cocoons also, very interesting find and the thing was massive. Build around a birds nest and stretched behind some dabbed slabs all the way to the ground, the feckers ate all the polystyrene foam I had behind the slabs, ended up ripping the slabs off and had to reslab. Nest took two fertiliser bags and stank!

realeoin · 05-11-2014 12:46am

Ambersky wrote: »

If the wasps and the nest have been there in all probability all summer long without you even being aware of them and they are dieing off now why bother doing anything about them?

Why buy poison or hire someone when they are already dieing, if you read the thread others who seem to be experts say they wont build in the same nest again and you cant stop them setting up somewhere else.

I have had wasps nests in different places in my attic for several years. In the winter they die off. This year I was able to watch them come and go about their business entering and exiting through a little hole near my home office window. They did not swarm in autumn as I had been warned nor was I plagued with them any more than usual in my back garden, no one complained, nobody noticed really and everything has to live somewhere.
The nests have always been near the edge of my attic and I am still able to get the few things I occasionally need to in and out of the attic.

Well one good reason is that they can eat through brick, wood, chipboard, plaster, and lots of other materials. They can and will find their way through anything.

I currently have a bunch of the feckers living in the walls under the windowsill of my bedroom. I've also been waiting and watching all summer to see if they would just go away or die.

However now they have found a way through the wall and into my room. There are wasps making their way into my room at all times, day and night now. Sometimes several at a time.

This is exactly the scenario I wished to avoid in the first place. I pulled the couch away from the wall and low and behold they had eaten away a spot where the radiator pipes come through the floor (solid wooden board).

The main reason to kill a wasps nest near your home is because they are dangerous and unpredictable. Just because you are happy to live along side them does not mean they are happy to live alongside you.

I will be calling a professional with strong chemicals in the next few days and patching up their entrance to my home. And that hopefully will be that

Lex Luthor · 07-11-2014 2:55pm

I was in my attic last yr and noticed a few dead wasps lying about on the insulation, glanced over to the corner and there was a nest that looked well disintegrated and long abandoned...seems like they came, got bored and moved on

Ambersky · 08-11-2014 4:56pm

In reply to my question as to why bother getting someone out to kill off a wasps nest if it doesnt seem to be bothering anyone

realoin says
Well one good reason is that they can eat through brick, wood, chipboard, plaster, and lots of other materials. They can and will find their way through anything.

You see I cant find anything to substantiate the theory that wasps can eat brick or blocks in order to get into houses other than people assuming that the wasps eat their way through the brick to get into the space in the walls. The existance of a hole somewhere doesnt mean the wasps made it even if they are coming in and out of it.

Recently I had some work done on my house and the tradesman took out the airvent in one of the exterior walls. He said lots of builders just make a hole in the wall and place covers on the inside and outside of the hole without filling in the hollow space between the blocks. Then a wasp looking for a space to make a nest flys through the outside vent down through the hollow space to build a nest somewhere in the walls of the house. This is often how people find wasps inside their homes especially in autumn when the wasps are leaving and some go out through vents in other rooms.

If you block off a wasps exit hole yes I have heard that wasps will then be very dangerous as any cornered wild thing will be and will then have reason to eat through plaster foam etc but still not sure about brick or stone.
All wasps need is a tiny hole in a wall, under a sill or into an attic to enter and make a nest. I think all attics have holes for ventilation so its not a difficult thing for a wasp to do and they dont need to waste energy boring through difficult material. I can imagine them eating through insulation etc in order to make more room for a growing nest but the ones Ive had in my attic were out in the open and the exit/entrance was out through an air hole under the tiles and the wasps did no harm.

Now Im not saying that wasps do no harm or dont damage houses. I havent seen them do any harm and Im open to hearing about why people get rid of them. I think a lot of people just panic and assume a wasps nest is a terrible dangerous thing, that the wasps will swarm and sting them.
I dont see the reason to automatically assume they are dangerous unless the nest is in an area with a lot of human traffic or there is someone around who is actually allergic to wasp stings and just couldnt take a chance. I havent been stung or bothered by the wasps nests Ive had and I just dont see the reason to kill them especially if they have lived a whole summer without being noticed.
It also needs to be remembered that wasps actually do a lot of good work including pollination, killing of other bugs and insects including those that attack your garden. Why pay an exterminator about €180 to get rid of something that is basically not a problem

Glebee · 06-10-2016 4:32pm

Lex Luthor wrote: »

I was in my attic last yr and noticed a few dead wasps lying about on the insulation, glanced over to the corner and there was a nest that looked well disintegrated and long abandoned...seems like they came, got bored and moved on

Sorry to raise an old thread folk but this has happened to me also. Earlier in the summer we noticed wasp were gathering around a 2inch waste pipe under the soffit of the roof. Kept them away with spay and tried to seal up the small gap around the pipe.
Was in the roof today and noticed what appears to be a dead wasps nest half buried under the plywood flooring. At this stage could I just take the hoover to it and try and clean it up or is there any chance of wasps still alive in it???

realeoin · 06-10-2016 5:33pm

A few will vacate with the queen to find a new home. The rest will die with the old hive. Not until it gets quite cold though. At the moment it's still pretty warm

Funny story actually. I was hearing scratching noises in the attic above my room. I was fairly sure it was mice. One night it kept me up all night. It was quite loud. So I punched the ceiling thinking it might scare them off. Instead my fist went through the thin plaster board and a **** load of wasps came flying out.

Imagine my surprise.

Got stung a few times. But when I opened the window they all flew out. They are not all that smart it would seem

Glebee · 06-10-2016 7:52pm

realeoin wrote: »

A few will vacate with the queen to find a new home. The rest will die with the old hive. Not until it gets quite cold though. At the moment it's still pretty warm

Funny story actually. I was hearing scratching noises in the attic above my room. I was fairly sure it was mice. One night it kept me up all night. It was quite loud. So I punched the ceiling thinking it might scare them off. Instead my fist went through the thin plaster board and a **** load of wasps came flying out.

Imagine my surprise.

Got stung a few times. But when I opened the window they all flew out. They are not all that smart it would seem

Ill leave it till the weather turns a bit colder before I go at it.

Wasp nest in Roof / attic ..

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