Eeek, Wasps!

[Melonfish]

actually just went out and they've all scarpered!
excellent!

this is the aftermath

thats where the blighters were building

the comb:

and a souvineer!

looks to be the base of the nest.
glad i did it now and not in a couple of weeks time, looks like there were hundreds more set to hatch!

 

[Hannibal Lecter]

My Dear Friends,

The pictures helped tremendously! Those are what I was referring to as yellowjackets - wasps are not only the general class of stinging insects, but more specifically the paper wasps in my normal vernacular. Terminology and usage must differ a bit on this side of the pond. My bad.

I will attest that the one endearing quality of this variety of wasps is that they are amazingly stupid. Very aggressive, yes, but dumb as a rock. I have walked up to within two feet of the entrance to an underground nest in broad daylight, wasps coming and going in droves, and poured petrol down the entrance hole. Problem solved instantly.

As an aside, I had been running a string trimmer over that exact spot only ten minutes prior and had no clue they were there at the time I am certain that is what annoyed them to allow me to see the swarm later, but to this day I am not quite sure how I avoided getting eaten alive at the time - by all rights they should have absolutely worn me out before I could reach the relative safety of the house.

Interestingly, while recently building a deck on the side of my house I needed to remove part of a carport - when doing so I uncovered a beautiful wasps' nest about half a meter long. I was very glad it was abandoned...

-------------
Hannibal

 

[jimford]

I tend to leave wasp nests unless they're causing problems - or have the potential to cause problems, like the O.P.s wasp nest.

During the summer wasps are invaluable in keeping garden pests down. The wasps themselves don't eat or need the body building protein that insect bodies provide, but capture them to feed their developing larvae. In turn, the larvae excrete a sugary substance that the wasps need for energy. Problems arrise when at the end of summer, all the larvae have hatched and the wasps need to look elsewhere for their food. That's when they become a pest and enter our houses in their search for food.

Jim

 

[Goatboy]

And remember never ever to try to shoot said nest with an air rifle whilst standing underneath.... you'll no likey

 

[Shewie]

And remember never ever to try to shoot said nest with an air rifle whilst standing underneath.... you'll no likey

Sounds painful

I once stuck my head into a hidden nest in some conifer trees trying to retrieve a football, and got stung what felt like a hundred times on my back and neck, my mum said it was only about six though. It was the day of the Iranian embassy seige and I can remember watching it on tv with a wet towel round my neck.

Happy days

 

[Lithril]

Yeah I'm not a great lover of wasps, can cope with most things but wasps fill me with quite an irrational fear, as much as I've enjoyed reading this thread I might go and rock in the corner for a bit

 

[johnnytheboy]

Always laughed at this one

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2243176

 

[Goatboy]

Hi Rich,

It wasn't me with the air-rifle, though I don't think I've ever laughed so much when my mate told me what he'd done. Never been stung, though we used to keep bees on the farm. One thing I had drilled into me was never go near bees / wasps withing at least 24 hours of touching alcohol, the little stripey folk don't like you if you do. We used to take out nests with cymag in the bad old days and it worked a treat, using it was another reason not to be near booze as one whiff and you were a gonner.

Hey Shewie, so you were a raghead whilst watching the boys take them on... what side did you take? (Sorry on reflection that may not be very PC) Sorry

One of the lesser known dangers in forestry operations was bee / wasp nests in trees / scrub we were clearing, often saw other cutters running like the wind to escape a hive / bike they had disturbed. Very funny.

Was always facinated by Wood Wasps, these harmless giants would chase cutters due to the fact we were covered in sap, the new guys always freaked out, also funny due to the fact that a lot of new builds have relatiivly unseasoned timber in them, and after about two years the larvie hatch indoors and fly around scaring the willies out of home owners, wonderful creatures to watch.

TTFN
Colin.

 

[Melonfish]

had a look at these guys and they appear to be the regular english wasp, standard black and yellow markings with the "anchor" shape on the face.
the only other encounter i've had with wasps was actually about 25 yards from my back gate.
a wasps nest of a considerable size by an area me and some friends used to play on. well my friend got it into his head to throw a rock at the nest. naturaly high summer they all went flippin monkey poo and started stinging inanimate objects aswell as the fleshy pink things running screaming home to their mums about wasps!
crazy days.
i remember my neighbour went out at dusk with his work gloves on and totally trashed that nest with a broom. never saw em again.