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Wasps

The queen wasp emerges from hibernation in the spring and looks for a site for a new nest. She does not use the old nest from a previous year.

The queen starts the nest by chewing wood or bark to make a type of paper mache. At this stage the nest is only the size of a golf ball, and is attached to the branch of a hedge, the ceiling of a porch, or a rafter in the loft etc. The queen lays the first 10 - 20 eggs. The eggs hatch and turn into the familiar black and yellow striped wasps. These wasps forage for food and begin to enlarge the nest. By late summer the nest may contain 10,000 wasps and be the size of a football. Some nests can be even bigger.

All these wasps are sterile female workers, and their job is to attend the queen, maintain the nest, and bring back food for the young wasp grubs. In late summer a few male wasps and new queens are hatched. These mate and produce fertilised queens. As the cold weather approaches, the activity in the nest reduces, the female workers and males die, and only the fertilised queen survives. These queens look for a safe crevice to spend the winter, and go into hibernation. In the spring they emerge to start the life cycle over again.

Unlike bees, wasps do not make honey. Instead the adult wasps feed on sweet substances like nectar in flowers and on fruit. They also kill large numbers of insects which they take back to the next to feed the young. At this stage, wasps are a beneficial insect as they are part of nature's control of may insects in the garden. They are also so busy collecting food for their young that they are not normally a problem. Wasps will, however, defend the nest aggressively if it is disturbed or threatened, so you should leave eradication to a pest control technician who has protective clothing and specialised insecticides only available to professional users. As autumn comes, the queen stops laying eggs, and a large number of wasps find themselves with less and less work to do. At this stage, wasps become a nuisance, as their search for sweet food takes them into kitchens and factories looking for jam, sugar, soft fruit, etc. It is now that they are most likely to sting and cause fear.

The old nest consists of a fragile paper mache shell and contains only a little debris and the remains of any unhatched eggs. It does not smell or cause any damage. If the nest is outdoors, it will dissolve in the wind and rain. Indoors the nest will slowly crumble into dust. It is not necessary to remove the old nest. If your nest has been treated with insecticide and you do want to remove it, wait for at least one week after the treatment. Watch the nest for a few minutes to make sure no wasps are using it. Wear gloves, and put the nest in a plastic bag (the nest will probably fall apart when you touch it). Sweep up and bag and dust and bits of nest, tie the neck of the bag and put it in the bin, and wash your hands afterwards.