Wasps

[solo]

Is it not possible to live alongside what's hardly a major threat to life?

When they get into the cottage roof space they seem to love chewing the ceiling fibreboard in the process of nest building .Trying to sleep with wasps dropping into the room isn’t for everyone…but I do get where you’re coming from

 

[Universe]

No

Depends where it is, if family member is allergic to such, etc...

 

[Paddington]

We put out wasp traps this time of year consisting of plastic water bottles with the tops cut off and inverted and a bit of jam or rotting fruit in the bottom. Don't mind seeing wasps out in the field, but when you can't enter buildings without being stung, then need to do something.

 

[Widgetone]

Bloody things seem to be even more aggressive in these warmer temps, cant find the nearby nest(s) though, need the wheat fields next to us to be combined first to trace them I think!

 

[JP1]

What do the pest control folk charge in your area to treat a wasp nest?
B&NES council want £132 plus another £53 to treat a second while they are there, robbing b#stards!

Mate does mine for free but he charges householders £60 + VAT

 

[honeyend]

We used to get a lot around our last house, there once made a 2ft nest wrapped a soil pipe underneath the floor boards. We only bothered with them if the nest were by the front door, cheap wasp powder dusted over, and puffed the entrance of the nest when they had gone back for the evening always cleared them with in a day. They chew old wood to make their nests, which is amazing to watch.

I got stung by an angry wasp that chased me across a field, no I idea why, and I had a bad reaction as it stung me multiple times. According to the consultant I saw, they only have a certain amount of sting to use, and I carried an EpiPen for a while. I do not want to be stung, but like maggots they are there for a purpose, and unless they are in the house, or near a door, I leave them alone.

 

[Wurzeetoo]

Any body made a ‘poofler’ like the wasp men use? I’m thinking a couple of lengths 15mm copper to take air from a foot pump (air bed one), a snipped balloon over the end of the pipe for amusing noises and to stop the powder coming back down the pipe. A bottle over that to hold the powder with a flex I tube on the end to poke in jaspers hole.

I’m going to get stung aren’t I?

Not half as much as I did using a shop vac when I was quoted £130 although interesting way to meet all my new neighbours as I ran screaming up the road! Local guy did it for £40 after I admitted defeat

 

[steveR]

Question to anyone familar with Cymag.

I have been asked by an aquaintance how they should dispose of a can of the stuff that was found in a cupboard in a shed? Reckoned it was about 20-25 years old.

Tin is dry and solid and was stored in a plastic bag, so I assume it will still be active, or does it degrade with time? Now put in a sealed plastic drum!! And no, I don't want the stuff....

 

[suffolksmallholder]

Love them!
Hate being stung though.
Like to watch them gather wood pulp and then that amazing process of turning it into their nest.
I save any Queen I find but ask her not to send her workers out to get me, as if
They love willow tree branches for something only wasps know about.
Another of natures miracles.
SS

 

[Forkdriver]

I had an old tin a few years ago and the white powder had turned brown which is showing degradation. Nasty stuff to dispose of and handle. It was still legal then so I just put it down some rabbit holes. Damp activates the powder to release Cyanide gas. It became illegal to hold after 2004.
I think your friend should contact the nearest environmental health officer to find a licensed firm for disposal.

 

[Kidds]

We disposed of some a good few years back. All legally and above board.
All it entailed was delivering it to the designated site, basically they just chucked it into landfill and added "it might sort a few of the rats out".

 

[ollie989898]

Cyanide released in the open air isn't going to harm anyone. Open the tin and apply water from a distance with a hose? Leave it for a few hours, burn the remainder in a hot fire?

 

[Kidds]

Cyanide released in the open air isn't going to harm anyone. Open the tin and apply water from a distance with a hose? Leave it for a few hours, burn the remainder in a hot fire?

This is what I would do, in an open space far from anyone. On a day with a slight breeze and stand so as the breeze will take any gas away from you. Don't take your dog.
It is nasty stuff but I never heard of anyone coming to grief with it. My Dad used to use it for rabbits, he wore a dust mask when using it (a big no no as if it does get on your mask the moisture in your breath will activate it). He stored the masks on top of the tin. FFS!

 

[steveR]

Cyanide released in the open air isn't going to harm anyone. Open the tin and apply water from a distance with a hose? Leave it for a few hours, burn the remainder in a hot fire?

I have to say, I wondered on this option, but was not going to suggest that...

Disposal cost will be exorbitant I suspect, based on the costs charged for old agrochems. Happily, I got shot of all mine under the scheme from Severn Trent Water

 

[steveR]

This is what I would do, in an open space far from anyone. On a day with a slight breeze and stand so as the breeze will take any gas away from you. Don't take your dog.
It is nasty stuff but I never heard of anyone coming to grief with it. My Dad used to use it for rabbits, he wore a dust mask when using it (a big no no as if it does get on your mask the moisture in your breath will activate it). He stored the masks on top of the tin. FFS!

I think the tin in question had been used for Rabbits and rats, on a smallholding....

 

[Kidds]

Disposal cost will be exorbitant I suspect, based on the costs charged for old agrochems.

Having disposed of a great deal of ag chems when we ceased trading I would say the costs are not that bad really. Probably less than the purchase price in most cases.
That would have included paraquat, Basamid, Metasystox etc, all the proper nasties

 

[topground]

Bury it in specially designed and excavated hole in the ground.