Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Webster Apr 29, 2011 21:23:29	Last week we killed a total of about three wasps that found their way into the house. This usually happens in the spring as they are looking for a new place to build a nest. Over the past two days, we've killed 8. That means there's a nest growing nearby. Now, for the past year, we've had a "dead" nest in our kitchen winow. We killed it last year, but, the window is hard to open and the nest is on the inside glass, which makes it really tough to get to. While on the second floor, the hill next to the house makes it as high as the third floor, so we can't get to it from the outside. I've tapped the window, and nothing comes out to attack as it did last year, so the nest isn't being used. Plus, last year's wasps were black and yellow, these are black/reddish. Earlier tonight, I almost stepped on one chillin' on the floor. (And me without shoes...) The cat circled it, which is what drew my attention to it. It started to fly low, which was a mistake. The cat swatted at it and knocked it down. It got smart and flew up high to the light, but it couldn't escape my raquet of death. (A bug zapper. Looks like a raquet, runs on batteries, zaps bugs dead!) My wife texts me that the cat caught another one. Every spring we get them, but after killing one or two, which we assume is the queen trying to start a nest, we don't see them anymore. This many suggests there's a nest somewhere in the house, but I don't know where.
#2 jetshield Apr 29, 2011 21:58:40	Black and red? Could be a Mason Wasp if you're in the southern states. They're comonly found in the Texas area. If they are Mason Wasps, You're actually in luck. They're not very territorial, they aren't particularly interested in defending their nests, they're not very agressive, and they're solitary (meaning they don't form colonies). They tend to move into abandoned nests of other wasps or bees, or into wood borings or mud borrows. If you live in a stone or brick house, look for tunnels in the mortar on the outside of your home. In any case, wasps in the house are just no fun. Hope you get it fixed. Oh, you should also be aware that the pheromones left in wasp nests can last for several years, and signal other wasps that it's a safe place to live. Getting rid of that old nest in the window should be on your priority list.
#3 Cpt_Micha Apr 29, 2011 21:59:27	Oh that sucks. Could be right outside under an eave. I hope you don't have the crappy luck that some people I've seen on tv had, where their entire attic was filled with nests.
#4 iqwinn Apr 29, 2011 22:23:30	Wasps.  Hornets.  Yellow jackets. Whatever you call them, I hate those little abominations. I love Raid in the black can!
#5 jetshield Apr 29, 2011 22:34:07	Hornets and yellowjackets are both wasps, but not all wasps are hornets or yellowjackets.
#6 boraxe May 02, 2011 8:50:43	Last summer the wife and I woke up one morning to find half-a-dozen wasps in our bedroom. I killed them all. I then went and openend the door to my office and found it infested with hundreds of wasps. Turns out the maintenance guy saw wasps going in an out of a hole in the foundation and though it would be a smart idea to plug the hole - right below our office and bedroom windows - so then we had thousands of angry, feaked-out wasps trying to find their back way home. Frakking idiot.
#7 jesse.two.coins May 02, 2011 9:11:25	Last summer the wife and I woke up one morning to find half-a-dozen wasps in our bedroom. I killed them all. ninja. I get carpenter bees really bad they drill into the 2x4's that make up my back porch, I either shoot them with a staple gun or take a racket and hit them like a shuttlecock
#8 Cpt_Micha May 02, 2011 9:58:31	Have you found the source of your bee problem yet Webster?
#9 shiningwolf88 May 02, 2011 11:12:07	I recently had a wasp try and build a nest on the inside of my car's fuel cover...it did not end well for anyone involved at the station.
#10 Cpt_Micha May 02, 2011 11:27:44	I recently had a wasp try and build a nest on the inside of my car's fuel cover...it did not end well for anyone involved at the station. Was there fire involved?
#11 jetshield May 02, 2011 11:27:46	@that canadian guy up there whos name i can never remember Uuummmmm....no. edited for clairity, 'cause someone snuck in ahead of me
#12 zombie_babies May 02, 2011 13:00:19	I had some massive yellow jacket nests in the yard the last couple of years.  I used apicide to handle the situation.  Nasty stuff and it requires proximity to use, but effective.  Only problem is it's designed to be spread by the flyin' buggers and it does not discriminate in the type of flyin' bugger it kills so there can be collateral damage.  But whatever.  Gotta kill the suckas as fast as possible since the gal and the kid are highly allergic.  Had some li'l paper wasps get comfy in the siding one year, too.  Waited 'til it got cool and then dumped an assload of apicide on 'em and sealed the entrance with foam.  Never heard from 'em again.  But yeah, wasps in the house is high on my lost of problems to avoid if at all possible.
#13 Maxperson May 02, 2011 13:07:47	Many years ago, in the late 90's or 2000, I was walking down the street when I noticed a flight path of bees going back and forth over the sidewalk in front of me.  We're talking 100's of them.  I looked around me and there was a small used car lot on the corner I was approaching and in the front wheel well of a car was a mass of thousands and thousands of bees sitting there starting to build a hive.  I then proceeded to walk through the flying bees and tell the person in the office that he had a swarm of bees in one of his cars.  His response to me was, "Yeah, I know.  I was standing outside and I saw a cloud of bees in the sky flying by.  All of a sudden they just dove down into the car."