Lots and lots and lots of wasps

[Lias]

Couple of summers ago we had real problems with a wasp nest under our house, with the entrance near our front steps (but still hidden under the house) I was fucked if I was crawling around under our house which has very low foundations trying to deal to them and paid a professional $120 to sort it out.. money well spent imo.

[lb99]

What sort of wasps? The fat yellow and blacks (German wasp?) make ground nests,the skinny ones make paper nests and are nasty.Wasps haven't been in this country long,the German wasp arrived in the '40's I think.

I think they are the paper wasps, the skinny ones, the nest is inside the walls of the woodshed, under a pile of rubbish (bark and stuff)

Those german wasps are mean, we could do with a few here to keep the flys under control

[jrandom]

I was having the obligitory pre shifting cleanout yesterday...

Well done on avoiding getting stung. I can recommend the Ecolab pest control guys if you need someone to call. [Edit: Although they're probably not available in Blenheim.]

However, I just gotta say. Discovering a wasp's nest while clearing out? Luxury.

This one time, about three years ago, I was cleaning out the shed prior to shifting house. Lifted a cardboard box over my head and a wee spider dropped out and crawled into my right ear. No shit. It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened.

Did the mad ear-slapping jumping dance of doom for a wee while but it didn't help. Spider quietened down and I figured I'd finish the job and then pop down to the A&E and get it syringed out, or something.

As it so happened the spider stayed quiet and I didn't get around to being arsed about going to sort it out, so it stayed in there overnight. I got woken up several times by it skritchy-scratching around on my eardrum.

In the morning it was still there and I'd had enough, so I inserted a wet cotton bud and gave it a tickle-up. It ran out and down my cheek and got slapped and proudly displayed to Mrs Fish and the kids. It's a pity that they [edit: spiders, that is; not Mrs Fish and the kids] always curl up their legs when they die; it looked much bigger before it got walloped.

I would have used the wet cotton bud to start with, but my phobia of sticking things into my ear canals is much more powerful than my phobia of having mostly-somnolent spiders in there.

[sunhuntin]

Well done on avoiding getting stung. I can recommend the Ecolab pest control guys if you need someone to call. [Edit: Although they're probably not available in Blenheim.]

However, I just gotta say. Discovering a wasp's nest while clearing out? Luxury.

This one time, about three years ago, I was cleaning out the shed prior to shifting house. Lifted a cardboard box over my head and a wee spider dropped out and crawled into my right ear. No shit. It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened.

I would have used the wet cotton bud to start with, but my phobia of sticking things into my ear canals is much more powerful than my phobia of having mostly-somnolent spiders in there.

screw that mate! bloody hell...id likely tear me ear off to get it out...cant imagine nothing worse! im amazed you didnt wake up covered in web actually.

i had a horde of baby spiders hatch out in the little live xmas tree i used to have in my room. woke up xmas day, sat up and looked in amazment at the size of the webbing all of the ceiling. though i hate spiders with a vengence, i made damn sure they almost all survived....likely ate a few while asleep though.

[jrandom]

id likely tear me ear off to get it out...

I'm no arachnophobe. Spiders are good bugs. All crawly things are fine by me, in fact, except cockroaches. Fucking cockroaches. I jumped out of a perfectly good inflatable boat and into a lake last week because a bush roach crawled out between my feet.

If I ever follow Rincewind to EcksEcksEcksEcks, I suppose I'm going to have to develop a healthy level of spider-hatred, purely for self-preservation, or I'll probably turn green, swell up and die within the first week after sitting on a toilet seat without DDTing the underside first.

[Motu]

I jumped out of a moving car - going downhill!,when a wasp was buzzing around me.My wife seemed to bring the car under control easily enough,apparently she wasn't concerned about the wasp with a driverless car.I picked myself up off the road and got back in the passenger seat.

And as a note to the safety Nazi's - I was wearing no protective gear at all,not even a helmet!

[jrandom]

Nazi's

You did that on purpose, didn't you?

Didn't you?

[Motu]

What you seige?

[sunhuntin]

I jumped out of a moving car - going downhill!,when a wasp was buzzing around me.My wife seemed to bring the car under control easily enough,apparently she wasn't concerned about the wasp with a driverless car.I picked myself up off the road and got back in the passenger seat.

And as a note to the safety Nazi's - I was wearing no protective gear at all,not even a helmet!

i had a bee get under the visor of dads full facer once when i was wearing it. went cross-eyed looking to see what it was, calmly indicate, pull over and sit there wondering how to get the helmet off without getting stung. eventually worked out the visor does, in fact, move. both went home happy.
have been attack by two other bees though. one got wedged in the padding of my open facer. stupid me didnt know he was in there face first and got a finger full of sting when i went to flick him out. its hard changing gear with only two fingers!
second time, it got between my neck and jacket collars. didnt know it was there, and was looking at a giveway. turned to the right, prick. hmmm...whats that burning sensation?

both times a dab of honey did the trick in stopped the pain and swelling...i went home and self-fixed both times and then was back out again. gonna have to remember to put honey in the bike somewhere. too expensive to buy.

[Daffyd]

My ex wife had a great aunt that was killed when a wasp got into the car her husband was driving and got inside his glasses. It stung him in the eye and he lost control. This was many years ago...before the advent of seatbelts etc.

[Pixie]

Yep Carbaryl sp? is the way to go, i normally make a blow pipe with some carbaryl in it...

I'd love to see someone do this,but get stung by a wasp and suck instead of blowing

[Pixie]

Well done on avoiding getting stung. I can recommend the Ecolab pest control guys if you need someone to call. [Edit: Although they're probably not available in Blenheim.]

However, I just gotta say. Discovering a wasp's nest while clearing out? Luxury.

This one time, about three years ago, I was cleaning out the shed prior to shifting house. Lifted a cardboard box over my head and a wee spider dropped out and crawled into my right ear. No shit. It took me a few seconds to realise what had happened.

Did the mad ear-slapping jumping dance of doom for a wee while but it didn't help. Spider quietened down and I figured I'd finish the job and then pop down to the A&E and get it syringed out, or something.

As it so happened the spider stayed quiet and I didn't get around to being arsed about going to sort it out, so it stayed in there overnight. I got woken up several times by it skritchy-scratching around on my eardrum.

In the morning it was still there and I'd had enough, so I inserted a wet cotton bud and gave it a tickle-up. It ran out and down my cheek and got slapped and proudly displayed to Mrs Fish and the kids. It's a pity that they [edit: spiders, that is; not Mrs Fish and the kids] always curl up their legs when they die; it looked much bigger before it got walloped.

I would have used the wet cotton bud to start with, but my phobia of sticking things into my ear canals is much more powerful than my phobia of having mostly-somnolent spiders in there.

I would wager that that little spider laid her eggs in your brain

[What?]

I deal to wasp nests on a regular basis. Favoured weapon is petrol poured into hole, then a wad of newspaper jammed in said hole to prevent escapes.
2nd favourite weapon is Carbaryl (takes longer to work, but petrol doesn't flow up hill...)

Tip - do the job on a dark night, and use a red light to see with (hunting spotlight with red lens, but a red plastic bag tied over a good torch does the job). Wasps usually have a few guards near the nest entrance, and a white light will wake the buggers up.

[Kiwicare]

I am a bit of an expert in dealing with wasps having been doing it here in NZ and in the UK and Ireland professionally for 30 years (ohh crickey is it that long?).

DO NOT USE PETROL - While this might seem like good fun and will kill wasps, it is dangerous. I have met a few people that are lucky to be alive after trying this and have come away with only minor burns and embarrasing loss of facial hair and pride.

If you can identify the entrance to the nest use a powder type insecticide such as carbaryl wasp dust or carbaryl wettable powder. The wasp dust comes in a puffer bottle which will allow you to puff the powder into the nest. Otherwise use a long spoon or ladel to coat the entrance with powder. Do this in dry conditions. Damp will make the powder stick together and wasps will not pick it up on their feet and walk it it the nest.

Powder has a calming effect on wasps, in the same way that beekeepers use smoke to calm bees. Liquids will tend to make wasps angry. Carry out he treatment at dusk when there is little activity.

German wasps and common wasps are only distiguishable by the patern of stripes on their abdomens and both are known as paper wasps. Their nests are made of 'paper' they make from chewing wood. Early in the year the workers feed primarily on sweet foods but they are likely to change their diet to more protein later in the season and this seems to make them more aggressive. Wasps will catch insects on the wing and will attack bee colonies in a raid for the bee's honey store. There are other species of wasp in NZ but these are solitary wasps or only form loose colonies and are unlikely to sting.

Wasps can sting multiple times, unlike bees that have barbed stings which stick in human skin and is left behind when the bee flies off. The bee then dies of its wounds.

A good source of info is www.kiwicare.co.nz

[MSTRS:Me]

There are other species of wasp in NZ but these are solitary wasps or only form loose colonies and are unlikely to sting.

What about the Asian Paper Wasp . These are aggressive little shits. I have been stung by these things and it's nasty.