Wasp nest - unwelcome visitors!

[LargeMarge]

Did you try making friends with them?

Here on the west coast of north America, we have yellow jackets all over the place. We discovered they are very social, and enjoy building community with a member of another species. This one-on-one connection seems to be the basis of their society.

Any time we encounter each other, we exchange a friendly 'howdy', then everybody goes on their way. I often speak these words: "Thanks for checking in. I'm doing fine."

And another point:
Just like humans or dogs or mules, individual wasps have a distinct personality. Some are maternal, some tend toward the engineering side of things, some are administrators, but they all share one feature == they are clowns!

They love showing off their flying skills, often buzzing me eye-to-eye for a moment's connection. I feel so blessed!

If you are bothered by them, you might try tapping using Emotional Freedom Technique. EFT is a simple fast way to reduce or eliminate feelings of discomfort.

Please let me know about your success.

[Wayfarer1008]

Its Friday time to take action on this issue "Times a wasting" so take the inactive, put on a heavy set of clothes, Put on your weather gear">Foul weather Gear, Borrow a full face motorcycle helmet, wrap yourself in a Tyvek suite and go lift the sail cover off and raze the sail.
The rest of us will stand back "A Safe Distance away of course, drinking Beer "give you direction and cheer you on. Of Course we will video the entire event and put it on Youtube so people with this issue can learn from your efforts.

[rgranger]

Originally Posted by bletso

You might try freezing them with a CO2 extinguisher and then knock the nest loose.

That seems like a good idea. I was going to suggest you slip a few mothballs under the cover but the CO2 idea should work faster and with less smell.

[rgranger]

BTW: I have had the opportunity to actually try out this "old wive's tale". It works great.
A tobacco balm works great on wasp stings. I'd stop and buy a pack of Redman chewing tobacco before I go anywhere close to that nest. If you get stung. Put a wet patch of tobacco over the sting and let it sit for a while. The nicanoids and alkaloids in tobacco are basic.... and the venom in wasp stings is acidic. Also, fire-ant venom is acidic. The tobacco trick works great on ant bites as well. Been there... done that too

[Rotten Ricky]

Well, I can give an update on my attempt to make my sail-cover wasp-free, though not yet a final report. I made myself a Wasp Whacker!

I got a small, shaded-pole, 110 V electric motor (similar to those in a heater with a fan, or a bathroom fan, so fairly weak). I wound a piece of clothes hanger wire around a drill that was a tiny bit smaller than the motor shaft to make sure the wire would be like a spring and clamp itself onto the shaft when I pushed it on. This gave me a 2-bladed wire, each length of about 9" sticking out each side and by cutting them carefully to the same length I was able to reduce any out-of-balance vibrations. I attached the motor to a piece of plywood, set it up under the sail-cover and nest and connected it up to 110 V AC.

Soon there were hundreds of bits of wasp all over the deck. After banging on the sail cover periodically, more flew out and perished and the nest fell out as well. Today I will take the cover off and do a check. I am sure that the use of the soapy solution will finish off any wasps that have hung around.

Thanks for all the illuminating and entertaining responses!
RR.

[desodave]

First, thanks for providing the daily entertainment.



And secondly for using a mechanical way of dealing with it. We live on a wasp infested hillside but they're mudwasps - look just like aggressive yellow jackets but only sting if really pissed off or sat on.

[rgranger]

Originally Posted by Rotten Ricky

...

Soon there were hundreds of bits of wasp all over the deck. After banging on the sail cover periodically, more flew out and perished and the nest fell out as well. Today I will take the cover off and do a check. I am sure that the use of the soapy solution will finish off any wasps that have hung around.

....

Video?
Photos?????