On 06/12/2016 14:29, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 06/12/16 12:42, Martin Brown wrote:
On 05/12/2016 08:35, Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sun, 4 Dec 2016 22:16:54 +0000, Jeff Layman
wrote:

On 01/12/16 18:41, Jeff Layman wrote:
One a south-facing fence panel today, a wasp was scraping wood. The
shade temperature was around 3 or 4 deg C, although it must have
been a
good bit higher in the sun.

Wasps have been a damn nuisance this year,
[snip]

They weren't much bother with fruit this year where I am.


Killed a wasp crawling over the lounge carpet late this afternoon. I've
no idea where it came from or how it got in.

Had three of those recently; quite large, so probably dozy queens
looking to hibernate. I've no idea how it got in, as windows all shut
these days. I caught them in a jam-jar and put them outside to find
somewhere else to spend the winter.

I generally leave them to it, but have had to evict a similar number of
dozy queens that woke up when we had the fire on over the weekend. I
don't mind them over wintering outside in the garage but not in my house.

Yes, as Chris noted, a large, dozy queen. We don't tolerate them in the
house as we look after our 2-year old granddaughter a couple of days a
week, and wouldn't want her to get stung. But why are they still around?

In my case I think they got the idea that the house is cold enough to
hibernate and were surprised when it suddenly got a lot warmer. Until
very recently with the cold snap there has been plenty of food for them.

I have still got roses and pelargoniums in flower as well as some very
confused azaleas!

It was much milder last winter and I don't remember seeing any wasps in
November, let alone December. I am afraid that any nest found within 10
metres of the house will be dealt with next year.

Unless you are digging for fence posts and hit a wasps nest by accident
it really isn't worth persecuting them unless they are in the fabric of
the house. Their paper nests in free space are really beautiful.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown