Yesterday, when I was finishing hanging up my laundry, I turned to go in the basement door, and my eye was caught by a huge wasp nest hanging in the window beside the door. Many wasps were busy going in and out, and were totally ignoring me (good thing!). Actually, it was an amazing work of art (if my camera were working, I'd show you a picture). It was perfectly round, about 5 inches in diameter, gray and white striped, with a little hole in the bottom. I've not ever seen one like this before. I called Jack Dunford, and he told me I should get a professional to take it down. So I called every pest control number in the book--prices ranged from $200 to $50 (guess which one I chose!).
He arrived this morning, took one look at the nest and said "Holy s---!" He was full of facts about wasps. He told me these were yellow jackets, not paper wasps--there's a slight difference in their nests. These bees don't like it when you try to remove their nest. About half the bees are in the nest at any one time, tending to the queen, while the other half are out collecting food. Once the ones in the nest realize that someone is attacking their nest, they send out a radar, so that within 15 seconds all the wasps within 200 metres come flying in as fast as they can to protect their nest. Isn't that amazing? Except when the nest is on your house!
So he got his sprayer, powered by a motor on his truck. He sprayed the shed entirely, then sprayed around the window, and then attacked the nest (all from about 20 feet away). The spray that he uses is residual, so that when bugs land on it, they will die. He told me that by Saturday, all the bees should be dead, so I could just take the nest and throw it in the garbage.
I'm glad it's done--hope that I won't be hosting any more bees!
