When the builders set to work this morning they noticed a low, background buzzing. Upon closer inspection the roof of my studio-to-be proved to be harbouring a new and very active wasps nest! As one of the builders is allergic to wasp venom he spent a tense and careful day working right below the newly erected wasp home. I was despatched to purchase a can of wasp nest foam to use after sundown. The nest itself is a beautiful thing, looking something like a white cabbage, or incredibly large flower bud. But busy, very busy, with active young wasps. This evening the baby boy courageously volunteered to don protective clothing (trackie bottoms, plastic jacket and one leather glove...). He climbed the step ladder somewhat nervously, and aimed the jet of foam at the nest. It felt really heartless. The nest was absolutely flooded with white foam, the weight of which brought down all the grub bearing comb parts, leaving the beautiful empty shell still attached to my tiles. Hundreds of poisoned wasps flopped to the floor, to meet a grizzly end, and fat white grubs splashed from the comb cells. Grim. One of the most unpleasant tasks I have ever been party to. However, no-one likes a garden full of wasps and I certainly can't expect the builders to remove and replace my tiles whilst they are alive with the stinging critters. So, goodbye wasps, and hello continuing renovations.
2 comments:
I read somewhere (or made it up) that having a wasp nest close to your house is not a bad thing, as they tend to be more active further away from the nest (a bit like living near an airport, if you are in the right place you get less interruptions then some of the people much further away… However when you are in the middle of renovations I can see the conflict of interests and the likely war that you would end up in with your little yellow and black striped buddies…
I wouldn't want wasps anywhere near where I was going to be living/working, and I think I'd feel bad about destroying them, too. I recently saw a wasp building a nest inside an abandoned birdhouse under the awning on the front steps, so I had to take down the birdhouse and destroy the nest. Hopefully the lone wasp found someplace else to build a nest...far away from the door!
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