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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
 Posted - 02/03/2009 : 07:19:42
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Up until last week, we shared a driveway with a neighbour who originally subdivided our block from his. Anyway, to cut a long story short, we now have our own driveway and the kids think it is great to have a 100m of good surface for riding their bikes down and not have to worry about the neighbours cars going in and out... up until the first time the kids all went down with their bikes. They came up again very quickly with several wasp stings each. There is a big paper wasp nest on a powerpole in the paddock next to the driveway. The nest is about 30cm long by 15cm wide and thick with hundreds of wasps. The wasps were obviously disturbed by the machinery the last few days and now won't let anyone near them. It isn't just the kids on bikes either, can't even walk past to check the letterbox. The nest is nearly 3m up on the side of the powerpole so well out of reach of the kids, we didn't even know it was there.
Normally, I would leave any wasp nests alone unless they were in a dangerous position and I would have thought this one would be ok being so high and a couple of metres from the driveway. I'm just wondering whether they would settle down eventually so we could walk past and the kids could play safely or will I have to kill the wasps and remove the nest? I don't really want to do that though. A couple of small scrubby trees had to be removed when the driveway was being cleared and this did expose the nest to the sun (after about 10am) so I wonder whether they will move on eventually? Any suggestions?
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld
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Pamela
head gardener
Australia
3949 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 07:39:14
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Oh dear Gail. How lovely to have your own driveway though! I have had paper wasps with a small nest (tiny) in a rose bush - in fact there were two roses affected. They are VERY aggressive insects and I was in some fear of them and eventually attacked the limbs with the nests rigged up like a beekeeper and threw it on the back of my ute and drove them to the tip immediately with wasps buzzingt in the back of my ute. When I got back, waspless, there were a few strays looking for their nest but they did not rebuild. If it were me with them so close to your family and them so terribly aggressive, I would remove the nest but be well dressed and prepared for attack when you do it. The stings are nasty as I had several. Mine were originally disturbed by rose pruning and they did not move on and I removed them about 2 weeks later after being stung a number of times,
These are the ones with the beeswax looking nest, that is white in colour, is that right?
"The air of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears." |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 08:13:16
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 oh dear Gail sorry I cant help, hope the kids where okies, poor buggars, that would have hurt 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 08:16:39
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I just went down and took some photos. This is from the house looking down. You can just see the power pole at the bottom of the hill to the left of the driveway
Down the hill just as the driveway starts to level off - power pole on left, the bulge in the pole nearly in line with the excavator is the wasp nest
Zooming in as not going any closer (all the mess on the other side of the fence is the neighbours)
Zoomed in a bit more - the dots all over it are wasps
Now to walk back up the hill from where I took the photos
Still have to clean up the edges of the driveway and down near the front... hopefully next weekend.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 08:37:21
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that is one big nest
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 08:38:21
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If we have a problem we call the council and they will come out and get rid of them, maybe you could call your council 1st ??
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 09:48:07
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Hopefully will be fixed soon. I was talking to our neighbour just before and he said he'd spray it for us as he would be working around there this morning. Also just found out we are getting the driveway bitumened. The neighbour is paying for the driveway as it was supposed to be put in when he subdivided years ago... been saying ever since that he will do it just never gotten around to it. We haven't been in any hurry and they are nice people so hasn't been a problem. We only found out last week that he was doing the driveway as he wanted to do his own driveway up so would get ours done at the same time. We haven't been talking to him since early last week but apparently he decided to bitumen his driveway (being on a hill the driveways wash easily when only gravel) and thought he'd would get ours done as well as we had waited so long. I'm not complaining, even though I'm not that keen on a hot black driveway, it is practical as there is virtually no maintenance on it compared to gravel/roadbase. It pays to have patience sometimes 
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 09:59:46
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Just leave them be, they don't usually go around biting people unless they are disturbed.. It looks too high up to cause any problems I honestly cannot see what you are concerned about as its a long way from your house..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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The Estate
head gardener
Australia
3676 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:00:00
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great news Gail, and easy for the kids on their bikes too 
My basic weeding rule: if they grow in rows they're flowers;
if they don't they're weeds.
Melbourne |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:04:15
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I cannot believe your neighbour suggested spraying it..I do hope you said no..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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Mary-Anne
garden sage
Australia
10809 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:05:41
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And if he sprays it  I hope they come back and bite him..
Friends are the flowers in the garden of life
Love Your Enemies... It Will Drive Them Nuts |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:08:38
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Mary-Anne, they are causing problems as we can't walk down our own driveway to check the letterbox or the kids can't ride their bikes down. Each kid came back to the house with 8 to 10 stings each... that is a problem and could have been much worse, they still have large swellings on their arms, legs, one on a back (went inside a shirt), and one just below an ear 2 days after they were stung. All the kids were doing was riding back and forward from the letterbox to the hill, didn't even know the nest was there until they started getting stung.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 10:16:15
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Mary-Anne, I'm sure if it was you or your kids or grandkids getting stung while you walked down to check your letterbox you would do something about it.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 11:47:19
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gail I think it was because they were disturbed by the machinery but I would think they would move on because they normally dont like their nest to be exposed like that. what I would have done is rug up in some thick clothing and a mask and dug a hole near the post then knocked the nest down and buried it. A trick I learned a long time ago from an old neighbour which really works is when you're trying to get rid of a wasp nest keep a hose handy and hose them as they fly around, because they get too heavy to fly and just drop to the ground which gives you some time to deal with it. I really don't think they would have rebuilt back on that pole once the nest was gone. But it's probably been sprayed already? If the nest is still there minus the wasps I'd knock it down anyway. The reason you bury it is so that the other wasps can't detect it or return to it because there may be young wasps in there that haven't hatched out of their chambers yet.
what colour were they? It's a bit hard to tell from the photo but it looks more like a mud dauber nest? but then I only know the wasps we get here |
Edited by - otamot on 02/03/2009 12:02:55 |
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Gail
garden sage
Australia
7707 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 12:26:03
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It is some sort of paper wasp Ota. We usually see their nests high up in trees in a round or oval shape but for some reason they have built on the pole. The biggest one have seen was about netball size. I had a photo somewhere of one that had fallen out of a tree a couple of years ago but can't find it, I'll keep looking though. The nest is a silvery grey colour and paperish not mud. The wasps themselves are only small - about 1cm, thin, black with fine yellow stripes - I had a good look at one as it was stuck inside one of the kids shirts.
Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is knowing not to use it in a fruit salad.
A ounce of common sense is worth more than a ton of intelligence.
Gail, near Gympie, Qld |
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otamot
head gardener
1013 Posts |
Posted - 02/03/2009 : 12:44:06
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that's what confused me it looked like it was made out of mud in the photo but sometimes you can't tell from a pic.
I hope the kids are ok ouch |
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Wasp problem