http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/ Fri, 18 May 2012 04:29:49 +0000 MyBB http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-WASPS-ATTACKING-LIGHT-3AM Mon, 12 Sep 2011 10:25:24 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-WASPS-ATTACKING-LIGHT-3AM http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Hows-your-season-going Tue, 28 Jun 2011 17:41:19 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Hows-your-season-going
I`m fairly new to this being only my 3rd year but its building up slowly, have done my 50th nest today.

I think year 1 was about 50 total, year 2 was 100ish total, i am hoping to hit 200 this year.

how many do you average per year?

what was your best/worst year?

You to paul come on lets hear some figures from the wasp man himself.]]>
I`m fairly new to this being only my 3rd year but its building up slowly, have done my 50th nest today.

I think year 1 was about 50 total, year 2 was 100ish total, i am hoping to hit 200 this year.

how many do you average per year?

what was your best/worst year?

You to paul come on lets hear some figures from the wasp man himself.]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-wasps Wed, 25 May 2011 15:39:56 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-wasps ]]> ]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Can-you-identify-this-wasp Fri, 25 Mar 2011 10:36:49 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Can-you-identify-this-wasp
It's about 4-5 cm long, all black except 2 brown stripes on it's back. I've pictured it lying next to a normal wasp (which was also already dead and found inside a light-shade). As you can see from the attached pic, it's quite a bit bigger and not like a normal wasp at all.

I've done quite a bit of searching on the internet, but not seeing any pics that matches it. There is a 'black wasp' that exists as you'll know but this appears to be completely black with no stripes. Some folk have suggested it may be a hornet but the pics I find of hornets are similar colours to normal wasps, not black.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm worried I may get more and my dog will get stung next time. I think it flew in the window as it had been opened the whole day. I live on the West Coast of Scotland.

C.

  large wasp.jpg (Size: 52.05 KB / Downloads: 9) ]]>
It's about 4-5 cm long, all black except 2 brown stripes on it's back. I've pictured it lying next to a normal wasp (which was also already dead and found inside a light-shade). As you can see from the attached pic, it's quite a bit bigger and not like a normal wasp at all.

I've done quite a bit of searching on the internet, but not seeing any pics that matches it. There is a 'black wasp' that exists as you'll know but this appears to be completely black with no stripes. Some folk have suggested it may be a hornet but the pics I find of hornets are similar colours to normal wasps, not black.

Any help would be appreciated as I'm worried I may get more and my dog will get stung next time. I think it flew in the window as it had been opened the whole day. I live on the West Coast of Scotland.

C.

  large wasp.jpg (Size: 52.05 KB / Downloads: 9) ]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Wasp-traps Sun, 27 Feb 2011 13:55:41 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Wasp-traps
Last season we visited a few customers, who definitely had a wasp problem but the nest wasn’t on their property and there wasn’t really anything we could do to prevent these nuisance wasps from continuing to cause a problem.

We started looking at the different wasp traps that are available to buy and with some research we quickly identified that the majority of the cheaper wasp pot or dome type wasp traps were actually not very good at preventing a wasp problem. In fact some of these wasp traps actually make the problem worse by encouraging and feeding wasps into the area where they are located.

In a month or so I hope to get a new camcorder and there will be a video to accompany this post to demonstrate how wasp feeding behaviour and the use of these cheaper wasp traps can make the problem worse.

After researching the various types of wasp traps available, we concluded that the only trap which we would be happy to market to our customers is the WaspBane wasp trap.
It works in a completely different way to the other types of wasp traps and does not rely on killing thousands of wasps to prove its worth. Instead it uses wasp feeding behaviour to selectively target and kill scout wasps. Scout wasps are the foraging wasps that find food then report the location of the food back to the nest.
If these scouts never get back to the nest to report their findings, the area where the food source is, will remain free from feeding wasps. No more wasp problem!

It should be noted for people reading this which have a wasp nest and are thinking that a wasp trap will solve their problem, it won’t!
If you have a nest you will need to have it treated by a pest controller, a wasp trap will not be sufficient to kill a whole nest.

Wasp traps should only be used later in the summer when wasps start to become a problem. Remember that wasps provide a hugely valuable service in the early part of the summer as they catch tremendous amounts of smaller insects.

You can read more information about the different types of wasp trap and you can buy the wasp trap online from us.]]>
Last season we visited a few customers, who definitely had a wasp problem but the nest wasn’t on their property and there wasn’t really anything we could do to prevent these nuisance wasps from continuing to cause a problem.

We started looking at the different wasp traps that are available to buy and with some research we quickly identified that the majority of the cheaper wasp pot or dome type wasp traps were actually not very good at preventing a wasp problem. In fact some of these wasp traps actually make the problem worse by encouraging and feeding wasps into the area where they are located.

In a month or so I hope to get a new camcorder and there will be a video to accompany this post to demonstrate how wasp feeding behaviour and the use of these cheaper wasp traps can make the problem worse.

After researching the various types of wasp traps available, we concluded that the only trap which we would be happy to market to our customers is the WaspBane wasp trap.
It works in a completely different way to the other types of wasp traps and does not rely on killing thousands of wasps to prove its worth. Instead it uses wasp feeding behaviour to selectively target and kill scout wasps. Scout wasps are the foraging wasps that find food then report the location of the food back to the nest.
If these scouts never get back to the nest to report their findings, the area where the food source is, will remain free from feeding wasps. No more wasp problem!

It should be noted for people reading this which have a wasp nest and are thinking that a wasp trap will solve their problem, it won’t!
If you have a nest you will need to have it treated by a pest controller, a wasp trap will not be sufficient to kill a whole nest.

Wasp traps should only be used later in the summer when wasps start to become a problem. Remember that wasps provide a hugely valuable service in the early part of the summer as they catch tremendous amounts of smaller insects.

You can read more information about the different types of wasp trap and you can buy the wasp trap online from us.]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Wasp-nest-Removal Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:07:06 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Wasp-nest-Removal http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-The-best-bee-suits Thu, 13 Jan 2011 21:20:18 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-The-best-bee-suits
I always reccomend the sherriff bee suit. Its easy and comfortable to wear, i have never had a wasp or a bee get into my new one, yet!
Visability is far superior than the cheaper suits available. Its just a tidy allround suit.

The one i have is: S41 Honey Rustler Jacket
I will probably buy another one this year, one for bees and one for wasps.

The best bee suits for wasp control]]>
I always reccomend the sherriff bee suit. Its easy and comfortable to wear, i have never had a wasp or a bee get into my new one, yet!
Visability is far superior than the cheaper suits available. Its just a tidy allround suit.

The one i have is: S41 Honey Rustler Jacket
I will probably buy another one this year, one for bees and one for wasps.

The best bee suits for wasp control]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-wot-you-use Thu, 13 Jan 2011 15:53:46 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-wot-you-use ]]> ]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-another-new-member Thu, 13 Jan 2011 10:59:17 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-another-new-member ]]> ]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-do-i-need-a-licence Sun, 09 Jan 2011 14:48:40 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-do-i-need-a-licence http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Getting-rid-of-bees Fri, 07 Jan 2011 15:28:34 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Getting-rid-of-bees 1. A swarm of bees has just arrived
2. You have an established colony
Let’s deal with the first problem, a swarm of bees.
Swarms are usually fairly easy to deal with as long as they haven’t already found their way into somewhere hard to reach.
If you have a swarm arrive in your garden, don’t panic, swarming bees are not normally aggressive as they have nothing to defend. They are in the process of setting up a new home.
The best course of action is to get in touch with your local bee swarm collector and arrange for him/her to come along and collect the swarm and re home them.
Take a look at our list of bee swarm collectors and see if there is someone local to you.
Please note: Most swarm collectors charge a nominal fee to cover their travel costs etc.

The second problem can be more tricky, an established colony of bees.
If you need to get rid of a honey bee colony which has been there for any length of time there will be working honey combs to deal with. It is very straightforward for a pest controller to pop along and zap the colony, but there is legislation to make sure that the job is done properly.
Wherever possible, honey combs should be removed to prevent leakage of honey as the comb will no longer be managed by the bees and also to prevent another colony finding the combs and setting up home.
All entrances must be blocked if a residual insecticide is used to treat a colony. This is to prevent foraging bees from other colonies finding the honey combs and becoming contaminated by the insecticide and taking it back to their colony.
Honey bees are not currently protected, however this may change in the future.

Bumble bees are very hard to provoke into stinging and where possible should be left alone. They do a great service pollinating garden flowers and plants.

Mining bees are solitary bees which dig small holes in the ground, they have no sting and will not stay long, leave them alone.
Getting rid of bees should not be a problem as long as the guidelines are followed and common sense is applied.

Take a look at our page getting rid of bees]]> 1. A swarm of bees has just arrived
2. You have an established colony
Let’s deal with the first problem, a swarm of bees.
Swarms are usually fairly easy to deal with as long as they haven’t already found their way into somewhere hard to reach.
If you have a swarm arrive in your garden, don’t panic, swarming bees are not normally aggressive as they have nothing to defend. They are in the process of setting up a new home.
The best course of action is to get in touch with your local bee swarm collector and arrange for him/her to come along and collect the swarm and re home them.
Take a look at our list of bee swarm collectors and see if there is someone local to you.
Please note: Most swarm collectors charge a nominal fee to cover their travel costs etc.

The second problem can be more tricky, an established colony of bees.
If you need to get rid of a honey bee colony which has been there for any length of time there will be working honey combs to deal with. It is very straightforward for a pest controller to pop along and zap the colony, but there is legislation to make sure that the job is done properly.
Wherever possible, honey combs should be removed to prevent leakage of honey as the comb will no longer be managed by the bees and also to prevent another colony finding the combs and setting up home.
All entrances must be blocked if a residual insecticide is used to treat a colony. This is to prevent foraging bees from other colonies finding the honey combs and becoming contaminated by the insecticide and taking it back to their colony.
Honey bees are not currently protected, however this may change in the future.

Bumble bees are very hard to provoke into stinging and where possible should be left alone. They do a great service pollinating garden flowers and plants.

Mining bees are solitary bees which dig small holes in the ground, they have no sting and will not stay long, leave them alone.
Getting rid of bees should not be a problem as long as the guidelines are followed and common sense is applied.

Take a look at our page getting rid of bees]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Howdy-Again Fri, 24 Dec 2010 00:54:13 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Howdy-Again
Looking forward to a great season in 2011
and with some help from the new look wasp control uk & forum

if you have not registered on wasp control uk web site
have a look its well worth the money
so get on there and grab your post codes lol
works for me
http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/

Regards
Fraser]]>
Looking forward to a great season in 2011
and with some help from the new look wasp control uk & forum

if you have not registered on wasp control uk web site
have a look its well worth the money
so get on there and grab your post codes lol
works for me
http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/

Regards
Fraser]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Mole-traps-whats-your-favourite Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:38:09 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Mole-traps-whats-your-favourite
However it would be good to know which traps you prefer to use and what your opinion is of each of the different types.

For instance has anyone used the Talpirid monstrosity yet? And did they have any success with it?
I personally haven’t even seen one in the flesh, and feel that the sheer size of the thing would put me off using it, not to mention that if I turned up at a customer’s door armed with a piece of black bake alight I may get some strange looks…

In normal situations I prefer to use the Talpa mole trap which is available from magnum trap co. But occasionally I get the odd playing field or cemetery to do and then prefer to use the Duffus type, I recently bought some of the “flat pack” duffus traps, and whilst I would agree that they are well put together trap, I do feel that the springs are a little strong which do not allow for a very fine setting. They are either set too hard or too fine and the spring pressure sets them off on their own, normally just after you have bedded them in.

I have a bucket full of the Fenn scissor types too, but they rarely come out to play.]]>
However it would be good to know which traps you prefer to use and what your opinion is of each of the different types.

For instance has anyone used the Talpirid monstrosity yet? And did they have any success with it?
I personally haven’t even seen one in the flesh, and feel that the sheer size of the thing would put me off using it, not to mention that if I turned up at a customer’s door armed with a piece of black bake alight I may get some strange looks…

In normal situations I prefer to use the Talpa mole trap which is available from magnum trap co. But occasionally I get the odd playing field or cemetery to do and then prefer to use the Duffus type, I recently bought some of the “flat pack” duffus traps, and whilst I would agree that they are well put together trap, I do feel that the springs are a little strong which do not allow for a very fine setting. They are either set too hard or too fine and the spring pressure sets them off on their own, normally just after you have bedded them in.

I have a bucket full of the Fenn scissor types too, but they rarely come out to play.]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Nice-to-be-back Wed, 22 Dec 2010 20:35:21 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Nice-to-be-back
Adam here known as Dak on the old forum.

Roll on wasp season...missing them already

A]]>
Adam here known as Dak on the old forum.

Roll on wasp season...missing them already

A]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Do-wasps-use-old-nests Wed, 22 Dec 2010 19:40:50 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Do-wasps-use-old-nests Another linked question that crops up from time to time is:

Do wasps return to the same site?

It is possible that you may get a wasp nest year after year, but they are not using old nests from previous years, wasps always build a brand new nest each year, which when you think about it actually makes sense! By starting a new nest the queen is actually preventing any contamination from diseases that may have been present in a pre-used existing nest.

If you keep getting a wasp nest year after year, it just means that your home/location happens to be a particularly good location for wasps!
Wasps love to nest in warm places, so if your roof catches the sun all day long, wasps are likely to build a nest under the tiles where they too can get the heat from sun all day long. Wasps do everything quicker and better when the weather is hot. Although they do regulate the temprature within the nest.

Being an insect they are cold blooded and cannot regulate their body temperature as we do, so rely on other sources of heat to warm up.

Not surprisingly we often get called to treat wasp nests late in the autumn that have been built next to or around heating pipes and flu’s and are still very active.]]> Another linked question that crops up from time to time is:

Do wasps return to the same site?

It is possible that you may get a wasp nest year after year, but they are not using old nests from previous years, wasps always build a brand new nest each year, which when you think about it actually makes sense! By starting a new nest the queen is actually preventing any contamination from diseases that may have been present in a pre-used existing nest.

If you keep getting a wasp nest year after year, it just means that your home/location happens to be a particularly good location for wasps!
Wasps love to nest in warm places, so if your roof catches the sun all day long, wasps are likely to build a nest under the tiles where they too can get the heat from sun all day long. Wasps do everything quicker and better when the weather is hot. Although they do regulate the temprature within the nest.

Being an insect they are cold blooded and cannot regulate their body temperature as we do, so rely on other sources of heat to warm up.

Not surprisingly we often get called to treat wasp nests late in the autumn that have been built next to or around heating pipes and flu’s and are still very active.]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Got-on-at-last Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:42:26 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Got-on-at-last http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Yet-Another-New-Newbie Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:52:29 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-Yet-Another-New-Newbie Steve Here from Burton Upon Trent Area]]> Steve Here from Burton Upon Trent Area]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-What%E2%80%99s-the-difference-between-a-bee-nest-and-a-wasp-nest Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:53:10 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-What%E2%80%99s-the-difference-between-a-bee-nest-and-a-wasp-nest The Bumble Bee
Bumble bees will only have between 50 and 100 individuals in the nest. Bumble bees are larger than wasps and appear furry with defined yellow stripes across a “black” abdomen.
Bumble bees tend to hover about outside the entrance to their nest almost is if they are not quite sure if they are in the right place.
Take a look at the photo of a bumble below.



The Honey Bee
Honey bees number in the thousands, far more than wasps. You can sometimes see them bringing in pollen to the nest, this will be evident as yellow blobs on their hind legs. Another easy way to identify Honey bees is to watch them as they arrive at their nest entrance, their back legs appear much longer than wasps and tend to hang down.
Honey bees appear much darker than wasps.
A honey bee nest consists of a honey comb which is made from wax which is produced by the bees themselves.
Take a look at the photo of a honey bee below.



The Wasp
Wasps are slimmer and their abdomens are more yellow in appearance than bees.
When wasps arrive at the nest entrance they normally do so with great accuracy and do not tend to hang about on the outside like bees do.
Wasps tend to go about their business with a determined purpose.
Wasps do not bring pollen back to their nests like bees, however if you look closely at returning wasps, you can sometimes see them bringing parts of insects back to feed their young on.
Take a look at the photo of a wasp below.

]]> The Bumble Bee
Bumble bees will only have between 50 and 100 individuals in the nest. Bumble bees are larger than wasps and appear furry with defined yellow stripes across a “black” abdomen.
Bumble bees tend to hover about outside the entrance to their nest almost is if they are not quite sure if they are in the right place.
Take a look at the photo of a bumble below.



The Honey Bee
Honey bees number in the thousands, far more than wasps. You can sometimes see them bringing in pollen to the nest, this will be evident as yellow blobs on their hind legs. Another easy way to identify Honey bees is to watch them as they arrive at their nest entrance, their back legs appear much longer than wasps and tend to hang down.
Honey bees appear much darker than wasps.
A honey bee nest consists of a honey comb which is made from wax which is produced by the bees themselves.
Take a look at the photo of a honey bee below.



The Wasp
Wasps are slimmer and their abdomens are more yellow in appearance than bees.
When wasps arrive at the nest entrance they normally do so with great accuracy and do not tend to hang about on the outside like bees do.
Wasps tend to go about their business with a determined purpose.
Wasps do not bring pollen back to their nests like bees, however if you look closely at returning wasps, you can sometimes see them bringing parts of insects back to feed their young on.
Take a look at the photo of a wasp below.

]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-How-many-wasps-are-there-in-a-nest Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:41:58 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-How-many-wasps-are-there-in-a-nest
In the spring when the nest is starting to be built there will be just the queen, no workers at all.

The queen hatched in the previous year in late summer/autumn and mated with drone wasps. The now fertile queen has emerged from hibernation over the winter and starts to build a new nest.
Once she has hatched her first batch of eggs there will be just a few worker wasps in the nest to help continue building the nest.

As more worker wasps hatch, the nest gets built quicker thus there is more space for the queen to lay more eggs and the momentum grows.

The queen will lay around 100 eggs per day, so there is a limit to how big a nest can get and the numbers of wasps in the largest of nests is just a matter of maths.

Honey bees on the other hand are a different beast altogether, with the queen bee being able to lay 2000 eggs per day, numbers can grow rapidly.

Wasp nests are at their peak in late summer/early autumn, the largest nests will hold no more than 10,000 wasps.

Do not believe the hype in the newspapers about wasps nests having 500,000 wasps in them, it is NOT POSSIBLE and is just a publicity stunt.]]>
In the spring when the nest is starting to be built there will be just the queen, no workers at all.

The queen hatched in the previous year in late summer/autumn and mated with drone wasps. The now fertile queen has emerged from hibernation over the winter and starts to build a new nest.
Once she has hatched her first batch of eggs there will be just a few worker wasps in the nest to help continue building the nest.

As more worker wasps hatch, the nest gets built quicker thus there is more space for the queen to lay more eggs and the momentum grows.

The queen will lay around 100 eggs per day, so there is a limit to how big a nest can get and the numbers of wasps in the largest of nests is just a matter of maths.

Honey bees on the other hand are a different beast altogether, with the queen bee being able to lay 2000 eggs per day, numbers can grow rapidly.

Wasp nests are at their peak in late summer/early autumn, the largest nests will hold no more than 10,000 wasps.

Do not believe the hype in the newspapers about wasps nests having 500,000 wasps in them, it is NOT POSSIBLE and is just a publicity stunt.]]> http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-What-do-wasps-make-their-nests-from Wed, 22 Dec 2010 11:29:40 +0000 http://www.wasp-control.co.uk/forum/Thread-What-do-wasps-make-their-nests-from
They take this nest material back to the nest and hand it over to the young wasp larvae which mix it with saliva and wax and turn it into a paste. The adult wasps then take this paste and construct the nest with it. When the paste dries out it resembles a thin cardboard like material but is lightweight and waterproof.
Nests can be constructed to fit any shape or void. They can even fit into the space within a cavity wall.

Wasp nests are not always in ball shape.
They can construct their nests to fit into space available such as in the inside a bird box, virtually anywhere they like.

The nest structure inside is made of plates on which cells are constructed to house the young wasp larvae.
The photo below best describes how the structure is formed.


  common-wasp-nest-interior.png (Size: 141.23 KB / Downloads: 2)

Wasps do not store honey in their nests, they are predatory insects but in spring/early summer they do pollinate plants and flowers when they feed on nectar.]]>
They take this nest material back to the nest and hand it over to the young wasp larvae which mix it with saliva and wax and turn it into a paste. The adult wasps then take this paste and construct the nest with it. When the paste dries out it resembles a thin cardboard like material but is lightweight and waterproof.
Nests can be constructed to fit any shape or void. They can even fit into the space within a cavity wall.

Wasp nests are not always in ball shape.
They can construct their nests to fit into space available such as in the inside a bird box, virtually anywhere they like.

The nest structure inside is made of plates on which cells are constructed to house the young wasp larvae.
The photo below best describes how the structure is formed.


  common-wasp-nest-interior.png (Size: 141.23 KB / Downloads: 2)

Wasps do not store honey in their nests, they are predatory insects but in spring/early summer they do pollinate plants and flowers when they feed on nectar.]]>