Hi, I have wasps flying in and out of a small hole that leads inside my porch roof. There is no access to the interior of this space without dismantling part of the structure. I am tempted to leave the nest, rather than paying an exterminator to spray insecticide in that small hole since it may not work anyway (who knows how far into the space the nest actually is). Is this dangerous or perfectly reasonable?
If they're not causing you any harm or serious nuisance, just leave them. Wasps do a lot of good in gardens, eating other pests like aphids and caterpillars.
I agree with Michael, we have had a very active hornet's nest in our roof for years with no significant problems. A location low down and close to a doorway/walkway would cause a re-think tho--I have knocked off the little paper globes that are started along eaves where we would be walking into the little darlings as they come and go. I do see the hornets busily harvesting in our extensive gardens, and hope they are helping to keep some kind of natural balance out there. Definitely many a cabbage worm has been carried back to that nest! With my aversion to pesticides, someone/thing has to manage any pest outbreaks that threaten...I see less downside with our wasps than with many pesticides.
Thanks, I would like to leave it so it's nice to have some encouragement. We'll see what happens. There are two visible small holes that the wasps are using to get inside the roof.One (above the sidewalk that leads to the front door) is about 10' off the ground, and the other (at the side of the porch roof which is adjacent to the neighbour's walkway) is about 8-9' above the elevation there. So, definitely above people's heads, but close to where people would be walking by.... but not places where people would be stopping for long.
On the other hand, these wasps will have no hesitation in stinging you and are quite aggressive. Bring food out for an eveing meal, and within minutes you'll be pestered to the point of retreating indoors. Suit your self I guess. Cheers, LPN.
Well, they're closer to where the neighbours might be eating so maybe I'll wait and see if the neighbours are having issues, if so I'll call the pest guy. thanks.
Barry does bring a good balance to the discussion--I'm not even sure why "our" hornets haven't pestered us since we eat outside much of the summer. Also njb...you won't necessarily need a pest guy to eliminate your wasps. I do have to kill many nests each year in my job (working on roofs) and have found the spray cans of wasp killer very effective. Spray well in all active entrances, wait and spray again when more activity is noted. The wasps do walk over the pesticide and succumb to it fairly quickly, and the nest goes unattended eventually and perishes. I guess we're just trying to avoid the reflex reaction of killing everything that's a bit annoying...but certainly there is a point where it becomes a reasonable reaction.
I've also used, with excellent results, the fake nests that you can hang in the vacinity of known nesting areas. This is done early in the season and it's believed that yellow jackets won't nest in an area they believe to inhabited already. Cheers, LPN.
