First post on the forum, apologies if this isn’t the right format!
I’ve been cleaning out an old camper for a visit from a friend of mine. It won’t be moved, but we’ll be staying inside it for a week. I discovered a European Paper Wasp nest right by the door of it built inside of a support handle. The handle isn’t needed to exit and enter, so we’re all good there- but we’ll be going in and out a lot I’m sure.
I love wasps, but I had a pretty bad fear of them most of my life after a bad sting when I was a child. I’m mostly over it and they’re one of my favourite insects now, but I admit I get a bit nervous still! I’d rather not disturb them but anything I try to search comes back with removal and wasp hate. Beyond the given ‘move gently and try to not be scary’, is there anything anyone else would like to suggest to make this experience peaceful for both us and the wasps? Thanks!
If you are moving the door the handle that will upset them. They are an introduced species (but still pollinators and predators) but if you wanted to block them out or destroy the nest it’d be understandable. There are lots more wasps who didn’t put their nest in a door handle. WHY (it’s kind of a perfect spot, except for the door moving thing)
Now if you can simply not open the door and it’s not near anything that might be different.
How active is the nest?
It’d be nice not to use the contact-death arthropod killing sprays, as there can be collateral damage, but you may need to destroy the nest and seal the hole (put tape over it?) so they can’t come back. This won’t be fun.
I had a nest like that in my door, but it didn’t move when I opened it. I waited till winter then made the spot unusable for the future. They did menace me a bit, never got stung, but IDK if that works if you are putting all those vibrations through their nest… how smooth is the door?
Thanks for the response! Sorry, I wasn’t fully clear!
So, the support handle isn’t actually on the door. It’s on the wall beside it, It’s for people who need a bit of extra help going up the stairs to pull themselves up. The actual door doesn’t have a nest and I’ve already been in and out of there a few times for cleaning. I spotted at least 3 wasps on the nest when I was there, but they didn’t seem too bothered by me.
They aren’t like yellowjackets (I’m thinking Vespula pensylvanica) who don’t know when to stop building.
The max nest size is “8 in diameter” but they will be limited by they space. And it’s Aug. they are already reaching their peak.
Just don’t forget to do something about the site in winter so that it’s not a tradition.
I wanted to check that I was right about the upper limit on their nest size and it seems like they don’t may tiers or layers so their nest is constrained by the width of the cavity.
Interesting! Unfortunately for the wasps, I asked my friend about it and found out he’s pretty allergic to their stings.. oops! Didn’t know that, so I will be getting the nest removed for his safety anyway and to avoid an abroad hospital trip. Oh well, I tried, haha.
If you want to try, I’m not completely sure how well this will work, anecdotally I’ve had good luck deterring wasps from coming back without sprays by making a white paper “balloon” and setting it near the nest site. I just google origami paper balloon because I can never remember how to make them.
That’s how I got them to move from my dog run after my dogs were terrors to the wasps and the wasps won an argument.
That being said with allergies that is much more serious and I advise you stay safe.
Interesting! I wonder if there’s anyone else whose had that experience, I’ve never heard of it. I know some people set out fake nests to deter them with seemingly mixed results on if it works or not, perhaps it’s similar to that.
But yes, I will absolutely be safe for my friends behalf! Thank you :)
You might tape a little cardboard box or something similar over the area, with the open side away from the door so that the wasps can’t see people using the door and when they fly off the nest they’re pointed away from the door.
I managed to dig a shrub up out of my garden that had some kind of ground nesting wasps right beside it by putting the top of a cat litter pan over the hole with the doorway facing away from where I was working. It took a couple hours for them to get used to the new arrangement, but then they were fine. I never got stung once. Also discovered that the wasps started early and were back in the nest by mid afternoon, which worked out great because I start late and work late.
If your friend is allergic, though, better not to take chances.
Very interesting!! I can see how that’d work. Yeah, I won’t take chances with my friend, but I enjoy hearing the various methods people come up with for future reference. Feisty wasps get put in cat litter pan half-jail, lol.
Not sure if this is helpful, but I remember a long time ago i was working with some traditional aborigine people in Australia. Whenever the encountered a paper wasp nest they would make a firebrand out of grass or dry leaves, hold it under the nest or half a minute or so to burn the wings off the adult wasps. They would then pick the nest apart and eat the larvae which they considered a delicacy. I tried them as well and can say they are very soft and quite tasty.
Haha, not so helpful to my situation no but it is cool to hear! I’ve always wanted to try eating insects, but I’m a bit squeamish about it still (Annoying, frankly, because I want to! Learned behaviours are hard to beat, eh?)
It might not help in your case but due to my experience are not aggressive but rather relaxed. I had a nest in the post of a garden door. They never cared if someone used that door. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/169204972
Super cute! Yeah, they didn’t mind me too much, even when I shoved my phone in their face, but I’d feel awful if my friend got stung! If it was me alone I definitely would’ve left the nest alone, a sting is just a mild annoyance for me, not a medical concern after all.
