Help!! I have no idea what to do.

poppie123

Hello everyone,

I really need some advice about a Greengage tree i have down my sideway.
It has never been pruned (well not since i have lived here 5 years) and is massive.
It has never caused any problems until now. Yesterday i noticed there were loads and loads of wasps and hornets in the garden round the tree. When i looked at the tree there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them eating the fruit.
Today it is even worse, the tree is not far from my back door and they are swarming around everywhere. :eek: I can't even have my back door open and i am scared to let the cats outside.

Does anyone know if the council would help or even what is the best thing to do. How long will the wasps stay there for ??

Thanks

Lotus-eater

I have exactly the same thing this year on a plum tree, but it's a problem down to aphids, the tree is full of them and the wasps and hornets are eating the secretions I think (hopefully the aphids as well). But my tree is down the bottom of my garden, not outside the back door.
This has been an exceptional year for the amount of wasp nests I have seen about, see if you have one close to you first and deal with that.

I need to get to my tree to prune it badly, but I can't get close to it atm.

I've just got a waspinator (google it) but I don't know if it will work yet, it has mixed reviews.

The wasps will stay there as long as there is something for them to eat. The only sure way to deal with them in the future, is to chop the tree down, you have to decide if that's what you want.

lizzyb1812

Google your local council - they will have a website and you'll be able to find details of their pest removal services on that. My local council charges £57 for 1 nest with a reduced charge for each additional one.

Lizzyb

loucroft

Just ring your council, they'll have a pest control dept - someone you can speak to about it so they know how desperate you are.

Good luck

poppie123

Thanks for your replies. I rang my local council who gave me the telephone number of the contractor they use.

Unfortuantely he was a good as useless in fact rude. He said the problem is either aphids, greenfly or blackfly which is attracting the hoverfly ( not hornets i am told can't get them here) and wasps and flies now it would seem.

I asked what can i do as the wasps are coming inside the house and he said absolutely nothing, there is nothing i can do i have just got to put up with it. :eek: When i asked how long is this likely to go for when are they likely to all go his rely was bonfire night. The said he had to go as he had another call. So rude!!

So it looks as if i have just got to put up with it

katiel

Sounds like it's time for a few home remedies (as well as letting the council know what sort of attitude you got from their contractor)

I have successfully used the jam jar approach, though I don't think this alone is going to solve your problem. Put a few scoops of jam in the bottom of the jar and add water. Make a hole in the lid large enough for a wasp to get in, and put the lid back on the jar. Hang the jar (you'll probably need several) with wire or string from branches in the tree. Wasps head for the jam and .... I'm not one for killing anything on the whole, but wasps get evil when they've been feasting on fruit and you don't want them hanging around the house. The worst bit is emptying out the jars when they're full :eek:

Lotus-eater

poppie123 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies. I rang my local council who gave me the telephone number of the contractor they use.

Unfortuantely he was a good as useless in fact rude. He said the problem is either aphids, greenfly or blackfly which is attracting the hoverfly ( not hornets i am told can't get them here) and wasps and flies now it would seem.

I asked what can i do as the wasps are coming inside the house and he said absolutely nothing, there is nothing i can do i have just got to put up with it. :eek: When i asked how long is this likely to go for when are they likely to all go his rely was bonfire night. The said he had to go as he had another call. So rude!!

So it looks as if i have just got to put up with it

Did you read my post, because that is what I said, in fact I gave you more info than the pest man did.
You need to look for a nest, if you find one, you can get the pest bloke in the get rid of it, if you can't find a nest, what do you expect him to do?

He will probably be a self employed bloke, he can't help you and his job is not to give out free advice to everyone that rings up, especially when he has another call coming in which may help to pay his mortgage.
I don't know what you expected him to do, come with a big net and collect all the wasps?

You can do lots of thing to stop the wasps coming in the house, barriers to start with.

You might find that next year you don't have a problem, I've only had this problem for the first time in 10 years.
Or you might decide you want to chop the tree down.

emiff6

First of all, hornets are twice the size of wasps, so you'll know if you've got those. (They are also not at all aggressive in spite of their size and the ferocious sounding buzz they make, and will always try to back away if approached). You do need to try and locate the wasp's nest if you safely can. It will be football sized and made of chewed up wood so it looks like sort of parchment. Wasps like shelter so sheds, garages or outbuildings are favoured. If you see no obvious nest, take a careful look around the outside of the house, to see if wasps are going in and out of any crack or gap in the walls or eaves. Then check over neighbours fences in case it's on neighbouring property, in which case perhaps you could share costs of destruction.
There are lots of (helpful) pest control operators about. Google it to find a list in your local area and call one in. This is a war you CANNOT win on your own, get professional help. Wasps are helpful in the right place, eating pests etc, but in the wrong place they can be very frightening.

loucroft

Hi just catching up on my posts, did you manage to get anywhere with your pest problem?