Wasp issues. Please help!!

rachiibell

Right I should begin this thread by saying I am absolutely terrified of wasps. Not just I don't like them they scare me senseless.. I am a grown woman currently writing this from the bathroom because I encountered a wasp in my flat and this is the only room I feel safe in now as I figure it'll be too wet for the wasp.

So me and OH moved into a rented top floor flat towards the end of last summer and I did notice quite a few dead wasps in the hallway leading up to our flat but I just put it down to it not being lived in for some time and there was a also a horrible day when I encountered about 5 different wasps within an afternoon but I put it down to coincidence. However I encountered the first wasp of summer today and I know I can't cope with a whole summer like this. Every single time I feel something on me I think it's a wasp and I can't pick up anything in the flat anymore in case wasps are hiding there.

So does anyone know what I can do? How do they get in to the property? Are there any traps I can make/ buy? And is there anything that you could put across doorways to dissuade them from going in certain rooms?

Sorry for such a long post just super stressed out right now! Thanks in advance for your help

herbily

It's entirely possible that the wasps are nesting somewhere close by. It's worth a call to your landlord to ask them to check out the loft and the eaves of the building - If there is a nest, it's your landlord's job to fix it. If they don't, explain that you will be billing them for the cost, and call a pest controller. Your local council may still deal with it for a fixed fee, but a lot of councils now just give you a list of approved pest controllers.

I don't think there's anything that deters them, but others may know better. The fact that you're seeing one this early in the season means it won't have come far. Did you have the windows open? If so, I can recommend net curtains for keeping insects out!

Good luck - I absolutely hate the things myself and I'm mildly allergic to the stings, so I'd probably be in the bathroom myself, wrapped in the shower curtain :rotfl:

rachiibell

Thanks herbily feel a bit better about hiding in the bathroom now although I'm gonna have to leave soon cos i need to go out so time to pull myself together! Tbh I'm most bothered about how it got in... I never open the windows to avoid situations like this!

I'll ring the landlord first thing tomorrow and see what he says

DomRavioli

Hi OP,

Perhaps might be worth seeing someone about your phobia - you don't have to be constantly terrified of anything that touches you; might be worth it in the long run as we live in a climate where wasps are prevalent.

hunnisbunnis

if you need to trap them somewhere abit away from your open windows - cover your windows with nets when open and if theres a ledge or somewhere to push out a dish of vinegar it will attract them and give them a peaceful death

JIL

There's loads on the internet of how to make wasp traps out of old plastic bottles. There is also the spraying them with cheap hairspray thing.
I really feel for you. In the middle of winter I was sitting in my living room watching TV. I felt like one of the hairs on my arm was being pulled. I was wearing a cardigan and my immediate reaction was just that a hair had got caught in the fibres. But it was a wasp giving me a sting. I have no idea where it came from, l hate them.
You can hang up a blown up paper bad outside. ( I wonder if a paper stone colored light shade would work) apparently wasps are territorial and will stay away thinking its another wasp nest.

softpad

I love wasps. A dead wasp gives off a scent that attracts other wasps and makes them aggressive. I have picked them up and been around wasps for 35 years and never ever been stung. The trick is how to behave around them I promise you. A wasp will not just sting indiscriminately unless it feels threatened (or you are RIgHT near its nest)

The things that make them aggressive are swatting fast movements, anything really like that will frighten them so obviously running around and trying to swat them is counter effective. I realise you are terrified but think about it. Honestly they are such interesting and useful little creatures. They land on animals such as cats, livestock and never sting. I promise you they will not sting unless you give them a reason. If you have one flying around you, just stand perfectly still and it will fly away. If you have one on your arm etc just stay very still and dont move and it will fly away after a few seconds when it sees there is nothing tasty. I promise if you find more out about them and give them a chance you will stop being so frightened.

[Deleted User]

I too have a problem with wasps and also virtually any insects as I have a lymphatic arm (a left over from when I had my lymph nodes removed 7 years ago with breast cancer) if I get stung, especially on my bad arm, I end up in hospital on a drip.not pleasant believe me.I have to be especially carefull as even a gnat bite gets badly infected very quickly so I do know how you feel We once had a huge wasp nest in our previous house under the eve's and had to get the Rentokil chap to spray the roof, then a builder to strip the roof back to get the blooming thing out.My builder said he had never seen one so big.It was facinating once they were all dead to actually see how they had spent such a long time building it,but I must admit I do live in fear of the things.Saying that I am not a great lover of sprays or even killing them as they are there as part of a life cycle and obviously must do some sort of good (apart from terrifying me :))
I think I too would try to get your landlord to sort it out if possible If there are dead ones around your flat its possible there is a nest in the loft or eves.My DD had one in her garage that thank goodness is extinct, and her garage isn't attached to the house but in a block and is not used at all.

Buttonmoons

I have seen a wasp sting for no reason plenty of times. My mums dog last year was lying in the garden, we were lying on blankets on the grass too - and all of a sudden she yelped and a dirty wasp was stinging her.

A woman at the bus stop was telling me the stand still and they won't hurt you story, as a wasp was buzzing around us it landed on her leg and stung her - Nope, they are evil horrible nasty buzzing beasties.
I live on the 8th floor in a skyscraper and they STILL fly through my windows. Im just as terrified, I throw a cat in the room with the offending wasp and run away, he soon sorts it out *wimp*

GreyQueen

I've lived at two different addresses with wasp nests in the lofts, am an avid gardener, plus I book pest control treatments for a local authority.

Wasps behave differently at different times of the year. It's helpful if you know a bit about their lifecycle. The pregnant queen wasps emerge from hibernation and start a new nest from scratch each year and lay the first brood of drones. These drones are milling about now, mainly looking for rotten wood to chew up to take back to add to the nest. It's like papier mache. They will then be tending the other broods including the fertile queens and males.

Over the course of the summer they'll eat a lot of nasty pests and in the late summer, the young queens and males will fly, mate, die (males) and hibernate (females). This will leave a dying nest full of purposesless drones which feel poorly and are liable to be a bit cranky with other creatures.

A wasp in September or October is a cranky wasp and may well sting unprovoked. I've had it happen to me as a kid. The rest of the time they won't really give a damn about us mammals. I find unless you are menacing the nest, or stand or sit on them, they typically ignore you. But flailing around, swatting at them, creates air currents which draw them towards you. If you can stay still, they may alight briefly for a few seconds, do no harm, and then take off again. Had that happen many a time.

I quite like wasps, and feel they get a bad press. Not phased with them indoors and out, they're just critters doing their thing as a colony insect. If you can learn about them, and observe them, they're quite fascinating.

LameWolf

OP I feel for you; I am highly allergic to wasp venom, and like you, am terrified of the wretched things. I've had two indoors already this year; the first I managed to let out of the window (had no choice, I was on my own - I was shaking like a leaf for ages afterwards) and the 2nd I left my DH to deal with - he also managed to get it to leave via the window. Both were BIG.:( In fact I did wonder if it was the same one came back a 2nd time. I hope to the gods this isn't a taste of things to come this summer.:(