# raising wasps .....



## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

I got about 75 bee boxes sitting around and i found a wasp nest in a stack..

should i spray the wasp nest even though it is in an empty beehive or something else?


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## [email protected] (May 12, 2010)

Why? Why would you put a insectiside in your hive? If it bothers you, just squash the nest.


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## danmcm (May 23, 2012)

Or if you have a CO2 fire extinguisher wait until night and blast them with it freezes them and doesn't leave any chemicals that would hurt your bees later. Yeah I am allergic to several wasps and hate them more than is probably justifies. Hitting them in the air and having them fall frozen to the ground makes my day.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

...or take a loosely rolled up newspaper, light one end, and torch them.

Definitely don't spray them with poison while inside your honey bee equipment.

Ed

ETA: Just to clarify... Once lit just wave the flame around the nest...the fire will burn the wings off the wasps and they will die (if the flames don't kill them outright). After I saw scropian's picture I wanted to be sure you took what I said as a serious suggestion. 

Nice photo, scorp.


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## scorpionmain (Apr 17, 2012)




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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

What's wrong with wasps?? Wasps gotta live too


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## Paul McCarty (Mar 30, 2011)

Sounds like a new market - Wasp keeper. I wonder if there is a product to be made from them?


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

Put your bee suit on and use a butane torch. It's fun!


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## gmcharlie (May 9, 2009)

Charlie B said:


> Put your bee suit on and use a butane torch. It's fun!



Why does flaming flying insect sound like a fire hazard???


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## Charlie B (May 20, 2011)

If you hit them enough to flame, they don't fly far. You can spray the area with a hose when your done.
Lighting up the nest is fun because the layers of paper just peel back until you hit brood.

I only do this when they're trying to rob my hives. Otherwise it's live and let live.


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## wildforager (Oct 4, 2011)

I've seen bald faced hornets hang around my hives and try to catch bees. They can't handle such a large opponent. I was very happy to see a hornet grab a wax moth and bring it up to a near by low tree branch. Beautiful to see it tear off wings and have a meal! If you have yellow jackets, I'd say torch them.


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## BOYZNUS (May 20, 2012)

We encourage wasps to live in our out buildings,, as long as they don't get mean. They are great natural pest controlers in the garden and they don't compete for food with our bees.


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

scorpionmain said:


> View attachment 2686


Oh Lord, I thought this was hilarious.


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I just don't get it... keeping 10-60k stinging bees is ok, but a little nest of 10-20 wasps gets everyone up in arms?? I let them be around my house no issues at all. Not to say I haven't gotten stung, but it was never from ones nesting on the house.


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

Web worms are a pest in our area, and wasps are their counter balance. Wasps feed on those web worms like there is no tomorrow. We don't bother wasps unless they are in a place where they will have to eventually sting someone. Actually, they are pretty cool predators.


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## Intheswamp (Jul 5, 2011)

Well, the OP stated the wasps were in a hive box and sounded like he wanted them gone and was talking of using a pesticide on them. Fire is better than putting poison in the hive box. As for myself, if the wasps are out of the way and not a danger to me or my family I'll leave them alone...if a possible threat then they're smoked meat. Yellow jackets are fair game any time. I've got digger wasps, big reds, some funky looking bee-looking wasps, lots of bumbles, some bumble-bee disguised bugs(??), etc.,etc., that I let do their thing....but, if any cause a problem they're history. 

Ed


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## avalonweddingsbcs (May 2, 2010)

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/the-impressive-wasp-nest-collection-of-hornet-boy.html


no...its just that it's in a box i might need sometime in the fall.. but i'll leave it alone... funny thing is i have issues popping off the top of my smoker, and the other day i walked over to my boxes and slammed my smoker on top of the empty frames directly on top of the wasp nest and didn't see anything..

just later i saw a wasp fly into the box that gave me the clue.

i have about 4 yellow jacket nests around my house... leaving them alone cause i think the drought killed most of em off...


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## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Paul McCarty said:


> Sounds like a new market - Wasp keeper. I wonder if there is a product to be made from them?


Wasps are the pollinators of cow peas also called black eye peas. My Dad grows black eye peas in his back yard in a city residential neighborhood, and the neighbors all call clark pest control on a weekly basis. He was having probs getting the peas to pollinate for larger crops. He now lets any wasp nests under the house eves stay and flourish. He now gets better black eye pea crops. Perhaps the nests can be harvested whole and sold as cow pea pollinators? LOL


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## HTC (Mar 17, 2012)

Try a 20 percent solution of cleaning ammonia in a spray bottle. The wasps will drop and die. All so the ammonia will help keep them from making a new nest in the same spot.

I pour the ammonia on fire ant mounds and the mound dies fast guess it gasses them.


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