Dr. Martin Rundkvist is a Swedish archaeologist, journal editor, public speaker, skeptic, atheist, lefty liberal, bookworm, and father of two.
I lost the battle against the wasp nest: no matter how many workers I vacuumed, it still hung on. And now our house is full of groggy young queen wasps. It seems that the last thing a wasp nest does before shutting down for good is discharge a bunch of queens who will hibernate and then start new nests come spring. But these queens are racing into a trap.
The nest has two main exits. One out into the chilly open air. The other into the comfy warmth of the Rundkvist household. And we haven't been able to locate and stop up the latter opening. So when one of these young ladies is set to leave the nest -- which exit do you think she prefers? The parallel that comes to me unbidden is that of a condom: the wasp nest is ejaculating its little emissaries, and my house is one big latex contraceptive.
Though unusually large, they're quite pitiful creatures, unaggressive, already sleepy, looking for a decent hiding place to crash out in. I grab them from the south-facing windows with a piece of kitchen roll and end their suffering with little crispy noises.
Life Science
Comments
Martin, I'm not quite sure your analogy fully works in this case! That these queens are able to escape the wall (and still have an alternate exit if required) would seem to favor the "ruptured condom" analogy equating to the roughly 2% failure rate of what is commercially available...!
(although I often hear about plenty of men who would swear they were employing prophylactics that "must have burst" in which case in the real world the failure rate is substantially higher!)
Posted by: David | October 12, 2009 3:14 PM
Oh, I think the analogy works: that the queens are unable to escape into the wild and propagate their species seems evidence of the prophylactic properties of Martin's house. ;)
Posted by: Brian | October 12, 2009 8:34 PM
I can't wait to see the google porn-surfer hits you will get from THIS one.
Posted by: paddy | October 13, 2009 1:20 AM
We had the same problem last year. I think their door into summer was through a light fixture. So far, we have not had any indoors this year. Good luck!
Posted by: JSB | October 13, 2009 2:53 AM
I sympathize; my cabin is a wintering shelter for queen wasps. They like to come out of hibernation during warm spells during the course of the winter. I usually catch them and put them outside; one night I didn't and got stung.
Posted by: Manley Marshton | October 13, 2009 12:19 PM
I have these queens (I think)coming up out of the heat ducts heading for a window. You're right, they aren't aggressive at all, at least yet. I must have killed 100 so far, crazy. Should I do anything more, I have a one year old in the house?
Posted by: Al | October 13, 2009 12:42 PM
Well, mine like to sit around on the floor, and if the toddler eats one s/he might get breathing problems if it stings hem inside the throat. Maybe try to locate the nest and bust it?
Posted by: Martin R | October 13, 2009 12:46 PM
I've been having the same problem in my apartment. I have no clue where they are coming from. I have not found a nest inside, so they must be nesting outside and coming into my apartment somehow. There is one large window in the living room that they all gather around. I have killed about 50 workers in the past two weeks and this morning I just killed a queen. I am allergic to everything and have a sister that had to be rushed to the hospital when she was stung...so I am too afraid to do the ethical thing and capture and release. Instead I have armed myself with a can of Raid. I can stand at a safe distance and spray. They die almost instantly. Now that winter is just around the corner they should be dying off soon and I hope this does not happen again next year. Has anyone had this become a recurring problem? I have read that they do not reuse nests, so I am hopeful.
Posted by: Nyree | October 25, 2009 11:42 AM
I don't think you need worry, they don't come home to roost.
Posted by: Martin R | October 27, 2009 10:24 AM