Wasp nest in a queen raising box

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Alastair

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We had wasp poison in the truck ( i carry a puffer pack to deal with any nests found), but I didn't want to poison this one in case the gear got contaminated. So in the end we put a hive mat top and bottom to block them in and left it. Hoping they will suffocate but if they don't I'll have to figure something else out.
 

Alastair

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Agree with both those statements.

Just, didn't have soap or anything similar at the time, and I'm sure those wasps will be working out their little nippers wherever they can see a chink.

Rest of the coming week I'm busy as but the following week I'll get back to it. Might put the whole thing on the truck, bring it home, and throw in a big tub of water.
 

Alastair

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Here's how it ended up, went there today the wasps had not broken out, but returning wasps on the outside must have been talking to them because in just a few days that the lid has been on they built this. The box had been put on a drip tray for honey boxes i didn't want to open it cos I didn't have a bee suit so put it on the deck and took it home

wasps 2.jpg

Opened it up and found the wasps too groggy to fly, either suffocation or heat, so I put a little petrol in to finish them, then removed the nest. Couple interesting things, first there does not seem to be much brood, not sure if they are slowing down, or if the suffocation had something to do with that. SDecond thing, notice bottom right of the pic the cells are much larger? I'm guessing these were for queen rearing, which will be about to start around now, big time.

wasps 3.jpg

And finally, slight change of topic, the insects are taking over :oops: . I get home, go to use the scanner, and find an ant nest in there. That part is not accessable but I need to move them on before they damage the electronics. Not sure how to do that.

Ants in printer.jpg
 
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Here's how it ended up, went there today the wasps had not broken out, but returning wasps on the outside must have been talking to them because in just a few days that the lid has been on they built this. The box had been put on a drip tray for honey boxes i didn't want to open it cos I didn't have a bee suit so put it on the deck and took it home

View attachment 264

Opened it up and found the wasps too groggy to fly, either suffocation or heat, so I put a little petrol in to finish them, then removed the nest. Couple interesting things, first there does not seem to be much brood, not sure if they are slowing down, or if the suffocation had something to do with that. SDecond thing, notice bottom right of the pic the cells are much larger? I'm guessing these were for queen rearing, which will be about to start around now, big time.

View attachment 265

And finally, slight change of topic, the insects are taking over :oops: . I get home, go to use the scanner, and find an ant nest in there. That part is not accessable but I need to move them on before they damage the electronics. Not sure how to do that.

View attachment 266
The plattern (glass plate) has no electronics attached to it. It should be possible to unclip or unscrew the plastic holding it down and remove it for cleaning. If not new printer.
 

Alastair

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Yes true. If I could take the glass out I could vacuum them easy. But it seems like it is sealed into the plastic there is no obvious way to remove it.

I have fed a few crumbs of vespex to the ants and all the adults are now dead. Will just have to wait and see what happens to the larvae.
 
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Yes true. If I could take the glass out I could vacuum them easy. But it seems like it is sealed into the plastic there is no obvious way to remove it.

I have fed a few crumbs of vespex to the ants and all the adults are now dead. Will just have to wait and see what happens to the larvae.
Pages 174 to 186 helpful plus possibly other pages in the contents area.
 

Alastair

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Nice research Wknz that is indeed the printer. The ants are all dead now I fed them some vespex but on closer inspection of the printer they have rubbish piles all over the place and it could mess something up. I'll check out that manual tonight, I would love to get a vacuum in there and suck all the mess out.

Amazing how long the nest must have been in there and all the time I had no idea.
 
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