we have a wasps nest in our loft. In the UK we had a contract that covered everything that went wrong.
Here I am clueless. Done some research here where the suggestions seem to be squirt the nest with poison or leave 'em be. The nest we had in UK was removed by 2 men in protective suits like spacemen & it was a huge structure.
We live at 33540 near Sauveterre & are their professional who will sort them? Or must I do it myself reluctantly with wasp killer? "guêpe poison'-is there a brand?
I used to know bee keepers who smoked a pipe instead of togging up, they would do a wasps' nest with their bare hands puffing at their Ogdens foul smelling weed and not get stung. Spacemen are 'sissies' ;-)
How to keep them happy. As long as they eat they are fine. Perhaps if you feel you are no longer happy with her indoors... Seriously, I am not sure but as long as you are not in the way of them getting in and out of their nest they should be just about the same as wasps from another nest nearby, which means you are as likely to be stung by a visitor as by one of your 'tenants'. No real answer, but perhaps somebody knows.
Think I'll leave 'em be. Brian, if they get defensive/aggressive is there a way to keep them happy?
As a PS to our UK house experience, the wasps nest in the loft was huge. The Rentokil men brought the sections down & before going up they let off some sort of poisonous device that killed them.
They were certainly wasps-another year we had a hornets nest in the garden-they were crazy-flying at the windows & again the 'spacemen' came out. No question of them trying to impress us-it was all done through a maintenance contract that covered everything including vermin & pests.
As said before, clad arm well, put on rubber glove, extend arm and stand within squirting range (in loft, so put on a mask ideally) then aim at entrance. The chances of being stung are quite low at even what a ppears to be a short range.
Live and let live until autumn would probably be as good unless they get defensive (people say aggressive).
Thanks all for your replies. Managed to get some poison for their nid (? the Knights who say 'Nee"), but haven't worked out how I can squirt it without being stung.
Assuming the nest is dead in the autumn I could remove it then-they are not causing any ham in the house, whereas the ones in our old UK house were getting in via the heating pipes.
Do NOT want to be stung! I have an allergic response to mozzies & even nettle stings.
Maybe live & let live is safest-thanks for all the reassurances.
One reason people ask me is that the pompiers have to charge for the call out. I am free. If it is in a loft some of the companies apparently try to tell you they use a different chemical that is not harmful to humans, for which they charge more. It is little different to Kapo but packed differently in a 'professional' can...
You can try the pompiers, they used to deal with wasps' nests but I think the rules may have changed. Otherwise a company that removes other insect pests could deal with it for you - there's STAD in Bergerac who could probably recommend someone closer to you, or do it themselves for a probably hefty price as you are a bit far away.
I am asked by local people because I keep bees. I have the clothes, that is the bottom line. Wasps are usually no problem. Later on when food is scarce they are far more vulnerable which means that they get closer looking for food to scavenge. As long as people do not flap about they usually go away. In truth they are more useful than any harm since they eat lots of the little mites on plants that can be a plague if not checked. If it was a huge structure in the UK then it was probably hornets, even less harmful and certainly more useful (except for eating some of my bees). Wasps' nests are perhaps a bit bigger than a rugby ball, which is 'huge'. Even an Asian hornet nest over a metre long is no weight at all, I have moved a couple out of 'season' when they are empty. Two men dressed up like spacemen impresses the cheques out of books, IMHO.
If you must do them in, the Kapo is as good as any other. You need to be a bit protected. Stand well away with your protected arm in a plastic glove (to stop getting the foul muck on yourself) then squirt into the entrance. leave an hour or so then go back and give a second squirt. Next day, take a rake or even the rake handle to smash into it and if there are survivors a final coup de grâce squirt. Remove after that has dried.
I personally prefer not to kill them, just remove the nest late autumn when it is 'dead'.