Wednesday, July 15, 2020

THE CASE OF THE VANISHING WASP NEST

 Now for something weird...


You will recall last week that we posted about this wasp nest in one of the blueberry bushes on the porch.  You all had some great suggestions (moving was one, 2nd Man considered it, LOL) but I vowed to take care of them.  I made up a spray bottle of dishwashing soap and water and thought I'd try that out.  I had some other ideas in mind.

So I got to the farm armed with my "weapon" of choice and got ready...


...um...what happened?  They were gone.

Not just "abandoned nest gone" mind you, no it was gone.  Nest and all.

And not just "laying on the porch floor gone", it was entirely gone!

There is no trace of them ever having been there.  Are there animals that would eat a nest?  Birds?  We thought maybe they just moved on but there would be an empty nest still hanging.  Or if the wind blew it down it would be on the ground.  

We guess it will forever remain a mystery. 

We are however RELIEVED that they are gone.  There are a few small nests in the eaves of the house and I used the regular spray on those.  I just need to make  sure they don't come back in the blueberry bushes.

I've been bad on catching up on comment replies, I'll work on that tonight. We always read them all!

15 comments:

  1. Barn Swallows will clear out a wasp nest,and,if there were no wasps,a skunk or raccoon could have taken the nest for the larva.. Dang,I wish you had a camera on the porch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Barn swallows are indeed out there and some are on the porch or eaves. Dang a camera would have been great. Probably 99% of the time nothing to see and then when something good happens we miss it, ha. Interesting, thanks for the info!

      Delete
  2. If none of your berry branches are broken then I would say that birds got to it instead of a animal of sorts.
    Birds will work very diligently at wasp nests to get at the larva. All the pecking can cause the nest to fall, and then the birds can easily carry the nest away to dine in private. Thank your lucky stars that the nest is gone.

    Wasps and hornets HATE the scent of peppermint oil. Mix a tablespoon of peppermint oil with four cups of water, and you've got a powerful repellent spray; it's even effective enough to drive the wasps and hornets from their nests, but without having to use dangerous chemicals. ( I would use peppermint oil mixed with water instead of using soap).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Another vote for birds. I guess they don't get stung or are immune somehow? Maybe the weathers can protect them, ha. Will read up on that. I like the idea of peppermint oil. Thanks for the tip.

      Delete
    2. I wonder if that peppermint oil spray would work for snakes?

      Delete
  3. Replies
    1. And for that, we are grateful. Big hugs to you always!

      Delete
  4. What a wonderful surprise! Looks like you got a visit from some garden guardians, the birds. I knew that birds are good at eating insects in the garden but I didn’t know that they would brave the stings of yellow jackets.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Could your neighbor have removed it for you and not yet told you?

    ReplyDelete
  6. I thought perhaps a kind neighbor read of your plight and took care of the situation. They are brave for sure. I have been attacked by wasps, definitely do not want a repeat. I have problems more with deer and raccoons.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I checked Youtube.. Yes,birds attack Wasp nests.. So do ants! Maybe Fire ants!

    ReplyDelete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Please leave us a comment! I have some comment moderation on and of course will approve your comment relatively quickly. We love feedback and hearing what others have to share with us all. Please know that I can't always reply to it right away, but ALL comments are read. I will reply just as soon as I can so be sure to come back and see my reply.

Now, let us hear from you!