How to get rid of a wasp nest. Destruction of a wasp nest

A wasp's nest is a very curious structure that insects construct with the help of their own sticky secretions and fragments of wood. And wasps can start building it absolutely anywhere. Outwardly, the finished structure looks like an oval or round paper cocoon. By the way, it is precisely because of the ability to produce building material that is very similar to paper that public wasps got their name - paper.

Nest material

A wasp nest most often looks like a gray paper ball or cone. Actually, thanks to this appearance of their house, these wasps are called "paper".

The ability to work together is not the only trait that allows wasps to build such unusual nests. Insects use paper as a building material, which they themselves make.

To obtain this paper, adult workers grind wood fibers into powder with powerful jaws. Usually they choose an old, dried tree for this. Wasps are so skillful in the technology of paper production that they are able to make 5 versions of it - from the thinnest parchment to thick cardboard.

Wasp's Nest Medicine

But the efforts of hardworking bees are not wasted, a knowledgeable person, upon finding an empty hornet's nest, will certainly take it with him. For what? For the preparation of medicine. Yes, that's right, a hornet's nest can be of great benefit. It, or rather, preparations based on it, are quite actively used in folk medicine for the treatment of various diseases. For example, if you compress several of these nests (of course, empty, without insects), put them in a jar and pour alcohol, then after two weeks of infusion you can get a highly effective remedy that helps in the following situations:

• with joint pain;
• with pain in the spine;
• with arthritis;
• with inflammation of the articular tissue;
• with various forms of viral influenza;
• with bronchial asthma.

The infusion helps to eliminate the above problems when applied externally - in the form of rubbing. As for its internal intake, it shows very good results in the treatment of inflammatory processes occurring in the gastrointestinal tract, in diseases of the respiratory tract and pneumonia. In such situations, 15 drops of the infusion are diluted in 50 ml of water and taken three times a day.

The second way to use the wasp nest is in powder form. This simple one-component preparation heals well burns, cuts and other damage to the skin. Moreover, it not only stimulates tissue regeneration, but also disinfects the affected area. The powder made from crushed wasp houses can also solve the problem of periodontal disease. It copes well with sweating feet and eliminates unpleasant odors.

It is possible to store preparations from hornets' nests for several years and their strength will not decrease.

Start of construction

A female begins to build a wasp nest, and sometimes several females join together during construction. Having woken up from hibernation in early spring, they find a suitable place, protected from the wind and prying eyes. Most often, the choice falls on a branch of a tree, but often females choose abandoned buildings or little-visited attics of residential buildings.It happens that a tree hollow, a rotten stump, a space behind the cladding of a human dwelling, or even a burrow of some rodent becomes a home for the future generation.

The basis of the future nest is a thin stalk of female saliva frozen in air. Subsequently, it often remains a well-visible "leg" on which the paper ball hangs. This stalk firmly attaches the nest to the surface that the female has chosen for fixing the future home. The insect attaches the first 2 cells of wax to this stalk - a start has been made.

Where do wasps hibernate?

As mentioned above, nest construction begins in early spring. At first, it is small in size and consists of only a few hundred. But gradually the nest expands, the number of shells and floors increases, exactly like the number of inhabitants. Looking at such huge labor costs of insects, it may seem that they are building a nest, as they say, for centuries. However, in reality, this is only a summer dwelling, and the wasps leave the nest when the cold comes.

In autumn, young females mate and fly away in search of a suitable wintering place. Gradually, hornets' nests become completely empty, lifeless. And the role of winter "apartments" for wasps is played by rotten stumps, secluded cracks under fallen trees, the top layer of soil under deciduous litter, etc.

Spreading the nest

After making the base of the nest, the female flies in search of building material. Finding a suitable wood, she releases a drop of saliva on it, from which the wood fibers soften. The wasp scrapes the pliable wood using its powerful jaws, and rolls a small lump out of it with its front paws. Moving along the wood surface like a precise mechanism, the wasp leaves a clearly visible trail.

The female carries the resulting lumps to the construction site. There she chews wood again, mixing it with saliva and secretions of special glands. The wasp makes a paper plate out of the material, which becomes quite soft, carefully and evenly kneading the parchment lump with its front legs. The wasp attaches the resulting piece of paper to the base of the nest and flies for a new portion of the material.

While building the frame, the female simultaneously lays eggs and feeds the growing larvae. The matured new wasps join the construction. As soon as the female manages to grow 10 new wasps, she stops building and from that time she is only engaged in laying eggs, then her children build a nest.

How to destroy wasps

Wasp nests that are located near housing must be removed and destroyed. How to do this so that the wasps do not attack a person? Once I watched as a resident of Ukraine, who discovered a huge nest above the door to the barn, skillfully destroyed it. He waited for the evening when it got cooler. By this time, all the wasps had gathered in the nest. Then the Ukrainian put on a tight shirt, wrapped his neck and head, took out work gloves and picked up a sack made of coarse fabric. Then, with a strong, sharp movement, he removed the nest so that it, together with the wasps that did not understand anything, was inside the bag. The fire of the summer kitchen stove destroyed the bag with all its contents. It was a skillful act of a man who often had to destroy hornets' nests. This skill is not immediately developed. Ordinary people often try to destroy wasps with aerosols recommended for fighting flies, mosquitoes and all kinds of flying bloodsuckers and garden pests. The use of such "weapons" often ends up with angry wasps attacking the offender. A couple of years ago, I killed wasps that made a nest and bred in a dense mock-orange bush in front of our house. For an hour, I sprayed insects flying out of the bush with dichlorvos. She ran to the side when there were too many wasps. In moments of respite, she directed the jets deep into the bush.The wasps left their shelter and did not appear in the chubushnik again. I don't know if they died? I did not find a single striped corpse.

There are also safer ways to deal with wasps. I like them better. These are a variety of wasp traps made on the principle of "non-spill inkwells". Here is the simplest one: you need to cut a liter plastic bottle (preferably yellow, red or dark) into two parts and insert the "funnel" into the "glass". Sugar syrup or a little honey, molasses, jam diluted in water are preliminarily poured into it. The wasp voluntarily climbs into the trap and remains there, since it is not able to get out of it. You can put a jar (or deep bowl) of viscous sugar syrup or jam near the nest. This bait trap will allow you to "peacefully" get rid of a large number of wasps. There is one more wonderful way: melon peel is sprayed with "Inta-Vir" insecticide or water in which "FAS" tablet is dissolved. The poisoned treat is left in a place where it will not be eaten by other animals. For wasps, this delicacy quickly ends in death.

Specialists from sanitary and epidemiological stations destroy wasps systematically. They remove the nests and spray a class of "microencapsulated synthetic pyrethroids". Due to its prolonged action, such treatment allows the destruction of all existing wasps and protects against the further appearance of new ones.

On sale there is an inexpensive ready-made bait for wasps and hornets "OTOS" ("Green Pharmacy Gardener"). The drug is placed in bottles, water is poured into them and suspended from trees, buildings, fences and other places. The packaging indicates that this composition is not toxic to bees.

There are also "non-traditional" means of dealing with wasps. These are… some dogs. For many years I have known a shepherd dog that cannot be dragged away from the heaps of apples gathered on the ground. There are so many delicious juicy wasps out there! The dog hunts poor insects for days on end. One owner of a shepherd dog told me that her dog's love for wasps makes it difficult to carry the dog in a car in the summer. A huge shepherd dog rushes to catch every wasp that accidentally flew into the car. He hits it with his paw, after which he grabs the wasp with his teeth, bites and, munching, eats it. Recently, a neighbor's dog of the "Boxer" breed died of old age. She "specialized" not only in wasps, but also in bumblebees.

Internal and external arrangement

The strongest part of the wasp nest is the inner part, where the honeycomb with the larvae and the uterus are located. Wasps make it from dense sheets of parchment with the addition of whole wood chips, which greatly increases the reliability of the entire building. The outer casing, on the other hand, is made of extra thin and resilient paper sheets that are easier to roll out into long strips.

Gradually, the wasp's nest takes on a spherical shape with a single entrance hole at the bottom. From this moment, the wasps begin to expand their home, building new walls on top of the existing frame. The inside of the paper ball becomes more spacious. Often, insects use parts of the inner layers to build the outer sheathing.

Wasps not only treat all parts of their nest in different ways, but also often use wood of different quality for the construction of external and internal layers. For example, insects can take wood from an old wooden fence for external cladding, and young branches of a living tree for internal sections.

The paper wasp is a hardworking and diligent builder capable of working at a very fast pace. During the summer months, the wasps manage to re-close their nest more than 5 times, significantly increasing its size. With a favorable combination of circumstances, in its unusual home, 1 swarm of paper wasps during the summer months manages to grow about 4 thousand new insects.

Young wasps fly away from their parental home, forming new colonies in other habitable places.And in the old nest, only working individuals remain, which, before the onset of cold weather, take care of the uterus and repair the hive as necessary.

External description

According to Wikipedia, there are up to 1,000 species of the paper wasp subfamily in the world. There are 30 species inhabiting the territory of Russia. In temperate climates, there is a large wasp - the hornet. This is the most dangerous type of wasp for both humans and animals. Description:

1. The color of the insect is bright, alternating with black with yellow stripes. Sometimes the stripes may be orange. The body consists of 3 parts: a transversely elongated head, chest and abdomen, which can be of different shapes. The abdomen with the breast has a thin transition. It is from here that the concept of "wasp waist" appeared.
2. The head is black, slightly drooping. There is a pair of short antennae on it. The jaws are strongly developed. With their help, the wasp defends itself from enemies, if it is not possible to defeat them with a sting, it also collects building material.
3. Eyes - faceted, bulging at the sides.
4. The wings are transparent, membranous. Six legs of light color with five segments for collecting pollen.
5. The sting is sharp, like a needle. Easily pierces the skin and pulls back. Unlike males, the bite of females is quite painful and can cause allergies.
6. Insects use sounds to communicate, signal danger or find food.

When attacking, the wasp is capable of sting 6 times, and this is only one attack. A strong smell can provoke insect aggression, therefore, in the summer, you must carefully use fragrant eau de toilette, as well as perfume with a pungent odor.

Wasp life

In our conditions, the insect lives for 1 year., in tropical climates, their lifespan is 2 or more years. Insect social activities:

1. The female lays eggs in the spring. Fertilized in the fall, it begins to look for a suitable shelter for wintering. It hides in cracks, under the bark of trees in anticipation of warmth and spends the whole winter in a daze.
2. After waking up, the female goes to the place selected for the construction of the nest. He makes a leg from which he sculpts cells. It turns out honeycombs, in each of which she lays her offspring.
3. The eggs give birth to larvae - white, gluttonous worms. For development, they need protein food, so wasps bring pieces of meat to the hive, killed insects in the form of flies, aphids, etc. Before feeding them to the larvae, insects need to chew them. At first, the uterus itself feeds the larvae. When the first generation grows up, care for the new offspring passes to them. The thick syrupy liquid secreted by the larvae indicates that they are sufficiently fed. This liquid is eaten by worker wasps. Ants, termites and other types of insects make such an exchange of food within the colony, which allows them to carry out informational communication with each other. This metabolic process is called trofolaxis.
4. Then comes the pupation stage, the larva turns into an imago. Since development from egg to imago lasts 3 weeks, the insect colony becomes visible only by July. Over time, the nest grows to the size of an apple.
5. Adults feed on fruit juices, flower nectar, and aphid secretions. The diet varies depending on the region of residence. For example, an insect that prefers to consume fruit juice will have to drink the nectar of flowers if there are not enough ripe fruits in the region.
6. The wasp family is gradually expanding, reaching over a thousand individuals. Most insects become workers. Their task is to find food, build, protect the nest, and feed the larvae.

The house, which the insects have been building all summer, is abandoned in the fall. The activity of the old uterus and working individuals decreases with the arrival of cold weather, they become lethargic and slow.Only young females remain for the winter, as they are the continuers of the genus. The rest of the insects freeze in winter or are eaten by enemies.

A wasp can attack a person if he accidentally waves his hands near the nest. And given that the insect signals danger to its relatives, a whole swarm of insects will immediately fly in. They become most aggressive at the end of the summer months.

Wasps - masters of paperwork

Among all biological species that inhabit our planet, wasps are characterized as the most skillful paper craftsmen

.

True, not all wasps build their magnificent houses from paper pulp, which is obtained as a result of chewing wood. However, the well-known striped robbers, whom many sweets were afraid of since childhood, belong precisely to the family of the so-called paper wasps, more precisely, to two biological families that are close in biological characteristics - vespins and polystines.

Wasps of these two families lead a social lifestyle, which forces them to build rather large nests, which would give shelter to all members of the wasp partnership. At the same time, a multi-apartment wasp house should be dry and warm, because, like all Hymenoptera, wasps are afraid of high humidity, which makes their transparent porches heavier and does not allow them to take off.

How many wasps live in a nest

After the wasps have made a nest, the life cycle of the wasp family lasts one summer. The life of the hive, which began in spring, reaches its climax by the middle of summer and continues while construction continues. By the beginning of autumn, all vital processes subside and stop. The established order is unchanged and requires annual new buildings.

Last year's hives are not relevant for a wasp swarm, but with a good location of the place chosen for construction, the insects will build another dwelling within walking distance of last year's house.

Important!

Wasps can return to their favorite places even after the destruction of their home. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the place where the hive was located with special substances designed to combat and destroy these insects.

When wasps leave their nests

Each hive contains guard wasps. At the moment of approaching danger, they give a special signal, thanks to which a large number of irritated insects instantly appear from the nest, ready to defend their possessions.

Despite the fact that the poison of a wasp does not pose a critical danger to humans, its bite is quite painful. The most powerful and unpleasant for humans is the hornet bite.

Important!

A distinctive feature of all wasps is the ability to sting several times in a row. Due to its structure, the sting of the wasp does not get stuck in the skin of a person or animal.

Close proximity to a wasp nest can spoil not only the mood of people living nearby, but also their health. Therefore, having found a hive, it is necessary to take drastic measures to ruin it. Use quick and precise movements to crush the hive with your hand or, if possible, your foot.

When wasps leave their nests

Wasps fly out at a distance of no more than 100 meters from the dwelling they built. There are two reasons for leaving home walls:

• search for food;
• danger of ruining the nest.

Video

What do wasps make their nests from? Performed by a 7th grade student of the secondary school №377 of the Kirovsky region Chizh Svetlana Supervisor Stepanova Ye.A.

In the summer I found a hornets' nest right in my apartment ... The wasps made it on a thick curtain, in a secluded, dark corner. The nest was very small, it was not even a nest, but a clutch for eggs around which the nest itself formed. The nest looks like plain paper! I had questions: What is a hornet's nest, how do wasps make it.Why did the wasp first lay eggs, only then began to build the walls of the nest? Where in nature can an insect find paper if it is an artificial material? What is the advantage to the axis of the nest design, in which the entrance is at the bottom?

The purpose of my work: To study the structure of a wasp nest, and find out if there is any benefit from wasps Objectives: 1) study the literature and find out what species of wasps make nests 2) find out from what material wasps build their nests 3) why the nests differ in color 4) find out is there any benefit from a wasp nest

At the first stage, a survey of people was carried out in order to clarify their attitude towards wasps. Opinions differed on the question of the benefits or harms of wasps.

The second stage: there are about 20 thousand species of wasps in nature, but paper (or public) wasps build such a nest

What material does a wasp use to make a nest? The wasp separates small pieces of wood with its jaws, thoroughly grinds them with saliva, and then applies a thin layer to the nest. The resulting dry mass is similar to rough wrapping paper. You can even write on it.

The third stage: study of the structure of the wasp nest. The surface of the nest is gray with brown, white, green stripes.

Studying the properties of the wasp nest: 1) After sprinkling the nest with water, I found that the water dripped down it 2) I put the pieces of the nest in the water, they did not immediately, but got wet, floated on the surface of the water. 3) Having dipped the pieces into a solution of hydrochloric acid, I found that nothing happened to them either.

Fourth stage: Studying the structure of the nest Having cut the paper layers, I found cells of the regular hexagonal shape there. The cells are arranged horizontally. The entrance to the bay from below is located for the convenience of entering it. The first row of cells is attached to the surface, then the second tier is suspended from it, and so on as the family grows. It turns out a multi-storey "house".

Why are nests needed? In the nests, wasps hatch their larvae. Wasps feed the larvae: caterpillars and other insects, chew them thoroughly. To feed all the larvae, you need to prepare a large amount of stocks, therefore they will destroy a huge number of harmful insects.

Conclusions: Paper wasps build nests. Wasps gnedo is made of a paper-like substance. The nest has a very complex structure, the color of the nest depends on the building material that wasps collected - food for birds. To destroy wasps means to violate the ecology, because in our gardens and vegetable gardens there will be more harmful insects that eat crops, and the birds will not have enough food to feed their chicks.

Paper production

consists of many operations. It begins with the search for the necessary source of raw materials, after which a logistics scheme is thought out, which includes the delivery of wood, chemicals, water and energy to the production site. After that, the wood is carefully crushed, moistened with substances that ensure the formation of paper fibers and rolled into sheets of the required width.

Wasps, producing paper for their homes, solve the same problem. Let's see how they do it.

The benefits and harms of insects

The wasp itself is not at all dangerous to humans, however, as a result of the attack of the female, there is a risk of developing an allergic reaction.

A wasp sting is manifested by the following unpleasant symptoms:

• swelling;
• redness and inflammation of the skin;
• pain;
• itching;
• slight malaise;
• a slight increase in body temperature.

If a wasp stings, urticaria may occur, and in difficult cases, Quincke's edema develops with lightning speed, anaphylactic shock occurs.

If the wasp stung for the first time, and everything ended well, this does not guarantee that the subsequent insect bite will pass without consequences. Wasp venom can accumulate in the body and cause sensitization.What to do if bitten by a wasp - first aid for a wasp sting.

Not only harm, but also benefits are brought by these insects. They are actively fighting pests in greenhouses, vegetable gardens, orchards. Some biologists argue that many do not know about the existence of certain species of spiders and beetles due to predators painted in black and yellow stripes.

In addition, today scientists continue to actively research the properties of wasp poison against cancer cells. It's all about the special structure of the protein it contains, supposedly it is this substance that allows you to destroy malignant cells.

Larvae of land wasps

Wasps lay eggs in their underground nests, from which larvae then hatch.

• The larvae of earthworms are worm-like, 2 to 4 centimeters long.
• The body is divided into segments.
• The color can be whitish-transparent, off-white, yellowish or beige.
• Each egg, from which the larva then hatches, is deposited in an individual chamber in the combs of the nest.
• To feed the larvae, the wasps catch and bring in other insects.
• The victim can be paralyzed and delivered to the larva entirely, or cleaned of wings, legs and other rudimentary parts in the opinion of the wasp, slightly dissolved, turned into a kind of analogue of gruel and in this form handed over to the larva.
• Wasps feed their larvae in combs for about 3 weeks, until they turn into independent adults.

Reproduction of wasps in the hive takes place throughout the summer season. Before the onset of cold weather, the fertilized uterus flies out of the nest and looks for a shelter, where it can hide from frost until next spring. The rest of the colony scatters and dies. In the spring, the uterus will lay the first batch of eggs in a new burrow, which she herself will create, and the entire breeding cycle will repeat again.

Wasp wintering place

Looking at the internal, external structure of the wasp nest, it seems that the family will spend more than one year there. Just like it does in ants. However, large buildings, complex architectural structures play the role of a summer house.

With the onset of autumn, young sexually mature females mate, begin to look for a suitable place for wintering - cracks in the wall, wooden buildings, tree bark, old stumps, abandoned hollows. Over time, metabolic processes slow down, the female falls into suspended animation, sleeps until the beginning of spring. From the first warm days, he starts building a new hive.

On a note!

The rest of the family members die from the cold in autumn or become victims of natural enemies. They lose their former activity, become slow, vulnerable. At the end of the season, the old queen, workers, and males die.

Control methods

To get rid of a wasp nest on a land plot, it is poured with boiled water or doused with a combustible substance, set on fire. The procedure is performed late in the evening, when all family members are assembled, going to spend the night, or in the early morning, when they have not yet had time to fly away.

When placing the hive under the roof of a house, in the attic, in a tree, the nest is immersed in water. A bucket is filled, brought neatly to the wasp's nest, and immersed in water. Another modern way is to use a vacuum cleaner. The insects are tightened at full power into a bag, then thrown into the water.

In order to prevent the construction of nests, repellent plants are planted on the land plot - mint, lemon balm, marigolds, calendula. The walls are treated with paint, varnish, boric acid solution.

The wasp's nest is an unpleasant neighborhood wherever it is. These insects appear after winter; they are dangerous for humans and animals living in the house. You can get rid of them in several main ways:

Poison with insecticides.

Destroy physically.

Create conditions under which they themselves leave their homes.

Before you get rid of wasps and start fighting a flying regiment, you need to think over the sequence of actions, carefully observe personal safety and safety in general.

Important! You cannot approach the nest quickly, everything must be done smoothly so that the wasps do not start leaving the nest. If this happened, you need to slowly move away, hide somewhere, it will be possible to continue only after a few hours. It is impossible to kill insects during this period, because at the time of death of the wasp, substances are released that provoke the entire swarm to attack the offender.