Surveying the damage

I'll admit it -- I'm deathly afraid of bees and wasps. So I was very disappointed to learn the buggers (wasps I believe) made a nice nest in my hose reel -- you know, that neat little gadget used to quickly move the garden hose around the yard. My wife, the kids and I have avoided going near the hose reel for a number of weeks because of this (I even refrain from moving it because I don't want to upset the wasps).

They've also built a decent sized nest inside the exhaust for my fireplace. Our house doesn't have a chimney. Instead, we have a "heatilator" which kind of sticks out from the back of the house and the heat is discharged through some standard metal tubing (similar to the heat ducts in a house). Anyway, they found an opening in some wire mesh that surrounds the tubing. Luckily, they can't get in the house from this location, but they do get a pretty much predator free zone from which to build their little kingdom.

Until now!

The other night saw a delightful dip in the temperature down into the mid 60's. We had been in 90+ degree days with 80-82 degree nights for over a week. This change was very welcome. Especially for the fact that the wasps become very docile in such cool weather. I decided to strike!

It was late (around 11:30pm) and I took my flashlight outside. First target was the hose reel. I pointed the flashlight at their nest and they were indeed just sitting there, barely moving. I pointed, shot and quickly moved around to the fireplace exhaust.

Again I pointed the flashlight and paused for a moment to notice that these guys were really building quite an elaborate home inside there. No time for second thoughts. Point, shoot and run in the house. I go to sleep wondering what the results of my night-time attack would be...

The next morning, as I walk out to the car and get ready to leave for work, I take a walk to the backyard. Inspecting the hose reel reveals at least 6 dead wasps -- many of them still inside the small enclosure where they were building. A couple on the ground just under their nest.

The fireplace exhaust was a different story. The exhaust was a sort of square enclosure. There wasn't a good view inside this, but there were a few holes in the sides (probably to aid in hear discharge) as well as openings in the four corners where this "metal box" came together. It was in these openings in the corner that the wasps were making there way back there (and it's where I shot the poison).

I looked near the top where they had been building their nest. It was there, but no wasps were on it. Looking through some of the holes at the bottom showed numerous wasps piled up on top of each other. It was a somewhat disturbing site, but it did bring a bit of comfort knowing the nest was gone for now.

I don't want to go as far as saying I'm happy over the killing or that I enjoyed it. But I would say that I did feel quite a bit more relaxed sitting on the patio last night watching the kids play. It even gave us the opportunity to get a close-up look at the dead wasps. The Wasp Killer I used says it kills them almost instantly and the bodies were quite "preserved". My 5-year old thought they were cool to look at but my 3-year old wasn't so curious . She's terrified of any bug that flies -- dear or alive!

© Copyright 2002 Patrick Steele. Last update: 7/12/2002; 9:20:36 AM.