The yellow jackets built a nest in our fireplace. Actually, in the enclosure on the backside of our house which keeps the rain off the fireplace. The enclosure sticks out two or three feet off the back side of our house and kind of hangs in the middle of the air with no obvious means of support, so technically it's not really part of the "house" so much as it is a camouflaged umbrella over the fireplace so the metallic parts don't get all rusty and gross.
Only they didn't seal it up very good because the wasps found a way inside and they built a nest in it and now it's all icky and gross.
How can we tell that it is all icky and gross?
Cheryl heard a buzzing noise coming from the fireplace one day -- actually, the sound wasn't coming from the fireplace; it was coming from the TV nook that was built next to the fireplace (obviously designed to fit those old-fashioned big, fat, deep TVs with the huge CRTs in them, because the nook is over two feet deep!). She pulled all the books out of the nook (because that's what we were storing there) and felt the top of the space (which was obviously made out of cheap MDF or chipboard) and it was sagging and kind of soft. Like something was filling it with moisture. Like thousands of icky wasps.
So she called the exterminator folks and they came out on Friday and sprayed some stuff out of a can and pumped some other stuff out of a little accordian-looking thing (the "duster") and then when we REALLY hear those wasps from inside the TV nook, angrily buzzing around like someone had set the place on fire. Which, in a way, we had done.
While the exterminator was there, he also sprayed/dusted some other bugs (European Paper Wasps) that had infiltrated the hollow metal supports of our deck tent. He said that the EPWs have a very painful sting, but die quickly when dusted. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, have a slightly less painful sting but take forever to die. Like, at least 24 hours.
He also said not to try and take the fireplace apart to clean out the dead wasps and the nest. Instead, he told us just to seal up the enclosure to make sure they don't come back next season to reclaim the nest. Because they will, if given the chance.
After the exterminator had left, Cheryl and I each took a turn sitting in the TV nook and listening to the angry, dying wasps. It was weird and wonderful, all at the same time. Like an audio nature show.
Only they didn't seal it up very good because the wasps found a way inside and they built a nest in it and now it's all icky and gross.
How can we tell that it is all icky and gross?
Cheryl heard a buzzing noise coming from the fireplace one day -- actually, the sound wasn't coming from the fireplace; it was coming from the TV nook that was built next to the fireplace (obviously designed to fit those old-fashioned big, fat, deep TVs with the huge CRTs in them, because the nook is over two feet deep!). She pulled all the books out of the nook (because that's what we were storing there) and felt the top of the space (which was obviously made out of cheap MDF or chipboard) and it was sagging and kind of soft. Like something was filling it with moisture. Like thousands of icky wasps.
So she called the exterminator folks and they came out on Friday and sprayed some stuff out of a can and pumped some other stuff out of a little accordian-looking thing (the "duster") and then when we REALLY hear those wasps from inside the TV nook, angrily buzzing around like someone had set the place on fire. Which, in a way, we had done.
While the exterminator was there, he also sprayed/dusted some other bugs (European Paper Wasps) that had infiltrated the hollow metal supports of our deck tent. He said that the EPWs have a very painful sting, but die quickly when dusted. The Yellow Jackets, on the other hand, have a slightly less painful sting but take forever to die. Like, at least 24 hours.
He also said not to try and take the fireplace apart to clean out the dead wasps and the nest. Instead, he told us just to seal up the enclosure to make sure they don't come back next season to reclaim the nest. Because they will, if given the chance.
After the exterminator had left, Cheryl and I each took a turn sitting in the TV nook and listening to the angry, dying wasps. It was weird and wonderful, all at the same time. Like an audio nature show.
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