Wasp hive cache

[+Cableguy]

I have some good sized honeycombs from a large wasp hive. I know there are a few of these hides out there. What would I spray the hive combs with, to make the 'container' more rigid and solid? Tx!

[+kunarion]

The hive is made of biodegradable fibers, constantly repaired and renewed by the wasps. It seems to me that it will require more than just “spray” to hold it together for handling by Geocachers. Contact the owners of “hive” Geocaches, to find out what kind of spray to use. Perhaps starting with a tougher material shaped into a “nest” form, would be better. I've considered pressing a small wasp nest into mold compound, to cast a new "hive" from resin. But on a cache hunt, I wouldn't want to have to decide if a hive is real, so I haven't hidden a cache like that. I have a cache that isn't even a wasp nest container, and the first log is all about the wasp that stung the FTF. And other logs are also about the wasp.

 

Do nests attract wasps? I have a couple of bamboo sticks that have wasp nest holes (makes cool shapes in the bamboo), which were attracting wasps while I was crafting the sticks into walking sticks.

Edited March 16, 2014 by kunarion

[+spider16]

Do nests attract wasps?

 

No, they do not. We had a problem with wasps building nests under our front porch so we hung a fake wasps nest in the tree next to the porch and the problem went away.

[+kunarion]

Do nests attract wasps?

 

No, they do not. We had a problem with wasps building nests under our front porch so we hung a fake wasps nest in the tree next to the porch and the problem went away.

So does the OP need to hang a fake wasp nest near the cache made of a real wasp nest?

 

Wait. Can't the OP use that kind of fake wasp nest for the cache? Then there's no need to find the right spray.

Edited March 16, 2014 by kunarion

[+BCandMsKitty]

The fake ones that you hang as wasp repellant are collapsible paper around a wire frame ... and don't look real to humans.

 

There must be something that one can saturate a paper wasp nest with to make it last. I once found a micro in a fence post top that was evil because there was a small preserved wasp nest in the fence post top too, and most folks stopped looking as soon as they saw the nest! I seem to remember that the nest was hard and durable, not at all like a natural one, but it was definitely the real thing.

 

This gives me an idea. There's a product called git-rot that's a liquid epoxy that you inject into rotted wood. It soaks through the wood and hardens, making the wood harder than it was originally. It's insanely expensive, but I have half a kit left from a trailer restoration project I did that's now just sitting getting old. I'm thinking if that works on a wasp nest, I'd have a fun hide.

Thanks for the idea!

Edited March 17, 2014 by BC & MsKitty

[+niraD]

There are various clearcoat sprays that are used to protect calligraphy and other paper-based art projects. One of them might work.

[+funkymunkyzone]

I hate to be negative (how's that for a self-contradictory statement)... but, is this such a good idea? What happens when a kid comes across another wasp's nest and thinks it's also one of those fun treasure-hunting game things that mum and dad look for?

[+kunarion]

I hate to be negative (how's that for a self-contradictory statement)... but, is this such a good idea? What happens when a kid comes across another wasp's nest and thinks it's also one of those fun treasure-hunting game things that mum and dad look for?

That's the same kid that hits a real nest with a stick. Go get a smarter kid.

[+funkymunkyzone]

I hate to be negative (how's that for a self-contradictory statement)... but, is this such a good idea? What happens when a kid comes across another wasp's nest and thinks it's also one of those fun treasure-hunting game things that mum and dad look for?

That's the same kid that hits a real nest with a stick. Go get a smarter kid.

Perhaps, but a smart kid learns from mum and dad... So long as mum and dad don't go around hitting wasp nests (or geocaches) with sticks...

[+kunarion]

I hate to be negative (how's that for a self-contradictory statement)... but, is this such a good idea? What happens when a kid comes across another wasp's nest and thinks it's also one of those fun treasure-hunting game things that mum and dad look for?

That's the same kid that hits a real nest with a stick. Go get a smarter kid.

Perhaps, but a smart kid learns from mum and dad... So long as mum and dad don't go around hitting wasp nests (or geocaches) with sticks...

I was considering a wasp nest hide idea this week, while thinking of ways to hide something in a picnic pavilion. A realistic fake nest (molded from an actual nest) would be pretty evil. But first I'd have to knock down all the real ones with a stick. And keep doing that all the time...

Edited March 17, 2014 by kunarion

[+Cableguy]

there are threads here about whether hive caches are a good idea or not. Consensus is that they are fine, no different than fake electric boxes etc. All kinds of crazy containers out there. Seems that there are entire nest shaped caches out there made with insulating spray foam cut and molded into a hive shape.

In my work, I come across a lot of good sized honey combs. Yes they are brittle. Hence the query. Maybe it's time for a trip to the hardware store.

[7rxc]

 

I was considering a wasp nest hide idea this week, while thinking of ways to hide something in a picnic pavilion. A realistic fake nest (molded from an actual nest) would be pretty evil. But first I'd have to knock down all the real ones with a stick. And keep doing that all the time...

 

A lot of making a 'fake' wasp nest would depend on the type of wasp invovled, I would think. Most around here are of the 'paper' variety, that is they make fairly fragile nests out of paperlike fibres. Often ball shaped, but can be quite freeform as well, I had to remove a big one that was in a porch roof between the rafters, the roofing and the soffit. That was about 16 inches wide, and 5 feet long. They were a bit upset over the plan.

 

'Mud' wasps use mud or dirt to make structures... but I haven't run into those myself other than to glimpse them once in a while 'out there'. Anyway, local conditions have a lot to do with things.

 

I've never tried it out for molding purposes on wasp nests, but on a SAR course way back they demonstrated how to preserve a footprint in snow before it melted or got obscured by other means. That involved using spray paint from a fair distance (too close and you deform the print yourself due to spray strength). Just start by misting it onto the print from aways out (test your spray on non critical location). Slowly let the spray build up on the surfaces until it is covered up, then slowly increase the application until it is completely sealed.

Let it dry as much as possible, then try pouring in some plaster mix very gently and let it cure.

 

A wasp nest might not melt, but... they can be fragile and I have no idea what the spray carrier might do to the original, perhaps nothing.

 

As far as having to keep eliminating real wasp nests all the time... I look after one in the next town. Blundered into that task when it was on my ToDo list, was a challenge at a time when I was really bored etc.

NO one had seen it for quite a while, and being new to caching at that time, I thought I would try to locate it, since I had to be in that town quite a while. My first try was during warm weather (we get a few weeks of that each year) and the wasps were really busy there. DNF'd it several times out of need and self preservation.

Winter came and went, and I celebrated a very nice clear and relatively warm day by searching again. Figured out that wasps and muggles were not to active at -20C. Had a metal scraper to remove many of the nests that had accumulated over the years. Since I had no desire to duplicate one, I dropped them onto the ground and destroyed each in turn under foot.. nest to dust. Never saw even one sign of an occupant even dead, and I did look.

The last and largest nest I did was ground up and I realized there was a hard lump in it... a 2" Bison tube.

Aha! Found it after a long state of missing, right where it belonged, but under the nest that surrounded it over time. Cleaned it up, new log due to deterioration, and figured out how it had been located and it has been back in service for many years since 2009. I go on about this to much, but it seemed to fit.

Upshot is that at least one of the people to try it shortly after complained about the number of wasps there.

I was shown years back that wasps of our local type, and apparently many others, REALLY hate WD-40 spray.

It's good for taking out active nests, spray and remove yourself from area. Use the skinny tube and you have decent range and control (never tried the hand pump variant though). Part solvent and part oil, it definitely does a number on the wasps. That was not a need here though. What I did do was to fog spray the areas around the cache. Point one, this is a piece of mining machinery, with lots of closed in areas to poke around in while looking... that is that these prime wasp nesting areas are dry most of the time. This also affects the longevity of the treatment. Point two, is that the wasps seem to have both good memory (as a species) and excellent scent organs (they always come to food sources easily). That and their vulnerability to WD-40 is the key.

I seldom see any wasps there any more since the early summer of 2009. I did find a proto nest that failed back in the fall of 09, that in an area I forgot to spray. Not since. It will happen though I'm sure. Point three is that the oil component deposits itself on the surfaces, and it appears that the nest material can no longer get a hold any more and falls off... again they seem to know that they failed and why so they don't return... genetic memory again?

 

Can't promise that anyone else gets the same results, but some modification might help if you have a wasp problem. It has helped keep them away from that porch I mentioned as well, but so did the screening.

 

BTW that was Big and Orange, and I do NOT agree with the owner that 'feeling' for the cache is a good idea, be it wasp nests or 'sharps'.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+kunarion]

Cool info! The most popular wasp nests around here (to the wasps) are the mud daubers. Those would be interesting to make, and I don't think too difficult if there's a Nano inside. I'd probably try to find a knot hole and craft a match tube hide that looks like a mud nest. My "Nano" caches tend to be modified by me over time, into match tubes for some reason. Go figure.

 

The paper wasps seem to be a lot more territorial. I have a feeling that the wasp nest at my non-wasp-nest cache is going to have dead wasps in it soon. I'm sure they'll be missed.

 

 

 

I was considering a wasp nest hide idea this week, while thinking of ways to hide something in a picnic pavilion. A realistic fake nest (molded from an actual nest) would be pretty evil. But first I'd have to knock down all the real ones with a stick. And keep doing that all the time...

 

A lot of making a 'fake' wasp nest would depend on the type of wasp invovled, I would think. Most around here are of the 'paper' variety, that is they make fairly fragile nests out of paperlike fibres. Often ball shaped, but can be quite freeform as well, I had to remove a big one that was in a porch roof between the rafters, the roofing and the soffit. That was about 16 inches wide, and 5 feet long. They were a bit upset over the plan.

 

'Mud' wasps use mud or dirt to make structures... but I haven't run into those myself other than to glimpse them once in a while 'out there'. Anyway, local conditions have a lot to do with things.

 

I've never tried it out for molding purposes on wasp nests, but on a SAR course way back they demonstrated how to preserve a footprint in snow before it melted or got obscured by other means. That involved using spray paint from a fair distance (too close and you deform the print yourself due to spray strength). Just start by misting it onto the print from aways out (test your spray on non critical location). Slowly let the spray build up on the surfaces until it is covered up, then slowly increase the application until it is completely sealed.

Let it dry as much as possible, then try pouring in some plaster mix very gently and let it cure.

 

A wasp nest might not melt, but... they can be fragile and I have no idea what the spray carrier might do to the original, perhaps nothing.

 

As far as having to keep eliminating real wasp nests all the time... I look after one in the next town. Blundered into that task when it was on my ToDo list, was a challenge at a time when I was really bored etc.

NO one had seen it for quite a while, and being new to caching at that time, I thought I would try to locate it, since I had to be in that town quite a while. My first try was during warm weather (we get a few weeks of that each year) and the wasps were really busy there. DNF'd it several times out of need and self preservation.

Winter came and went, and I celebrated a very nice clear and relatively warm day by searching again. Figured out that wasps and muggles were not to active at -20C. Had a metal scraper to remove many of the nests that had accumulated over the years. Since I had no desire to duplicate one, I dropped them onto the ground and destroyed each in turn under foot.. nest to dust. Never saw even one sign of an occupant even dead, and I did look.

The last and largest nest I did was ground up and I realized there was a hard lump in it... a 2" Bison tube.

Aha! Found it after a long state of missing, right where it belonged, but under the nest that surrounded it over time. Cleaned it up, new log due to deterioration, and figured out how it had been located and it has been back in service for many years since 2009. I go on about this to much, but it seemed to fit.

Upshot is that at least one of the people to try it shortly after complained about the number of wasps there.

I was shown years back that wasps of our local type, and apparently many others, REALLY hate WD-40 spray.

It's good for taking out active nests, spray and remove yourself from area. Use the skinny tube and you have decent range and control (never tried the hand pump variant though). Part solvent and part oil, it definitely does a number on the wasps. That was not a need here though. What I did do was to fog spray the areas around the cache. Point one, this is a piece of mining machinery, with lots of closed in areas to poke around in while looking... that is that these prime wasp nesting areas are dry most of the time. This also affects the longevity of the treatment. Point two, is that the wasps seem to have both good memory (as a species) and excellent scent organs (they always come to food sources easily). That and their vulnerability to WD-40 is the key.

I seldom see any wasps there any more since the early summer of 2009. I did find a proto nest that failed back in the fall of 09, that in an area I forgot to spray. Not since. It will happen though I'm sure. Point three is that the oil component deposits itself on the surfaces, and it appears that the nest material can no longer get a hold any more and falls off... again they seem to know that they failed and why so they don't return... genetic memory again?

 

Can't promise that anyone else gets the same results, but some modification might help if you have a wasp problem. It has helped keep them away from that porch I mentioned as well, but so did the screening.

 

BTW that was Big and Orange, and I do NOT agree with the owner that 'feeling' for the cache is a good idea, be it wasp nests or 'sharps'.

 

Doug 7rxc

Edited March 26, 2014 by kunarion

[+WarNinjas]

Maybe we should get a real licensed pest control guy in here to give opinions. Someone who has been doing this for many years! Oh wait that is me. I have no Idea. I think they said it better.

[7rxc]

Maybe we should get a real licensed pest control guy in here to give opinions. Someone who has been doing this for many years! Oh wait that is me. I have no Idea. I think they said it better.

I for one would love to hear the best information... always room for improvement in my world.

 

I got the WD-40 info from a PC tech. It was his method and it worked LOCALLY for us. I would add that one should remove the treated nest rather than leave it since there is a slight fire risk when it is freshly coated.

 

Us regular types aren't licenced to use serious pest control agents, but around here the WD is both cheaper, more effective and readily available... also beats the heck out of the flame thrower, but that is neater. Safer as well. However I love watching people using the oxy-propane gopher/other burrowing rodent removers...

 

Can't beat hissssss! wait for it, bam!

 

All in good fun though. I remember too well reading about that guy who figured over loading the burrows would be more efficient... and regretted it. Wonder if that constituted a non-dug hole for cache placement.

 

Doug 7rxc

[+kunarion]

WD-40

I have a guard rail cache that I think has a wasp nest in holes in rubber "shock absorber" spacers. I haven't seen the wasp myself, and never get stung for some reason. But I'd like to apply something to get rid of existing nests and prevent new ones for a season, yet not poison Geocachers. Ideas?

 

I'd like to keep that cache, since it's a really great guard rail cache.

 

Anyway, about the OP. If you take an entire paper wasp nest and put it into a freezer, the nest will soon become inert (grubs and wasps die and dehydrate). Freezing is a great non-poison trick for a lot of things that have "bugs" in them. I don't think you can make a durable cache out of that nest, but what do I know. The trick is getting a live nest into a freezer (that, and removing it without getting stung). If you bring a small Styrofoam cooler and dry ice, you could freeze the nest in the field, then bring it to a freezer for dehydration. I don't know if future wasps will see your cache and think, "hey, free nest!" and move in.

 

The whole issue of "kids & sticks & confusion about real wasp nests" is a separate discussion.

Edited March 26, 2014 by kunarion

[+Irishflea]

Funkymunkyzone,

 

What if frogs had wings? They wouldn't bump their butts when they hopped.

 

Moral: "What if" games are best left up to scientists.