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We may have bluffed the wasps out of the shed

 
Posts: 299
Location: Portland, Oregon Maritime, temperate, zone 7-8.
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I know that yellow jackets perform valuable functions in permaculture, and I try to peacefully coexist with them, but last summer they built a LARGE nest in the open shed and were VERY territorial about it, such that we risked being stung whenever we entered the shed. The nest was in the middle of a roll of closed cell foam camping mat, on a prominent shelf.

We decided to just wait it out until fall when they would abandon the nest, which they did.

The open shed is a choice location for a wasp nest, and I did not want them in there in the future.

Toxic sprays are out of the question. We want them on the land, just not in the shed.

I decided to leave the nest there, hoping that the wasps would then not want to build another nest in the shed in the future.

It worked so far this summer, as their presence in the shed was very obvious in late August last year, and there is no evidence of wasps in the shed now.

I plan to leave the nest there and see if maybe it deters wasps from nesting in the shed in the future. If it seems to work, I will let you know.

Sort of a variant on the permaculture principle of the problem being the solution.

I hope this works for others bothered by yellow jackets.

Love,
Pamela Melcher
 
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