What kind of insect nest is this?

Factual Questions
1

I just happened to discover this on the outside wall of my apartment. It looks to me as if it belongs to some insects of the order comprising ants, bees, and wasps; however, the cells look too small for bees and too large for ants. I’m assuming that the cells need to be as large enough to allow the adult insect to enter and feed the larva, or at least large enough so the queen can insert her abdomen and lay the eggs.

And as a side question, what’s the best way to deal with this? Note that the Post-It note is just a bit over 5cm in length, as the marking shows. With this in mind, it seems a bit much to call in Vector Control or Animal Control.

2

I’m no sort of expert, but it looks to me like the nest of a paper wasp.

3

It’s just a paper wasp nest. They can get huge. At this size it’s probably tended by only one or two wasps. If you knock it down and crush it up underfoot when its builders aren’t there, they may leave and build elsewhere. If you want to kill the nest’s denizens, spray it at night when the adults are all there.

4

Definitely wasp. Wait till evening and spray it with the deadliest stuff you can find. And then burn the nest to make sure all the eggs are destroyed as well.

5

It’s a paper wasp nest. I get them on my building all the time. I’ve hosed them down with a water hose. They still occasionally build them but they’ve mostly taken to nesting beneath the deck. They are supposed to be dangerous as they are social wasps. However, even when I washed them down, they would not sting me. They would make threatening gestures, but never took the plunge towards me. I’ve even had them get inside somehow. I have a suction tool with a cap and use that to suck them up and release them outside. I should probably kill them, as the released ones somehow get back into my house.

6

Just one. Hymenoptera colonies are founded by one fertilised queen.

7

Am I the only one astonished that this is your first encounter with a paper wasp nest? I thought those things were ubiquitous. I guess not.

And Floater, there are usually two or more wasps guarding these nests. Looks like the OP’s nest is an old one, with all the cells emptied.

8

When the queen has got it going, yes, but she starts from scratch, making a couple of cells where she lays eggs to produce some daughters/helpers and then the show is on the road.

9

Good advice, except you left out one step. Spray, then take the nest off your house, then destroy the nest.

I don’t fear wasps as much as I once did, but I still like to go back inside for a while after spraying. I’ve seen puzzled wasps trying to come back to the nest, but none have attacked me. I have also watched larvae squirm out of the sprayed nest. That’s not so scary, but it’s really creepy. :eek:

10

Exactly what we did. We crushed it into tiny bits.