I have a moral dilemma!?

Question

There is a wasps nest inside the roof corner of the garage. They get inside through a small hole. There is no way of getting to the nest. they pose no immediate threat. there must be at least 12 of them in there. Should i plug it up and starve the whole community to death or live and let live?

we have no children, we live in a residential area and the nest cannot be accessed from inside the garage nor from the outside.

Answer 1

If they pose no immediate threat, live and let live.

Answer 2

Depends on your moral system. Most people would have no problems with plugging up the hole, and there is good reason to do so -- you really don't want to allow a wasp's nest to build in your garage, especially if you have kids and if the garage is attached to your home.

(Wasps can sting more than once, unlike certain types of bees, and so a confrontation with an entire nest in the vicinity of your home could be devastating.)

If the nest was self-contained, I would suggest that there are ways to "freeze" the wasps (I think) and remove the actual nest... but not if it's in your house or the frame of the building.

You want to find out if the wasps will probably cause some structural damage to your building as the numbers grow.

Anecdote: Our first home was a 100-year-old brick home, and bees took up residence in our walls. We kept finding bees (a few a day) in a few certain rooms. We realized later they had somehow dug holes in the old brick (and exploited natural ones) and now had access to the inside of our house. LOTS of bees.

I was young and naive, so I caulked up as many of the outer holes as I could... and bees by the hundreds seemed to pour into the window frames over the next days... whereupon we went through a few cans of Raid.


I swear there were hundreds of them, it was insane... and a little frightening. (Sorta like tackling "Aliens" with nothing but a Bic lighter.)

Eventually I had all the holes plugged, so they could not get in any longer.. but i have no idea what happened to the structural integrity of the house, and we could have also been in some physical harm.

Only if you have some religious/moral reason to preserving the nest would I not take steps to remove it... and even then, I would check with professionals to see if there was some way they could remove the nest while still preserving your beliefs.

Answer 3

If you really find killing bugs to be morally repugnant, leave them for now, and stay away from them as much as possible. Then when it gets cold out, and they are either dormant or sluggish, move the nest to a wooded area. The nest will HAVE to be removed, or even if you kill them, more will move in. This may involve removing shingles or siding and replacing it. Besides, if you try to sell your home, and the buyers inspector finds the nest, even empty, the buyers would be within their rights to ask you to have it removed at your expense. If you don't want to remove it yourself, there are people who do this professionally.

Answer 4

Call the exterminator and they will remove it to another, saver for all location, if that is your wish. Otherwise they will destroy the nest. Wasps have a vital role in the world and the animal kingdom's places to live is being narrowed down to make way for humans that they now have to find a way to co-exist with humans to survive. Personally I would ask the exterminator to remove it.

Answer 5

Well, I live in the country. If you know your biology you know that wasps KILL SPIDERS. I have been stung by wasp's before, It aint fun. But I would rather endure a wasp sting that a black widow or a brown recluse bite and day of the MILLENIA.
Just a thought, expecially if they are not in your way. If you have baby children and they are at the front door, I would understand.
Char Donn

Answer 6

Kaizer, it's nice that you care enough to consider keeping them alive. Quite frankly, I'm too selfish in this regard and would be worried for my family's safety.

If you don't want to destroy the wasps, is there some way of moving the nest (kind of like moving a hive of honey bees by putting them "out") while they are moved?

Answer 7

Why do anything if you are not bothered by them?

You could plug the hole...but chances are they will find a new way out you will find a whole lot more cumbersome.

If it is that hard to reach get a pro to do it for you if you really want to do something about it.

No moral dilemma here.

Answer 8

They're only insects, not humans! They're not like bees either... their stingers are straight which means they don't die after they sting you and they will sting you over and over again. Something else to consider is the fact that people can be allergic to them. People can even become allergic to them, who have never had a reaction before from the stings.
I've heard of people who have never been allergic to fire ants suddenly having reactions.
Really, it's up to you though but I would kill them. They have no place in your home.

Answer 9

You don't have to kill them to get rid of them! Smoke will scare them out, so use a torch or something like that to produce smoke and make them go away, and after that, get rid of the nest. If and when they come back, they won't have a place to live so they'll move away.

Answer 10

plug the hole and kill the wasps. They don't pose an immediate threat, but they will certainly make your life more "interesting" later on if you let them establish themselves.

Answer 11

There is a way of getting to the nest. If man can build space stations then there is someone out there who can help you.