Pest Controller Issues Wasp Warning After Tackling Space Hopper-Sized Nest

A pest controller has warned people to look out for giant wasp nests after he had to tackle one the size of a space hopper. You can check out the enormous nest here:

Clearly, you don't wanna find one of the massive nests in your house, mainly 'cause they're filled with thousands of wasps, but also because they can damage buildings.

Unfortunately for Andrew Dellbridge - who works for Ace Pest Control Ltd., in Norwich, Norfolk, UK - his job necessitates that he must tackle monstrous wasp houses, such as the space hopper-sized one he was called out to in a barn attached to a house on the edge of the Norfolk Broads.

The 51-year-old took on the behemoth nest on his own, donning full protective gear, and he said it was so densely populated that he could see wasps queuing to get through entry points.

Reflecting on this memorable day in the office, Andrew said: "It was quite an intense job - when you're in that space, up close to the nest and can hear the deep buzzing sound, you really get a sense of the massive scale of the structure. I can well believe that there were multiple thousands of wasps inside that nest.

SWNS

"You have to be careful when a nest built in a roof space gets to that size, as the wasps start running out of space, and will chew through the ceiling board to create more room.

"I started by spraying the nest with a knockdown spray, which is like a fly spray, which will kill off all the wasps inside the nest. Then I came back and sprayed it with a residual spray, to ensure any wasps that returned to the nest later would also be killed off.

"In most cases, including this one, we would leave the nest in situ - as wasps will never use a nest built by another colony in a previous year."

But while this nest is evidently freakishly large, Andrew said conditions have been ideal for the insects, meaning you could well stumble upon one of the giant nests over the coming weeks.

SWNS

He said: "We've had such a good start to the year, with such excellent, warm weather very early on, that it has accelerated the growth of the insect population.

"This has meant the wasps have been more active for longer - giving them more time for the queens to build nests to hibernate in during the winter.

"There are large nests all over the place - there are lots more wasps, and the nests are huge. It's colossal, really, what wasps can build in just a few months, starting with just one wasp.

"With the weather the way it has been, we're likely to see wasp activity right up until about late October. It can only get worse in the next few weeks."

Topics: UK News, Animals

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey