Wasp nest...

[Opa]

For the most past we have only had to be concerned with our native yellow jackets and their nests are primarily found in the ground. However, an introduced species of wasp, the German yellow jacket is becoming more established. They are more agressive than our native wasp and has a proclivity to nest in attics or in the walls of buildings. This proximity to people makes this species of yellowjackets more of a public health threat. Solitary foundress queens overwinter in protected places and start new colonies in a structural cavity in the spring. The queen tends her first brood of workers and then becomes nestbound as the colony rapidly increases in size. The nest is constructed of a papier-mâché like substance that surrounds tiers of developing wasps. By July or August there may be more than 4,000 wasps in the nest, which may be more than 2 feet in diameter. A cadre of guard wasps attack if the nest is disturbed. A scent emitted by the guards incites nestmates to attack, often resulting in multiple stings to victims.

 

[Frosty]

Excuse the fact that the window needs washed, here is what it looks like:

If I do actually decide to spray it, I think I'll set a video camera up inside, it would be interesting to see how the spray penetrates and what happens. I would probably have DS run the camera since I wouldn't want the light on the camera to disturb them and have them exit the nest. I looked with a flashlight last night (from inside) and I could see a few guard bees around the entrance. The nests up here don't get that big, within 3 months this one will freeze. They can be a pain when the apples start dropping, the simple solution to that is to just let the turkeys out. They eat the fallen apples, so no wasps hanging out. For all I know, the turkeys might eat them, too. I think it has only been in the last few years that I even saw aerial wasp nests. They used to all be underground, so I had to look them up when I saw my first nest.

We had a nest here some years back that I don't know what to make of. They looked like yellow jackets, but when they stung they left their stingers like honey bees. DD and the dog were both stung, I removed stingers from both. DD had an allergic reaction and I had to rush her to the hospital. I have always wondered what they were...

 

[sourland]

Neat picture!!! I think I would have to leave the nest until they became aggressive. Beats watching TV.

 

[Frosty]

Quote:
Actually, there are lilacs on the other side, so I wouldn't even need to mow close. There is no reason to do anything close to it that I can think of, the cats don't even hang out there. Maybe I should just wash the window and observe... If I do have to spray it, I'll post the video if it look interesting.

Editing to add that right now it's 5 inches across...

 

[seminolewind]

They may look like yellow jackets, but are most likely paper wasps. Yellow jackets usually build inside of something. That's a beautiful nest.

Paper wasps are not aggressive. If you come close to a nest, you'll see they send a look-out to watch you. Once they know you, they just go about their business. I do not kill paper wasps.

At the end of the summer or before, they start to die off. Eventually the nest will be empty. They will not use it next year. I would just enjoy them.

 

[Frost Homestead]

Yellow jackets aren't aggressive like bees can be. If you don't mess with them they don't mess with you in most cases. If no one in your family is allergic to them I would just leave it alone. I don't get rid of their nests because they are pollinators.

 

[Tylt33]

Quote:
The nest is too big for most varieties of paper wasp. Based on OPs description of other nests in the area I would guess Bald-Faced Hornet or Aerial Yellowjacket. A picture of a wasp or the outside of the nest would help confirm.

 

[seminolewind]

Building on a window is kinda odd too. Maybe it's bigger because it's flat?

 

[Laurajean]

Interesting reading the various opinions. It IS a wasp, no doubt. Specific type is hard to say without seeing more of the nest. It will get bigger before the first frost. A couple corrections: paper wasp nests can get very big! It's definitely not too big to be a paper wasp, I have seen them much, much bigger. Yellow jackets are pollinators to an extent, although they mostly eat small insects and bring them back for the larvae to eat. Yellow jackets can build outside or inside. Opa is correct about them inside walls, eating the drywall, however once you see them building outside, it will be an outside nest from that point. They either go inside or outside. It won't migrate. The OP mentioned videoing the spraying if they decide to do that. Only spray this nest at night! I would not suggest spraying it during the day, they will be too alert and active. There may be many more in there that you don't see all at once, and I have had MANY customers try to spray themselves and then are shocked at how many come flying out in attack. At night they are "out of it" and more docile, that would be the time to spray, if you spray. However, I personally would leave it alone, if they are not bothering you. It's funny, because I am the Manager of a Pest Control Company, and I dispatch jobs like this all day every day, but I never treat these nests at my own house. If they were in my wall, of course, of if I were allergic, maybe, but I generally do agree with the live and let live whenever possible.

 

[Tylt33]

Quote:
I don't think anyone has said that it isn't a wasp. I suggested that it might be a Bald-Faced Hornet (d. maculata), which is a member of the yellow jacket family, and a true wasp. I suggest this because alongside d. arenaria they are the only two species of aerial nesting yellow jackets in the western United States. North Dakota might have another aerial species, but I'd be surprised.

True paper wasps (Polistes) build nests that are shaped like an upside down cone with the the cells exposed from the bottom, clearly not matching the OP's picture. Based on the OP's description of the local wasp nests as "basketball sized" and the actual photos, the most likely culprit is d. maculata, the Bald-Faced Hronet