Wasp nest on side of BBQ

Hey all!

It's been forever since I posted, hope you're all doing well!

I've had a wasp nest (I believe it is a paper wasp) on the side of my BBQ for a few weeks now. So far I've just seen the lone queen. It's pretty small, however it's a bit too close for comfort. I found it after taking my BBQ cover off one day. Since then I've left the cover off.

I don't mind having it around, I've had one up high on one of my second floor windows and they never really bothered me, and was really helpful to my small garden that year - rarely any pests. But I'm worried that this one might become a problem later on. My outdoor space is a terrace on the second floor that is maybe 15 feet by 8 feet. 

I reaaaaaally don't want to kill it and I've read that moving it might not help as she will likely try to rebuild. Not really sure what to do. I have BBQed a couple of times with her sitting on the nest and she didn't really do anything. I was kind of hoping that we'd get some really wet weather and that might make her move on since the nest is so exposed now without the BBQ cover on, but we've been having really dry weather, and I don't even know if that would actually do anything anyway.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Fiz, I think the only thing to do is to scrape off the nest so that she will find another spot. We had to fight the paper wasps from building nests under the patio eaves. Eventually they moved to a more socially compatible area of the yard. We even stuck a couple of blown-up small paper bags to discourage building on the patio. I read that they think a nest is already in the area and select a different site for their nest.

Thanks for the advice! Yeah, I think that might be what I'll have to do. I guess I'll wait for late evening one day this weekend and just do it. 

She's always on the nest when it gets dark though, and during the day when I don't see her on it, she comes flying back from nearby.

It's a shame, I wish she had built it up near the roof. Feel bad setting her back. Also, I had a lot of aphids last year on my tomato plants and I feel like having a wasp (or a few) around will help that a lot.

It won't set her back much. The nest is still small. Do it in the daytime and run like heck back inside. Just remember to leave the sliding glass door open when you scrape the nest. New door are expensive.

You two are much nicer than me...I have been stung by those buggers so it would be time to break out the Hot Shot!!!

Haha, yeah - I’ve never been stung by a wasp or a bee, but I naturally am inclined to saving things when I can. Spiders in my house being one example. When I was younger, we once had honey bees coming into our house and they were half dead crawling around when we found them. I scooped one up in a yogurt container that seemed somewhat okay and put it back outside, and no more came in. I like to think he went back and told the others there’s nothing good at our place lol.

Anyway, update on the wasp nest. We had a decent rain today that knocked the nest off the BBQ on its own. The wasp is still sitting on the nest though even though it’s on the ground. I guess I’ll wait and see what happens.

Good news, wasps are a single season animal.  They die in winter.  So chances are this issue will be over by next year!  

They are carnivores.  But also great pollinators!