How Dealing With A Wasp Nest Relates to Sewing!

I never thought I’d be writing about wasps. And yet here I am, doing just that. It’s a good story, so please bear with…

I have few fears in life. Velvet is one. It’s irrational I know and yes, it’s weird, but it’s also a real thing I struggle with.

Another fear is wasps. In part because they can sting more than once, and in part because I’ve never heard a good story about a wasp…

But, over the last few days I learned a lot about these buzzy little creatures…

Disclaimer: This is a personal blog entry and you will not learn anything from reading this other than my thoughts and feelings, which will help you to know me better! 🙂

They have a queen. We’ll call her Judith.

Judith started her life in the autumn of 2024. She was selected by her colony to be one of the next Queens and she was very excited to fulfil her destiny. When she was fully mature and allowed to leave the nest, she mated with several drones (the male wasps who do not have a stinger) as was expected of her and stored up the ‘liquid’ resulting from those matings until the spring.

While Judith was busy preparing herself to become queen next spring, the colony that she was part of started to die off – including her current queen. Realizing that she really was alone now Judith took herself off to a quiet safe place and went into hibernation to keep herself and eggs safe ready for spring.

In Spring of 2025 Judith woke up as the first rays of spring sunshine warmed the air around her. She yawned. Well rested, she recalled her mission in life: to create a colony of her own!

She tested her wings tentatively. Had they woken up yet? Would she be able to fly in search of a safe place for her nest? It seemed possible. Judith stood up shakily on her six legs, and when they stood firm, she whooped in joy, and flew up into the air.

It didn’t take Judith long to find the perfect spot. A slowly decaying wooden hut, attached to a house. There would be a good source of wood for her nest, and food for her babies if humans lived close. What a find!

She poked around, to make sure there were no other queen’s building a nest, and lo and behold, luck was on her side. A human had left what looked like a safe space enclosed in polystyrene – this would surely keep her nest warm and safe while she built her colony! Judith scoured the polystyrene, looking for an opening, and there it was. Big enough for her and others to fly in and out of, but small enough to be discreet and not attention catching. Perfect.

Now that the perfect spot had been found Judith got to work on building her nest. It was a slow process, but she was determined to be a good Queen and build a good strong nest to keep her baby wasps safe.

She started with the interior cells, sourcing wood from the old outhouse and turning it into a pulp that, when dried, resembled paper. She had to be careful though – the Lady Human had noticed the sound of her chomping up the wood and was on alert.

To put Lady Human off the scent, Judith started flying a little further afield to gather supplies. There was an old wooden table and chair at the garden’s edge, both of which were slowly falling into disrepair. They were perfect for her needs, and she’d be less noticeable gathering from here.

After getting the nest started, and creating the first beautifully structured cells, Judith started to lay her eggs. One per cell, and then a coating of the ‘mating juice’ to fertilize them. She was very excited to see the nest and her colony of wasps starting to grow.

On and on Judith continued, chomping on wood, flying it back home, creating a safe cell and then laying her egg. It felt like she would be working this way forever, but then after five days she noticed that her eggs were becoming larva… Excited, she started to gather food for them. Her eggs were becoming babies and they’d soon be able to help! Woohoo!

After another 8 days, Judith noticed that several of the cells had a worker wasp emerging. Oh, the joy! She gave those workers the job of taking care of the larva in the other cells while she continued making the nest and laying her eggs. And she also reminded them that they needed to be discreet when out of the nest, to make sure the Lady Human and Man Human did not notice them.

Judith and her colony continued to grow the nest for some time… until one day the Lady Human spotted one of her workers flying near the Polystyrene… and that really was the beginning of the end.

***

This week, I discovered Judith’s wasp nest in the ‘outhouse’ right next to our back door. What Judith had assumed to be a safe space for her colony of baby wasps probably was…

Except I discovered it, and I destroyed it.

Upon realizing that we had an actual wasp nest right near our back door, I started to panic. How big was it? How many wasps would be inside it? How could I get close and take a look when it was within another non-permanent structure? How would I deal with it?

I showed plenty of bravado to David (who was in the UK) and my dad (ditto)… but inside I was quaking. Nervous, scared and feeling quite desolate that my cat would never get to drink water from her favorite cup again (it’s outside, right below the wasp nest) I spent hours researching wasps, their habits, how to evict them and more.

I created a step-by-step plan on how I would deal with the nest, and I relayed it to David and my Dad. Both seemed impressed by my bravery but cautioned me against taking such a risk with no-one else around.

It appeared obvious that I would need to start the process 12 hours earlier than planned, so I could carry out my superhero task at night…

I started by using a piece of wood that was round – like a dowel – but heavier in weight and about 18”/45cm in length, and 1”/2.5cm diameter.

I used this to ‘nudge’ the heavy brass weight holding the nests ‘safe housing’ in place off. Immediately, several ‘nest defenders’ appeared to assess what had disturbed their home. Argh!

I fled back into the house, hiding behind the glass of the door until it looked safe, and then slooooowly opened the back door (even small vibrations can cause wasps to attack apparently) to reassess.

I should note that at this point, I was only wearing a long-sleeved shirt, long trousers and glasses, to be able to see, but also to protect my eyes. Not sensible!

When the wasps had settled, I used the same piece of wood to ‘separate’ the protective polystyrene enclosure and get a look at how big the nest was. Gulp. Again, I fled indoors quick sharp, as they were BUZZING at this intrusion.

This stage was complete, and still physically shuddering, I poured a glass of wine and relaxed on the sofa, while my nerves settled. I could feel a small smile of pride trying to happen, but I wouldn’t be able to truly relax until the nest was properly dealt with.

The next morning, I approached the back door nervously. I had slept poorly (yay for mosquitoes) and I was tending to the situation later than planned. It was ok though, as the local store, which was step 3, wouldn’t open until 8am anyway.

After popping to the shop to buy the necessary resources, my next step was to assess the number of wasps active at the nest throughout the day. Now that I had ‘opened up’ the cavity, I could see in the daylight that the nest was bigger than I expected it to be, and that there were more wasps than I’d expected too. Gulp

I made the decision that I would attack the wasp nest at 945pm, just before dark. I gathered protective clothing – full length thick joggers, long woolen socks to cover the lower hem of the joggers, longer socks to put on my hands as ‘gloves’, a wide thick scarf to cover my neck and head, and an old leather jacket because no wasp would be able to sting me through that.

As the minutes ticked down, I could feel nervousness in my belly. Or was it hunger? I wasn’t sure, but I did know that the wasps’ minutes were numbered…

 ***

***

Fully clothed, my plan was to open the back door with my left hand and keep it on the door handle. I would keep the door between me and the nest, so I could withdraw as quickly as possible. But first, I needed to deal with the cat.

She loved to explore outdoors, and I needed to keep her safe: from the possibility of being attacked in revenge but also from the fallout of the Wasp Nest Destroyer I would be using. I turned and looked at her and she hissed and ran away. Job done; I closed the dining room door on her.

Back to the wasps. I was more nervous than before, but also determined. Slowly slowly, I turned the door handle with my left hand. I shook my right hand, preparing it for attack. When the door was open enough, and my eyes could see the nest in the semi-darkness, I moved forward as far as I dared and SPRAYED THE NEST all over.

White foam erupted where it hit the nest. Wasps came out, got covered in the foam, and then collapsed to the wooden floor with their wings struggling to get them airborne. It wouldn’t happen. I had ninja’d them.

I slowly and carefully withdrew behind the door, watching from behind the glass, and felt a mix of sadness and relief. I had taken them out, and they were no longer a threat, but at what price?

***

As one of the walls collapsed downwards, and separated from the nest, Judith lay close to her eggs, immobile. She was unable to help her babies. She couldn’t protect them from Lady Human. All she could do was cry out to her workers, returning late from their tasks, and therefore almost safe from harm. “Don’t come closer!” she tried to call out. “Keep yourselves safe!” But no words would come out. Judith took her last breath and was no more.

***

The morning after, I poked the nest to see if anything was moving. There were still a few wasps loitering in the outhouse – workers returning too late to be ninja’d and too late to help their colony.

After a few hours, when the loitering wasps had moved on, I approached the remains of the nest and placed it carefully on a table where I could admire the work of Judith. There was still movement so I sprayed it a second time. This did result in more damage to the nest though, but I really didn’t want to crush it and bin it until I had a chance to admire Judith’s nest design!

When there was no sign of live wasps, I grabbed my camera with its macro lens, and carefully took some photos.

It was at this point I noticed Judith, laying curled up and close to her unhatched babies.

Then I saw movement. Just a little, but enough to make me feel better. There, next to where Judith lay, was a small larva, determined to survive. I’m not sure it will, with no workers left to care for it. But I admired its resistance and determination to fight on.

And then lo and behold, I spotted a tiny egg, nestled in one of the cells. Can you see it?

***

This is how everyone should approach learning to sew clothes. Whether it’s learning to use a sewing machine for the first time or learning how to make a sewing pattern for your body. We will all have some fear or anxiety about it. We will try to make excuses, reasons for not following through. But by setting out how we will do it – even if it’s just to turn the machine on and make the needle move! – we have moved one step closer to where we want to be.

And if you make a mistake on the way, that’s normal and great, because we learn most from mistakes after all!

Phew. That was a long one. Hope you enjoyed it. I love writing, but when this started to get too long for the email I was working on, I realized it needed to be its own post here on my blog instead!

Let me know in the comments if you’ve ever had to deal with a wasp’s nest… and if there’s anything about making your own clothes that you feel nervous about. I’d love to know so I can see how I can help you!

Big hugs,

Eve