The Great Wasp War of 08/12/2018

Post date: Aug 13, 2018 7:30:55 PM

Water level at about 10.5 - 11 inches when we arrived, and close to the same when we left.

Shlepped the rest of the water cans up to the observatory and only brought back one.

Restocked the wasp WMDs (2 full cans of foam spray, 1 half full can of foam spray, 2 cans of liquid spray, one unopened trap).

Hung two wasp traps away from the building: one on the deck and one on a tree behind the tower.

Added 2 gallons of drinking water and more instant oatmeal

The wasp scourge has been neutralized. We emptied several cans of poison around the entrance to the nest and plugged it with foaming insulation once activity had died down enough (thanks, Axl, for weakening them for us). There did not seem to be any other entrances to the nest so the rest should die in the walls. There's a bullet hole near the shed which I would keep an eye on in case it is deeper than it looks and more of our little friends move in there. Beware of the areas around the traps: they attract quite the crowd. We intended to move the one on the deck to a better location, but the cloud was so thick we couldn't get close to it. I recommend moving it somewhere else to another tree, preferably away from the building or behind it, once the crowds have thinned.

A word of advice on the poison: the liquid (Raid) should be used for knocking down stray wasps outside or on exposed nests, while the foaming spray (Spectracide) should be used to seal entrances to nests temporarily. The foam dissolves after a few minutes and should be reapplied throughout the day. If there happens to be another nest somewhere, it's a good idea to spray them at the end of an observing run while they're asleep in the early morning. Oh and one more thing: always have an escape route ready when dealing with these evil creatures!