Although wasps will never return to a previously used nest several species of wasp will build their new nest on top of the old one.
Wasp nest in attic winter.
Wasp nests in the loft or attic.
Once the warmer temperatures return those queen wasps will be desperate to get outdoors and start making nests all over your property.
Therefore it is a good idea to knock down any empty abandoned nests over the winter and thoroughly clean the area before the queen wasp reclaims the area come springtime.
In winter wasps are using your walls and your attic crawl spaces to hide from the cold.
Spray the nest according to the directions on your spray.
After the initial structure is in place somewhere sturdy and sheltered which is why wasps often choose loft spaces and guttering the queen will start to lay eggs in the nest s cells.
From your description the nest is probably a bald faced hornet nest which are very common in our area.
However for the rest of the wasps in winter the outlook isn t good.
So if you intend to go up into your attic or do some renovations in the wall be aware that this hazard is much more prevalent in winter and take measures to protect yourself.
They can damage the insulation in your attic and interfere with the structure of your walls.
It can take 10 20 days for a wasp nest to die off when treated at this time of year compared with a few hours in july or august.
If your wasps have built a nest on the floor of your attic bomb style wasp poisons work very well.
It s survival of the queen.
All members of a wasp colony do whatever it takes to keep the queen alive to lay eggs when the weather warms.
During winter when the temperatures drop low only the wasp queen gets through the hibernation process the rest of the colony is wiped out completely.
I am quite protective and never harm the queens.
Once winter is over any surviving queens come out of hibernation and start on the building blocks of a new nest.
As stated we have had hibernating wasp queens in the attic and we found a nest already abandoned.
Wasp nests do take longer to die off after treatment in the autumn and winter mainly due to the lower metabolism of the wasps making the absorption of insecticide slower.
The motto of wasps is not survival of the fittest.
Nests are helpful when trying to identify the type of social wasp.
Another common place to see wasp nests and sometimes an occasional hibernating queen or two is in the loft or attic.
