Pipe dwellers.

[urbpan]

I'm trying to photograph every wasp nest I encounter at work this summer. These are European paper wasps, not usually very aggressive. In this case they had built a nest in the open end of a chain link fence pipe, very close to an animal exhibit. Several people were stung probably after resting their hands on the pipe without looking.

Comments

[shellynoir.livejournal.com]

Quickcrete? Superglue? What's the best way to seal off the ends?

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I use spray foam: http://www.zoro.com/g/00130795/k-G4696395?utm_source=google_shopping&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Google_Shopping_Feed&gclid=Cj0KEQjw6J2eBRCpqaW0857k9p4BEiQAWarYbCoHWfI0bV8Vpl0ofJz7DHM4WH7-TbESeyEtELg_U_EaAq-o8P8HAQ

[tceisele.livejournal.com]

I don't know about "not usually very aggressive" for this species; so far, I've found three nests of European Paper Wasps and was stung multiple times each time (compared to the hundreds of nests of Northern Paper Wasps I've found over the years, which I don't think I've ever been stung by at all).

Granted, that's probably at least partly because the Northern Paper Wasp nests are generally exposed and visible, while the European Paper Wasps like to build their nests inside protected areas, where I don't see the nests unless I'm trying to disassemble the thing they are in. The first nest was in the siding of a building I was tearing down, the second was in the pipe support for a satellite dish I was taking off the house, and the third was in an ornamental "beer can fish" that I was moving from one spot to another. But even allowing for that, the European Paper Wasps don't strike me as being particularly mild-mannered.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

I guess I'm comparing them to yellow jackets in that respect. I have also been stung by EPWs, but only once, while I'm stung by yellow jackets multiple times every season, usually by wasps I'm aware of and in the process of treating.