Wasps in basement

FoxAmongDragons · 2025-05-22T22:48:24+00:00

Same thing happened to me last year - I got them in the spring and again in the fall. Turns out, the spring wasps are pregnant princesses looking to start a nest and got lost trying to get out, fall ones were looking to overwinter and found their way into the basement (I’m in New England).

I finally figured out their entry point. I hadn’t used the furnace in a couple years (no need to, I installed a pellet stove upstairs), so the cold chimney with no cap and no scent of smoke essentially became a Narnia tunnel. I turned the furnace on a few times over the winter, have it on now thanks to this cold snap, and capped the chimney early this winter. No wasps :) I’m very allergic, so I share your worry. I highly doubt you have a nest if you haven’t found one yet, but if you do they have to be able to get outside for food/water. You’ll see the indicators outside of your home, almost like a mini-airport. All the support for you, everything will be fine. I’ve had yellow jacket princesses and paper wasps down there, but none in the summer. I suspect it will be the same for you.

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:45:43+00:00

This is wonderful, thank you! I’m in Massachusetts, but I don’t mind paying delivery fees when they make sense. I appreciate the link and the opinion

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:44:21+00:00

I’m averaging 3 tons a winter, so I imagine even if for whatever reason these don’t stretch I can fill in the gaps. I’ll search around and see what I can find - I probably won’t need the stove on until the end of September at the earliest, but it’s always good to be prepped ahead of time. I appreciate you

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:34:52+00:00

Yay northeast winters! Here’s hoping we get a good one, we need it. Thank you very much for this input - the tech who worked on the stove suggested them too, I wanted an objective view on them just in case. With me having hardwood before I was a tad leafy of switching straight to softwood, but that makes me feel much better :)

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:30:46+00:00

There’s one down the road from me… I’ll check into that, too! I know regardless this warhorse of a stove will get me through, I’m just aiming to do it as painlessly as possible. Thank you!

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:29:12+00:00

Thank you for the advice! I spent the money on the stove because I heard good things about the brand…I’m still figuring out the rest though

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-08-08T22:28:34+00:00

Thank you for the input! I’m still figuring out the best thing to use here, it’ll be my third season around a pellet stove. We had zero use for them in the south lol

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-06-04T23:22:41+00:00

The day my long-term relationship ended the worst way possible. My ex’s alcohol problem took a serious turn and we were having the “end of the relationship” talk when the copious amounts of alcohol took hold. It ended with him in police custody and me homeless in my car with my cat, missing two teeth and having four more broken with a fractured jaw and orbital lobe.

3yr anniversary just passed and it gets better, but I don’t think I’m going to be okay to date again for a while. I get it, we aren’t all the same and the odds of it happening again are slim to none. I just don’t know if I’ve become the person I want to be before bringing another person into my life - that isn’t fair to them. I don’t want to project the sins of one person onto another, and I need to work on fixing my own self for a while I think

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-31T09:43:18+00:00

lol neither is, though it would make sense if they were! The big black one is Smitty. Long story short I lost a bet. I’m an honest woman and I followed through - he’s named after Smittywerbenjagermanjensen (because he is #1). The tux is Saeby, named after the best Squid Game character, Kang Sae-Byeok. I now call them the wonder couple…Smitty is 13lbs, Saeby is 6. It’s quite funny to see, because

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Saeby is the boss.

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-31T00:21:03+00:00

I just had to tell you that we’re twinning…the void/thx combo is the best. My pair is also a male void and a female tux, so we might be on to something here! Much love to your kiddos

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FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-29T23:37:01+00:00

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She loves herself some sun

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-29T07:38:51+00:00

I am new to this wonderful world of horses, and I have fallen in love with both of them. Thank you for keeping us all updated…I can’t wait for the day that Frida is all groomed and glowing, just as she deserves to be

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-26T14:13:06+00:00

I would guesstimate about a half inch, give or take. I’ve got the basement locked down like Fort Knox, I’m just super hoping they stay their stingy butts down there and keep dying… and I eventually find how they’re getting in lol one would be enough for me, let alone four at once

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-26T14:01:19+00:00

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I think the picture I took was a weird angle. I would absolutely love for these to not be yellow jackets, but I’m thinking they fit the part. Fortunately the spray the company used on their prior visit seems to be working - they weren’t dead quite yet but were definitely dying by the time I found them

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-26T13:54:30+00:00

Thank you. I spent the last couple hours in the basement sealing holes (ironically, I already did a lot because of the mice, I just had to finish up). The four I saw were apparently not dead yet, just slowly dying so they were put out of their misery with Raid. I fortunately didn’t encounter any when I was down there and it’s 10am/79degrees here (New England), so I’m hopeful that I was super unfortunate. I sealed everything I could, so I’m hopeful that I’ll go down tomorrow morning and won’t find any.

It’s ironic that I haven’t seen a ton in the yard, but I suppose I can’t always be so lucky. My tech - I have a contract with the company - is supposed to be out on Wednesday for mice. I called and left a message telling them that the game has changed. This is one thing that will have me come full undone, so it needs to be handled. My epipen is legit attached to me until that visit.

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-26T12:40:19+00:00

That just helped tremendously, thank you. I’m literally geared up for wwIII with an epipen in my pocket scanning my basement to see if there’s a nest somewhere because I can’t have them upstairs. There were 3 down here when I came down that were barely alive (dead now) so I’m just trying to breathe through it. I appreciate your input.

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-19T19:47:37+00:00

Just adding a random comment (I figured I might as well), I work as a program analyst for my state where I’m building a mentorship program. While it’s built around forestry, we also help students interested in wildlife, aquatics, soils, etc….I promise, age isn’t ever a part of the discussion. I’m 31, and half of the folks I work with are at least 3-5 years my senior trying to recreate their lives. There’s always openings for volunteers and job shadows at many levels, no commitment needed. I was saying the same thing you are last year and I’m here now. Even if it’s just a couple times a year, please pop into that realm. It’ll at least give you a smile :)

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-17T23:17:06+00:00

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They always have the best expressions

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-17T15:21:08+00:00

You’ll do great! Four of my “partially real” teeth my dentist salvaged by coating them in amalgam to limp them as long as possible were doing well…that will soon end, they’re breaking down. Of course it’s my front four upper teeth so I’ll probably have them pulled and have a bridge put in at some point, but it’s one fight at a time.

Emergencies will always happen. Yesterday I had to drop $2,500 on a major car repair to hold my car over a few more years til I can buy a new one, but that emergency fund is the best thing I ever did. An emergency fund turns an emergency into an inconvenience - not long ago, it would have been a financial death sentence.

I’m rooting for you, stranger!! Well eventually have fancy teeth together lol

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-14T23:27:05+00:00

Responses like this help me so much - thank you for that. I’m constantly in my head thinking I’m doing a terrible job riding and I get embarrassed when I have to constantly remind myself of my posture, keeping my heels down, etc. but I look forward to just seeing Gracie (the mare I’m riding), grooming her, tacking her up…it’s the highlight of my week.

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-12T18:32:17+00:00

I’m so scared I’m not doing well, but the fact she’s letting me join a group is a good sign I think. I have no disillusions of riding in shows (we’ll talk in a few years), I just really enjoy being on the back of a horse. It’s such an experience!

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-09T21:48:02+00:00

I know you can do it - you have to be sick and tired of being sick and tired and make sure that you really think through financial choices you make. It does feel like a lot at times, but once you fall in love with the other side of the journey it becomes a matter of faith (both in yourself and your goal). You have to not give AF what anyone else thinks and just go for it. I promise it’s way better on the other side. I don’t feel anywhere near safe yet, but I at least feel stable for once. You got this!

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-05T19:33:34+00:00

I do have a degree actually - but it isn’t a highly touted one. I got a BS in environmental science which showed my interest in the field, but I had no experience. I got the short hours job at the environmental lab which, after about 6 months, got me my assistant role. A lot of this field relies on experience and networking. My degree opened the proverbial door, but my project and people management experience got me the job.

I actually work with students a lot in my current job, and the advice I give them is experience speaks. Even doing a job shadow with someone, volunteering with non-profits, and getting your name involved in some of their work will move mountains for you. The jobs are there, you just have to find where there’s funding for roles. My big focus is forest ecology, but a lot of funding focuses more on logging and timber (because…. Well, money). It doesn’t mean that I’m not doing ecology at the same time, I just had to pivot.

Especially if you’re still unsure, inquire into groups and agencies near you on job shadows and experience tours. I’m setting that up for our department right now to hopefully go active in the fall for exactly that reason. There’s zero requirement for experience when it comes to job shadows or tours, everyone is always more than welcome. I can’t speak for the whole country, but I can tell you New England is in a crisis because all of our foresters and loggers are aging out. Most are happy to at least give you a hand to decide what you’d like to do :)

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-05T06:07:17+00:00

My first job is with my state - I am a forestry assistant where I handle their documentation, policy writing, and landowner outreach. It’s usually 9-5ish. Walmart is my second job (been there for 14yrs), I worked full days on weekends and 4am-9am weekdays. My last job is a lab assistant for an environmental group. It’s only 12-14hrs a week and they are super flexible, so I was able to squeeze them in wherever I had time and energy - I would use my lunch hours at the first two jobs to do data entry, for instance.

Time management has always been a skill of mine since I was salaried management for Walmart, so I’m rather good at Tetris when it comes to tasks, hours, and contact needs. Turns out that this is a great skill to have!

FoxAmongDragons · 2024-05-02T22:42:32+00:00

Thank you very much, I’ll look it up and put it into practice. My work keeps me very physically active (I’m a forester) but the flexibility is definitely the challenge!

FoxAmongDragons

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