A pest controller found a wasp nest the size of 10 rugby balls in Basingstoke. Shane Jones, the owner of Ridtek Pest Control was on a job when he found the giant wasps nest. The nest had several queens inside and measured 8 feet around – the nest was large enough to house at least 20, 000 insects whereas average nests are home to between 3000 and 6000 wasps.
Mr Jones has been a professional pest controller for six years in the UK said 'With the hot weather, we have been seeing a lot of bigger nests like that. You can't always get to it and see just how big it is but this one was huge. It was about the size of ten rugby balls. We measured its circumference, and it was about eight feet around’.
Usually it would be too early in the season for a full blown infestation, however, it is the time of year when the queens emerge to fly away and start their own colonies.
Mr Jones said: 'It was an absolute beauty of a nest. We went out there because plumbers who were called to do some work on the boiler didn't want to go in the loft. They evacuated and called us. I don't blame them. Even though there weren't any workers there, it was still pretty fearsome. There were loads of queens - dozens of them. Each one would have flown away and started herself her own nest.'
By exterminating the nest and killing the queens before they were able to go off and start their own colonies, it is thought as many as millions of wasp eggs being laid was prevented. However, the veteran pest controller thinks Britons could be in for a summer of misery because of the volume of queens the one hive produced.
Wasp numbers have increased dramatically over the past few years and this is largely to do with extended periods of warm weather. All insects breed when the temperature goes above 16 degrees, wasps are no different.
