Eradicate!

For several weeks now we've been finding dead wasps about the house. The odd one on the stairs (one perched rather precariously on a newel post), in our bedroom or the lounge. Occasionally flying around a lightbulb or crawling dazedly across the carpet. But mainly, and in copious quantities, in Blythe's room. Now regularly shared by Nat.

The last time they stayed for any length of time Blythe mentioned casually that there were a lot of wasps flying OUTSIDE the bedroom window too. A quick glance up at the fascia board above her window revealed a constant stream of the little blighters crawling under the eaves, and flying out, while several hovered about like transatlantic aircraft stacked above Heathrow.

We had a nest in the loft.

With an alarming lack of procrastination, I booked a pest control officer from Environmental Health. He turned up yesterday afternoon. I expected him to be kitted out in a full-body protective suit a la bee-keepers. No. Jeans and a T-shirt. Clearly a man of experience. I offered him frontal access, or the alternative of a short crawl across the rafters. "I'll do it from here," he said, and went to fetch his ladder.

The information sheet he handed me on completion of the job a few minutes later stated that we "may see increased activity around the nest for 2-3 hours after dusting." They're not joking. Heathrow never had a stacking problem like the one around my eaves. A temporary phenomenon - they should all be dead in a day or so.