Interesting first day at the house....
04 October 2012, 10:28 AM
#1
Interesting first day at the house....
.........here in the Limousin.
First off, I went to put the electrics back on, only to find out that one row of circuit breakers tripped it's RCD.
A method of trying each cb showed it was the power to the barn causing the problem, which only has two things plugged in: the caravan and the electric pump to the septic tank.
Of course, it was the latter, so I spent the morning taking the lids off, and removing the electrical connection, which was INSIDE the tank, and renewing it OUTSIDE the tank. It now works again.
Three hours later, cold, damp and filthy, I come in and decide to light both woodburners. The one in the living room is roaring away, the one in the dining room is VERY smokey
So I open windows , close the door and leave it to see if it will start to draw.
Sitting in front of the other, I become aware of a low-pitched buzzing, then a scratching sound in the kitchen.
So I go through to investigate and it's coming from the extractor fan, and it's associated tubing, which vents into the same chimney as the dining room woodburner.
I put it on low, and sprayed fly-spray up it and the noise quadruples. It's only FULL of hornets trying to escape the smoke in the chimney!!!!!
The stupid things must have built their nest blocking the woodburner flue this summer.
By this time, there were loads OUTSIDE the chimney and the woodburner was drawing nicely, so I THINK that's the end of them.
However, I now have the unenviable task of emptying the extractor, and I REALLY REALLY hope there are no angry live ones in there....
When I empty it, I'll try and take a pic and see if I can upload it.
First off, I went to put the electrics back on, only to find out that one row of circuit breakers tripped it's RCD.
A method of trying each cb showed it was the power to the barn causing the problem, which only has two things plugged in: the caravan and the electric pump to the septic tank.
Of course, it was the latter, so I spent the morning taking the lids off, and removing the electrical connection, which was INSIDE the tank, and renewing it OUTSIDE the tank. It now works again.
Three hours later, cold, damp and filthy, I come in and decide to light both woodburners. The one in the living room is roaring away, the one in the dining room is VERY smokey
So I open windows , close the door and leave it to see if it will start to draw.
Sitting in front of the other, I become aware of a low-pitched buzzing, then a scratching sound in the kitchen.
So I go through to investigate and it's coming from the extractor fan, and it's associated tubing, which vents into the same chimney as the dining room woodburner.
I put it on low, and sprayed fly-spray up it and the noise quadruples. It's only FULL of hornets trying to escape the smoke in the chimney!!!!!
The stupid things must have built their nest blocking the woodburner flue this summer.
By this time, there were loads OUTSIDE the chimney and the woodburner was drawing nicely, so I THINK that's the end of them.
However, I now have the unenviable task of emptying the extractor, and I REALLY REALLY hope there are no angry live ones in there....
When I empty it, I'll try and take a pic and see if I can upload it.
04 October 2012, 12:57 PM
#6
Oh dear, some people use their noggin and get ahead a bit through hard work, others complain about their lot instead of focusing on doing something about it.
Anyway back on track.
Are they twice the size of a bumble bee like the ones here in croatia that can kill with around 3/4 stings, i had a rugby ball sized hornets nest in the loft, the instructions i found for dealing with them said.
First take your ***** (literal translation) as in grow a set.
Anyway back on track.
Are they twice the size of a bumble bee like the ones here in croatia that can kill with around 3/4 stings, i had a rugby ball sized hornets nest in the loft, the instructions i found for dealing with them said.
First take your ***** (literal translation) as in grow a set.
04 October 2012, 02:32 PM
#7
They are roughly double the size of "normal" wasps, orangey red around the head/thorax/legs, instead of black, and standard orangey yellow and black wasp markings, but with a much more blunt head than a wasp.
And a single sting is AGONY.
My wife got three: her face swelled up like Quasimodo, and she couldn't see out of her left eye for a week, and it had problems focusing for two weeks.
She is now understandably quite afraid of them. I just knock them out of the air with a fly swat if they come in the house, Rod Laver would have been proud of me
Outside, I ignore them and they ignore me, but there's lots of fallen fruit about and it's started to rot, so they are a bit drunk and a bit nasty this time of year
And a single sting is AGONY.
My wife got three: her face swelled up like Quasimodo, and she couldn't see out of her left eye for a week, and it had problems focusing for two weeks.
She is now understandably quite afraid of them. I just knock them out of the air with a fly swat if they come in the house, Rod Laver would have been proud of me
Outside, I ignore them and they ignore me, but there's lots of fallen fruit about and it's started to rot, so they are a bit drunk and a bit nasty this time of year
Trending Topics
04 October 2012, 07:00 PM
#8
Mine are just giant wasp looking things, i'm the same as you, if they come in the house then they get a good blast from a can of nasty stuff which struggles to kill them but does incapacitate them long enough to cut them in half as i don't like to swat them because of the ferromones attracting others.
If they are outside i also leave them alone as they don't often come close and when they do they just have a quick look see and bugger off fortunatly, people that mess with them generally end up in the emergency room.
If they are outside i also leave them alone as they don't often come close and when they do they just have a quick look see and bugger off fortunatly, people that mess with them generally end up in the emergency room.
04 October 2012, 09:09 PM
#9
Over here we also have the giant wood wasp: http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=gia...r:12,s:0,i:123
They can grow up to 50mm long, but thankfully, are solitary.
They can grow up to 50mm long, but thankfully, are solitary.
04 October 2012, 10:02 PM
#10
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: riding the crest of a wave ...
Posts: 46,493
Likes: 0
Received 13 Likes
on
12 Posts
Don't know if hornets are as viscous as a bunch wasps protecting their nest
Was bitten by solitary hornet, because I swiped it off my neck, bit of numbness for a couple of hours but nothing like the couple wasp stings I got while inadvertently disturbing their nest
Was bitten by solitary hornet, because I swiped it off my neck, bit of numbness for a couple of hours but nothing like the couple wasp stings I got while inadvertently disturbing their nest
Last edited by dpb; 04 October 2012 at 10:04 PM.
05 October 2012, 08:11 AM
#11
They tend to be LESS aggressive except if you approach the nest, or cover or try to grab one. Being bigger they inject more venom and can do it more often. A wasp, for example can sting as many times as he likes, but only the first three or so will carry any venom.
A hornet may give up to SIX big'uns.
I STILL haven't had the guts to open up the cooker hood........
A hornet may give up to SIX big'uns.
I STILL haven't had the guts to open up the cooker hood........
05 October 2012, 11:49 AM
#12
The ones here look like the pic in your link and can grow to 50/60cm with the average ones being 45ish they make a big nest which i have heard tell of over a thousand in one huge nest, they call them srsen pronounced sershen here and as i said before the stings can be fatal, they are also active at night and are attracted to light so can be a pain at evening bbq's especially if someone is afraid then and starts waving arms at them.
06 October 2012, 12:15 AM
#20
wish i still had a place over there, not in winter tho!
pic of my place 2005
Alcazar - what's this pump in the septic tank?
pic of my place 2005
Alcazar - what's this pump in the septic tank?
Last edited by LeeMac; 06 October 2012 at 12:19 AM.
06 October 2012, 12:43 PM
#21
Where's that Lee, it looks Charentais?
The fosse, (septic tank), is really a digester, once the bugs in there have done their work, the waste water is pumped to a filter bed containing seventeen tonnes of gravel and sand, and filter out into it via special pierced pipework laid in the form of a grid.
Because of the lay of the land, the filter bed is slightly higher than the fosse, hence the pump: it has a float on it, which, when it rises, switches the pump on for a while.
I have to pull the pump up every two years or so, wash it, and make sure it's not blocked. Modern fosses only need emptied about every ten years if you are there permanent, which we aren't.
The fosse, (septic tank), is really a digester, once the bugs in there have done their work, the waste water is pumped to a filter bed containing seventeen tonnes of gravel and sand, and filter out into it via special pierced pipework laid in the form of a grid.
Because of the lay of the land, the filter bed is slightly higher than the fosse, hence the pump: it has a float on it, which, when it rises, switches the pump on for a while.
I have to pull the pump up every two years or so, wash it, and make sure it's not blocked. Modern fosses only need emptied about every ten years if you are there permanent, which we aren't.
06 October 2012, 06:27 PM
#23
You should have seen the one that was here when we bought: it was in the barn, made for one person and it STANK.
The day it got emptied I ordered the suction truck and went out, leaving the kids in control.
They were, shall we say, NOT amused.
The day it got emptied I ordered the suction truck and went out, leaving the kids in control.
They were, shall we say, NOT amused.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Sam Witwicky
Engine Management and ECU Remapping
17
13 November 2015 10:49 AM