Comments on: Black and Yellow Mud Dauber

By: Lori

Lori — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 21:29:58 +0000

Just getting back to this. Are attic isn’t accessible (flat roof). It’s an old house and I dont feel like paying someone to seal up things. They don’t bother me or the kids so they are fine where they are.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:45:28 +0000

That sounds great. They really are fascinating to watch. Thanks for all the help!

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:29:05 +0000

Claudia: I don’t think it is going to get any more communal. By this time of year, all the wasps should have established themselves in a particular location, and I wouldn’t expect more of them to come by looking for nesting spots at this point. They’ll probably finish up one way or another in a couple of weeks, and then you will just have a harmless blob of mud until spring.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 16:47:59 +0000

Oh, thank you for your advice! Is this somethig I should be concerned about, two wasps growing into a nest of many more? They don’t bothere me at all, in fact, I find them quite endearing as they work so hard, but since this nest is right outside my front door, my parents really hate them. All i can do to save the nest (until the cold months, at least) is to tell them about all the good things about mud daubers. I don’t think a huge communal nest would likely help my case.

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 10:33:59 +0000

Claudia: My understanding is that black-and-yellow mud daubers just keep building onto their nest until something happens to them, so they start with one tube that gradually gets bigger and bigger. As for the second wasp, I have never noticed mud daubers being particularly territorial, and many wasps will often nest in the same general location. It takes less mud to build a tube on top of the existing tubes than to start fresh, so it makes sense for multiple wasps to merge their nests together into one communal nest.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Sat, 13 Aug 2011 22:33:50 +0000

I have a black and yellow mud dauber nest outside my front door, and today was the first time I ever saw the wasps themselves after reading about them for a month. I read that they are a solitary species, however, there were two wasps working on the nest together! It is not two nests, I am sure, just one lump the size of a child’s fist. They are adding fresh patches of mud to the outside, and have plugged up a small hole about twice the size of this O that had appeared a few weeks ago. (The nest originated as a tube with the typical large hole in it, which was sealed up. Then it became a large ballish shape without us even noticing.) Do you know why there are two, and what they are going about doing with th nest?

By: Tim Eisele

Tim Eisele — Thu, 26 May 2011 10:08:59 +0000

Lori: It is indeed quite possible that they are nesting in your attic and then coming in through the light fixtures. Mud daubers really like nesting in attics, if you go up there you will probably find dozens of nests. And, most houses aren’t sealed nearly as well as one might like to think. Light and electrical fixtures, poorly-seated weatherstripping, and even gaps around windows are practically a highway for insects to get into the average house.

If you can get into your attic, you’ll mostly find the nests built up in the underside of the roof. Like most wasps, mud daubers seem to like to raise their young where it is fairly hot.

If they are in your attic, the most straightforward way to keep them out of your house is probably to seal the light fixtures. Electical box sealing tape should be available at any lumberyard or hardware store, we have it in all of our electrical fixtures.

Of course, since they are not likely to sting unless molested, the easiest solution is just not to molest them. Maybe just open a window and shoo them outside. Or, if they have to be destroyed, just cutting them in half with a long pair of scissors is surprisingly easy and effective.

By: Lori

Lori — Wed, 25 May 2011 23:33:31 +0000

I have found 6 to 8 in my kitchen/dining room in the last 18 months. I find it hard to believe they are coming in from outside as we are so very careful about closing doors up quickly and I don’t see any nests that may be close to doors. Is there a chance they are making a nest in our attic/ceiling and then getting into the rooms through the recessed lighting? HELP!

(I’m seeing the black & yellow version)

By: Roberto Granados

Roberto Granados — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 19:34:09 +0000

We’ve got those here,too.Twice we got one in the house,which freaked out my Mom.I think they are interesting,though.

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:26:09 +0000

I actually think that the blue mud daubers are less intimidating and scary than the yellow and black wasps. I actually am very scared of any type of bee, wasp, ect…. so I just run away and hope that they wont follow me!