Bat House Forum

[kent borcherding]

Have you observed less or no wasps in rocket box bat houses ?

I have some double and single rocket boxes , no wasps nest in them.

The single rocket boxes have cut the botom slant at the bottom and also 6-8 inches up into the box.

Also I take some boxes apart every 5 years to study any weakness or see if any improvements that may help in the design.

Have not found wasps nests in rocket boxes I have take apart.

Prefer the single rocket box and will be making some from 8" x 8' post 4 ft. long.

The 8" x 8" post possible to make longer 55 degree cuts in for the bats to roost in, should help in preventing pups from falling from boxes.

I will post some photos , of how they are mounted.

[Terry Lobdell]

Kent,

I've only had one single crevice rocket used by bats. I did have a problem with paper wasps in it. But I think it may have been due to the crevice size being closer to an inch rather than 3/4". I have observed the least trouble with wasps in houses with  narrow crevices.

Interestingly, this house is the only pole mounted house ever used by my big brown maternity colony. Maybe they preferred the wider crevices?

[Joe Spencer]

I have only had one paper wasp nest in my lone rocket house.  The nest was in the larger chamber which approached 7/8".  On the other side the big brown preferred the 7/8" chamber over the 3/4" in which I attracted little browns to.

Joe