Yes, and barns are some of the best structures where a wasp can build. There are a lot of surfaces for wasps to build undisturbed nests and the buildings are seldom used.
If you were a wasp, looking for a home, you could hardly do better than a barn or another similar outbuilding. There are eaves and exposed rafters for nest-building and outbuildings, by definition, are out. As in, they are out of the way and often not disturbed for long periods of time.
Paper wasps tend to use eaves and rafters the most. They build open umbrella-shaped combs that hang from a short stalk. They want a protected horizontal surface with something overhead. A barn can easily hold dozens of separate paper wasp nests. Bald-faced hornets are the ones known for building gray paper nests. They can also set up under eaves or gables.
Yellowjackets are a little different. They like cavities in wall voids and spaces behind siding. They will also take over abandoned rodent burrows if they can find them.
One of the particularly tricky aspects of dealing with wasps in outbuildings is that the nests can go unnoticed until they’re huge. By late summer, it is dangerous to remove a wasp nest and a professional really needs to be brought in. Each nest can hold thousands of workers and each wasp can sting multiple times. The wrong move can lead to very dangerous situations. If you find a wasp nest early in the season, you can knock it down and treat the surface to wipe away the chemical scent to discourage rebuilding. But by late summer, this is no longer the case.
If wasps have taken over your outbuildings, Mosquito Squad of Southwest Michigan can help. Mosquito Squad locates and removes stinging insect nests and treats the spots where they build. This will help you protect the buildings you need to work in.
