Giant North wasp nest wanted

Wanted: Annoying summer pests, must live in monster-sized nest in Northland, to feed hungry Christchurch parasites.
Every summer, an enormous buzzing wasp nest is discovered somewhere in Northland. Sometimes they are too big to tackle and are simply left to die down over winter. Other times they become the centre of the kind of genius plan hatched by Mike Knight (see photograph at left) that epitomises good old "Kiwi ingenuity".
But this summer the answer may hail from Canterbury.
Christchurch pest controller Geoff Watts wants at least one of our giant nests, although at this stage "even a piddly one would be good", he said.
Mr Watts is raising a parasite - known as specophaga - but doesn't have enough to feed them. In desperation he's placed ads in the public notices section of The Northern Advocate.
"What I'm looking for is a nest that's gone through the winter." Canterbury wasp nests die over winter, but nests are known to survive in Northland's warmer climate. If a suitable wasp nest is found he'll take it away free of charge, although he's not saying exactly how he plans to deal with the wasps themselves.
"I'm always interested in getting a big nest."
By "big" he means about one metre by one metre.
His parasites are a tiny European wasp, introduced to New Zealand several years ago as a biological weapon against common and German wasps. They feed on the larvae of those bigger wasps - it's the German variety that builds such huge nests in Northland.
Once he gets the nest back to Christchurch, and provided he manages to establish a specophaga population, he'll market the parasite to regional councils and others involved in wasp control.
Mr Watts makes his living from insects and pest control, trading in insects, pollen and bees. He can be contacted on (027) 222-5767.