They should except the egg fine,Are you 100% sure the egg is orphaned?

It is possible, if the timing is right. You also have to consider the size of the increased brood and the potential added stress on the whole family if there are too many.
Sorry to hear about the orphan. What happened?
BlueBars

I'm not sure what happened. We checked that house Saturday and everything looked fine. Nice nest, empty, no eggs. After church Sunday, we checked again. The first thing we noticed was a lot of wasps flying around the box. Upon opening the box, the female was dead and there were a lot of wasps inside the box. I pulled out the nest and there was one egg. I put the egg into a box that had two eggs as of Sunday. I was not able to check any boxes this afternoon after work. We had more storms move through. A lot of thunder, lighting, and hail, but no tornadoes this time. I will check them again as soon as I can, but it may be Friday before I can. Can wasps kill a bluebird?

WOW!
I guess wasp could kill a adult Blue,I have never heard of it myself,I do know that blues usually won't enter a box if there are wasp inside.Did the dead female have any head trauma?Have you seen any House Sparrows around?It sounds like you moved the egg right on time,I think there is a good chance this may work.I would be surprised if the Blues rejected this egg.Keep us posted.Sorry to hear about your loss of a female.

Matt
Baltimore MD

Today is the first day I've had a chance to check on the orphaned egg. The house that I put the orphaned egg in had two eggs at that time. When I checked that house today, there were a total of 5 eggs, and as I approached the house I could see a male & female sitting on top of the house. It looks like they have accepted the orphaned egg and have 4 of their own. Every thing looked good.

I took down the house that was infested with wasps on 4/12/09. I cleaned it up, rubbed the inside with Ivory soap and put it back up today. Within 5 minutes there was a pair of bluebirds checking out that house. That was so amazing to me. Hopefully they will accept the house and start their family soon.

Yesterday my grandson discovered another old house that my Mother-in-law had put up about 25 years ago. It had 5 bluebird eggs in it. All together, that makes about 65 bluebird eggs or babies on our farm (that I am aware of). I hate the loss of the one female, but I could not be more pleased with the success of the other nest boxes.

That is good news ,they accepted the egg.It is amazing ,I put up a new box this morning,There was a pair on it within 5 minutes.Keep us posted about the fostered egg.I will be waiting to hear more good news.

Matt
Baltimore MD

Checked all of my houses today. The house that was infested with wasps (the one I put back up on 4/18 and rubbed with Ivory soap) had a nest with one bluebird egg in it. It also had a cotton-picken wasp on the outside front of the box. What is going on with that box and wasps? I killed the wasp and put up a spooker. I will try to check it tomorrow to see if there is a second egg.

Sorry about the loss. Congrats and success on all those eggs tho. It probably is one of the wasps who was in the box before. Like birds they have an awesome homing instinct and will hang out for days looking for a nest that was removed. Did you rub the soap about one inch down the sides and in the corners good too? That should do the trick.
Good Luck
Cathy

I did rub the soap an inch down the sides & corners good. Hopefully the wasp that I squashed yesterday was the only one. We had an all day service, singing, and supper at church today, so I did not have a chance to check anything. During this past week I did have two houses successfully fledge 4 each. I cleaned them out yesterday and noticed a male bluebird sitting on one as I drove past it on the way to church this morning. I should have 3 or 4 more houses ready to fledge this week. I can hardly wait until this next weekend to check them out.

Well You are obviously doing a GREAT job with your Blues! Congratulations
Cathy

I did get a chance to check 3 of my houses this afternoon. The formerly wasp infected house has a total of 3 bluebird eggs with no wasps in sight. One of the other houses has five eggs (4 original and the one I transplanted from the wasp infested house) and they should begin to hatch within the next 5 days. I am anxious to see how all five do.

I've only had bluebirds for 2 or 3 years, never had a problem with wasps. I enjoyed reading about your experience, though was sad about the death of your female blue.

I'm curious about the use of ivory soap. What does it do? I do have old and new wasp nests in some of my other birdhouses that are not suitable for blues. If I clean them out and rub with ivory soap, will that keep them away?

I think the soap keeps the wasp nest from being attached. Take a look at this link. I don't know how to post a live link so you'll have to copy & paste:

http://www.eartheasy.com/live_natwasp_control.htm

Linda C

I'm not sure what the Ivory soap does. I've used it 3 or 4 times over the past 3 years. I rub the top and sides of the box good with it. I have also heard that vaseline brushed on in a thin coat will work, as well as a cotton ball with a few drops of peppermint oil tacked to the ceiling of the box. Again, the only thing I have used is the Ivory soap. I carry a bar with me in my tool box every time I do a nest box check.