Halloween Wasps

Grrrr...there's been a halloween wasp hovering over our garden for the past week, it has tell-tale orange and black body coverage.  Around the same time as he appeared, I noticed a pile of tiny spheres of dirt, similar to what you might find next to an ant hole.  At first I didn't consider it a threat, I thought it was merely visiting.  But it seems that it is here to stay as a few large wasp-sized holes have appeared next to the dirt piles and there is now more than one wasp hanging around.

Advice on the ol' interweb tells me to pour gasoline down the hole and set it alight.  More advice tells me to definitely not do this as it is crazy on the environment.  My friend's hubby did try it and it worked very well, but it was in their rather massive yard as opposed to within the boundaries of my tiny garden.  The interweb also told me to run away in zigzags if they ever attack.  Interesting.  It's definitely heightened my alert.  

I'm scared to get to my compost when they're out, they're such angry looking things and so huge.  I tried pouring hot water down a couple of their nests and covering another with a flower pot but they just dug new ones.   In fact, there are twice as many holes now.

They go away early morning and in the evening, should I try to co-exist with them?  What do you think the chances are of the apartment's maintenance dealing with it?  Non-existent, I bet, but I'll give them a try.