Being bugged by nuisance wasps nests? Who you gonna call - pest busters!

THE prospect of warmer weather and the arrival of summer is something many of us are cherishing, particularly following months of lockdown restrictions.

But with the change of seasons also comes the potential for wasps. But don’t panic – it isn’t at bad as you may think.

Safe Local Trades member, bug buster Owen McManus of Fen Pest, has some professional advice and an insight.

“While for a lot of people the sight of an active wasp nest in the garden, or in the home can lead to a certain amount of anxiety, the reality is that in a lot of cases there isn’t too much to worry about.

Throughout most of the season, wasps will be more than happy carrying on with their lives, and actually work as pest control around the garden, keeping all sorts of other insects at bay. Workers obtain food exclusively from the nest larvae that secrete sweet liquid to feed the wasps. 

Later in the season however, as the queen struggles to produce enough young to keep the whole colony fed, that is when we start to see wasps turning aggressive. That’s right, those aggressive wasps are actually just hangry!” 

Unfortunately, wasps aren’t too fussy about where they build their nests. It is not uncommon for nests to appear in loft spaces or in cavity walls around homes.  

This can lead to a few wasps appearing within the home, but in extreme cases can result in wasps causing damage to plasterboard ceilings as space to expand the nest becomes a priority. 

Sometimes in the home, or when particularly aggressive nests are found, the safest option is most often to exterminate the nest. This is usually done with an insecticidal powder, that in most cases eliminates the nest within a day, with a removal follow up arranged to recover the nest. 

However, when wasps are causing a nuisance or endangering human health, the nest may need to be destroyed.

Owen added: “On occasion, treatment might not be possible, if wasps have decided to make their nest within a loft that also serves as a bat roost. This can be a bit of a headache for homeowners, as treatment possibilities, become quite limited. 

In this instance, control comes in the form of diversion, rather than extermination. The use of well positioned wasp pots/bags around the exterior, can have a significant impact. 

The bags are filled with a liquid bait that attracts the wasps into the traps, eliminating them from the area.  While it is relatively easy to make your own homemade versions of these, the lure used in the professional version is specific to wasps and holds no appeal to other foraging insects such as honeybees.”

BUT – caution is required, and it is advisable to always call in the experts.

Treating a wasp nest can be very dangerous. Wasps inside the nest will feel threatened and often become aggressive. This could cause them to sting you and others as they defend their nest resulting in multiple stings. 

Unlike bees, wasps do not die after one sting, they can, and will, sting you quite a few times! Remember, not every wasps’ nest needs destroying - so if it’s well away from a building in a rarely used part of the garden, you might want to just leave it alone. Wasps abandon their nests after the Summer and won’t return to it the following year.

If you find yourself encountering nesting wasps this summer, there is always support on hand to ensure that it remains a painless one.

Fen Pest deal with a whole range of pest control issues, including rats, mice, moles, squirrels and bedbugs as well as offering a range of services to help with prevention and post infestation cleaning. For more details, visit Owen’s profile here.