Pest Control
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The best time to deal with a wasp nest is as early as you find it, provided it needs dealing with at all. The stage the colony has reached changes how big the nest is, how defensive the wasps are, and whether treating it is worth doing. Here is how that plays out through the year.
Spring: the nest is small
A queen that has survived the winter starts a new nest on her own in spring. At first it is around the size of a golf ball, with only the queen inside, then a handful of workers once the first brood hatches. Traffic in and out is light and the colony has little to defend.
This is the easiest stage to treat, and the stage at which a nest is most often missed. Checking sheds, garages, lofts and eaves every few weeks from April is the simplest way to catch one. Our guide to spotting queen wasps in spring explains what to look for.
Early to mid summer: growing fast
Once the workers take over building and foraging, the nest grows quickly. Wasps at this stage are focused on raising brood and are generally less inclined to sting away from the nest, but they will defend the nest itself. A nest found now is still smaller and easier to reach than it will be in a few weeks, so if it is close to the house, it is worth dealing with straight away rather than waiting.
Late summer and early autumn: at its peak
By late summer an established nest can hold several thousand wasps. The colony stops raising workers and starts producing new queens and males. Without larvae to feed them sugar, the workers go looking for it in fruit, drinks and bins, which is why wasps become such a nuisance at this time of year. They are also quicker to defend the nest.
A late-season nest is bigger, busier and often harder to reach, so treatment calls for more care and the right protective equipment. It is also the point at which treating a nest stops it releasing its new queens, though queens from other nests in the area will still be looking for sites next spring.
Our guide to late wasp nests explains why some carry on into October and beyond.
Late autumn and winter: let it die off
As the cold weather sets in, the workers, males and old queen die. The new queens have already left to hibernate elsewhere, and the nest is never used again. If a nest has gone quiet, there is nothing to treat.
If you found a nest in summer that was well away from the house and causing no trouble, waiting for the winter is a reasonable choice. An empty nest that is easy to reach and in the way can be taken down once you are sure there is no activity. Watch the entrance from a distance on a mild day first: if nothing comes or goes, the colony is finished.
Does time of day matter?
Wasps are less active in the cool of early morning and evening, and nearly all of the colony is inside the nest after dark. That makes those times better for keeping clear of a nest, not for tackling it yourself. A professional treatment relies on wasps passing through the entrance, so we plan the timing around the nest and its location.
What if you only find it at its peak?
That is when most nests are found, and it is still straightforward to treat with the right equipment. The question to ask is whether it needs treating. A nest near a door, window, path or seating usually does. One in a remote corner of the garden, late in the season, can often be left. Our guide to treating, removing or leaving a late nest helps with that decision.
When to call us
Call us as soon as you find a nest near the house or anywhere people need to go, at any time of year. If the colony is close to dying off anyway, we will tell you before booking a visit. Our wasp nest treatment page explains how we work.