Pest Control
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Once people find a wasp nest, the next question is usually whether they can deal with it themselves. Our advice is not to. Here is why, what you can safely do in the meantime, and what a professional treatment involves.
Why DIY nest removal goes wrong
When a social wasp is threatened, it releases an alarm pheromone that brings other wasps from the nest out to defend it. Unlike honey bees, wasps do not die after stinging, so each one can sting several times. Stand close to a nest and disturb it, and you can be dealing with a large number of defensive wasps within seconds.
The usual DIY methods make that more likely, not less:
- Shop sprays kill the wasps they reach and agitate the rest. On an established nest they rarely reach the queen or the brood, so the colony recovers.
- Hoses, sticks and bags put you right next to the colony at the moment it is most defensive.
- Blocking the entrance sends the wasps looking for another way out, which can be through a ceiling, a light fitting or a gap into the house.
- Burning a nest is a serious fire risk, especially in a loft, shed or hedge.
Nests are also often in awkward places: under roof tiles, behind fascias, inside a wall or at the top of a hedge. Working at height while being stung is how people fall.
Who should never try
Do not go near a nest if you have ever had a severe reaction to a sting, if you are not sure whether you are allergic, or if you would need a ladder to reach it. A severe allergic reaction to a sting, anaphylaxis, is a medical emergency. If anyone has signs of it, call 999. Our guide to wasp stings covers what to look out for.
What you can safely do
- Keep children and pets away from the entrance and the flight line.
- Keep nearby windows and doors closed, or fit fly screens.
- Keep bins closed and do not leave food or sweet drinks out near the nest.
- Note where the wasps are going in and out, from a safe distance. That helps us find the nest quickly.
- If the nest is well away from where anyone goes, consider leaving it. It will die off naturally in the autumn and will not be reused.
What professional treatment involves
- Inspection. We confirm the insects are wasps, not bees or hornets, find the entrance and work out how to reach it safely.
- Treatment. We apply a professional insecticide, usually a dust, at or into the nest entrance, wearing protective equipment and using extension poles where the nest is high up. Wasps passing through the entrance carry it into the nest, where it reaches the queen and the brood.
- Afterwards. Activity usually tails off over the following day or so. Keep clear of the entrance while it does, and do not block it, because returning wasps need to pass through the treatment.
- Advice. We tell you where the nest was and which gaps are worth sealing once it is inactive, so you can check the same spots next spring.
Does the nest need taking down?
Usually not. Once the colony is dead the nest is never reused, and opening a wall or roof to retrieve it is rarely worth the disruption. If a dead nest is easy to reach and in the way, it can be removed once there is no activity. Our guide to treating, removing or leaving a nest goes into this in more detail.
When to call us
Call us if a nest is near a door, window, path or play area, inside the house or roof, or anywhere people need to go. We work at height and in lofts, sheds and wall cavities as a matter of course. Our wasp nest treatment page explains more, or call 01926 632 929.