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Wasps are probably one of the most well known pests, largely because they have a painful sting and are likely to sting any humans they come into contact with. They measure approximately 15mm long, make a loud buzzing sound, have two pairs of wings, a stinger, and have a yellow and black striped body. The queen wasp is larger than the average wasp – around 20mm long.
Wasps live in nests. They will often make their nests inside the roofs and attic spaces of houses and other buildings, as well as in wall cavities and garden sheds, holes in the ground, soil banks, rockeries and trees. A large number of wasps indicates that a nest is nearby. If the nest isn't in your house, it will probably be close by as wasps tend to build it very close to houses which is why wasp control is often sought. It is not a very pleasant experience to ascend into your loft only to discover you are sharing your home with a large nest of angry wasps which is why people look for professional wasp nest removal services when wasp removal is needed.
A wasp nest looks like a large ball of paper – which is effectively what it is. The wasps chew up wood from trees, fence posts, attic floors, beams in the house and other timbers and mix it with their saliva to make the nest. They can therefore be quite destructive.
The queen wasp hibernates during the winter, and then starts to build her nest in the spring, where she starts laying eggs. Initially she will build the nest herself, but once there are enough worker wasps (sterile female wasps) to do the job they will take it over, whilst the queen's role becomes purely to lay eggs. The nest therefore gets larger as the summer progresses, as more and more wasps are hatched, so that it becomes about the size of a football. At the height of the summer, when we are most likely to be about and about having picnics and barbecues, or have the windows open whilst cooking indoors, the average size wasp nest will contain between 2000 and 8000 wasps, although this could increase to around 25,000 in a very large nest!
By the end of the summer, new males and new queens are produced. The males will then mate with the new queens. The new queens then go off to hibernate, and are the only wasps who survive the winter. The rest of the wasps die as it gradually gets colder, and the nest empties and is not used again – although a new one may be built near it or even right next to it the following year. Therefore, once a wasp is finished with, it will not be a threat again. Over winter, the only wasps alive are queen wasps who are hibernating. Therefore in the spring the process above starts again.
Although wasps tend to do a lot of good in the early part of the year by feeding on other insects, by the end of the summer they are purely a pest. Once the queens have hibernated, the system in place in the nests ends and wasps are left to fend for themselves. Before they die in the autumn, the male wasps and worker wasps, which have a very sweet tooth, are attracted to rotting fruit that has fallen from the tree, and can also often be found around dustbins. It is at this time of the year that they tend to be more of a pest because the sugar can lead to them becoming very aggressive.
A wasp can become extremely aggressive if made angry or frightened reinforcing the importance to call the professional when considering wasp pest control. For most people a wasp sting is painful and unpleasant, and unlike bees they can sting repeatedly, but some people suffer allergic reactions to wasp stings, the most serious of which can cause anaphylactic shock and be life threatening. Even for those who aren't allergic, if you are stung in the throat the swelling can block your airway making it impossible to breathe. There is also evidence that wasps release a pheromone when they are killed or sting something. This makes other wasps aggressive, and so it can be very dangerous to attack a wasp near a wasp nest or near other wasps.
It is extremely dangerous to try to destroy a wasp nest yourself, and this should only be handled by experienced experts like Pestforce who provide wasp control services. If you have a wasp problem then please contact us and do not attempt to deal with it yourself.
Wasp nest removal | Wasp control | Wasp removal | Wasp pest control