Will Cold Kill Wasps?

In Pests, Pests in Winter, Wasps

At PEST UK we often treat active wasp nests in December. Can cold kill wasps? Not usually, it is usually old age. In fact cold weather can actually extend a wasp’s life, not kill wasps. In colder weather the metabolism of the wasp slows down so they are not doing as much which extends their life. Like putting something in the fridge. A worker wasp in the Summer lives 6-7 weeks but later due to lack of daylight hours coupled with cold weather this can be doubled. An example of cold effecting another insect is the Cluster Fly. A hibernating fly can live 4-6 months where as an active cluster fly in the Summer may only live a matter of weeks.

Is a nest worth treating in cold weather?

More people get stung in the Autumn and early Winter than in the Summer. The reason for this is that the worker wasps are dozen and find it harder to get away and are more likely to crawl into places where they come into contact with people (in clothes or beds for example. In the Autumn the worker wasps are also more likely to be feeding on fruit which brings them into contact with people again. In early Summer the workers concentrate on collecting caterpillars, flies and other insects to feed the new grubs in the wasp nest.

If you require a wasp nest treatment (often called wasp nest removal, burt actually only a treatment) or just advice about cold then please call us at PEST UK on 0330 100 2811 (local rate from landlines & mobiles) or 0800 026 0308 (freephone from landlines & some mobiles).

The PEST UK receptionist (all the staff of PEST UK are fully trained in pest control) can book up an appointment or give advice.

From Mobiles & Tablets (iPads) You can request a a call back request. These are responded to the same way as e mail. If you load up the PEST UK website (www.pestuk.com) on a tablet or mobile then the mobile site loads up automatically.

You can also e mail to: services@pestuk.com

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