Should you treat a wasps nest yourself?

Many people think that a wasp nest is simple to treat and that calling a pest controller isn’t needed. A can of fly spray or a powder thrown over it should do the job. But should you treat a wasps nest yourself?

Wasps

Wasp nests come in many shapes and sizes. Each nest can contain up to 5,000 wasps during their peak activity in Summer.

Chewed wood and saliva are used to create a paper mache like material. Thi is then used to build the nest. This nest is durable, lightweight and also waterproof. Once a queen has created the initial nest the worker drones maintain and expand the nest.

If you see wasps entering and leaving a hole in the ground, a wall, roof or any other part of a building; or any unexplained wasps in a room this can indicate a nest nearby. In autumn, as the days get shorter wasps get attracted to lights inside building which they confuse with sunrise. As the summer comes to an end the nest no longer requires maintenance and the workers will begin feeding on rotten fruit. This makes them drunk and more aggressive, this leads to them stinging people.

Treating the nest

Do not attempt to block the hole up, as this will make them angry and aggressive. Doing this will not kill the nest. They will instead find another entrance and may come into the house. Wasps are aggressive and will sting readily if they think the nest is in danger. While you may not be allergic to wasp stings, being stung by a dozen of them repeatedly can still be a very painful experience.

How PEST UK treat wasps

Our technicians use a residual insecticide called Vulcan, sprayed onto the nest or the entrance of the nest. This is a modern biodegradable insecticide that is not highly toxic to mammals, but is extremely so to the hymenopterous group of insects (Wasps, Bees and Ants). Once treated the nest will be in a hyper active state for a few hours so we recommend keeping children and pets away from the area until this ceases.

Once a nest has been treated and has died it can never be reused. So if you want to remove the nest we recommend waiting at least 4 weeks before doing thiso. In most cases the wasp nest is not accessible. The nest may be in a cavity wall or a soffit that cannot be seen.

PESTUK

PESTUK are full members of the BPCA, the governing body for pest control in the UK. Using a BPCA member company ensures you have a qualified, fully insured company treating your pest problem.

PESTUK have offices in Balham, Oxford, Guildford, Edgware, Potters Bar, Reading, Shepperton, Wantage, Salisbury, St Albans, Stevenage, Swindon and Ware.