Wasps going on?
BY READERS DIGEST
2nd Oct 2023 Home & Garden
BBQ ruining, cider drinking, crazy dive-bombing wasps. Many of us like to enjoy some alfresco dinning throughout the summer months, then all of a sudden you get dive-bombed by these unwanted intruders. Wasps are one of Britain’s most feared and potentially aggressive pests who are known for their nasty stings and seemingly unprovoked attacks.
In reality, wasps usually only attack if they feel threatened; however in these situations a wasp in distress emits a pheromone that sends nearby colony members into a defensive stinging frenzy causing an irritation and a painful sting.
So what is a Wasp life cycle?
Winter – We start at the end of last season, where the dying nest and the newly mated queen will leave and find a quiet place to hibernate over the winter either in trees, lofts or around properties.
Spring – As this season arrives and temperatures increase the queen awakens and looks for an area to make a new nest. She will start building a nest and give birth to the first of this year’s workers. Up to 300 eggs will be produced every day which will then take over the construction of the nest and care for the young. In the early spring, a wasps' nest can be as small as a golf ball.
Summer – With the new nest growing in physical structure and also in numbers increasing to the thousands the nest will have grown to maximum size and some can reach beyond the size of beach ball. The larger the wasps nest the more wasps there will be. Therefore it’s important to call in a professional pest control company to dispose of the nest. The rapid increasing number of larvae and the need for protein, mean the adult wasps also have to hunt down insects, and mainly caterpillars to feed on.
Autumn – The nest will produce new queens and males, which will mate and the new queens will again seek hibernation for the winter and the whole process will start over again.
What to do when you find a Wasp Nest?
If you’re worried about a large amount of wasp activity around your home and family, if you’re seeing a large number of wasps in and around your home or work, then there is probably a wasps’ nest nearby.
Treating and removing a wasp nest can be very dangerous so don't attemp to remove it yourself - the removal of a wasps nest should be a pest technician’s job - done by a professional company. Wasps inside the nest will feel threatened and often become aggressive. This could cause them to sting you and others as they defend their nest resulting in multiple stings which could cause serious harm. And unlike bees, wasps do not die after one sting, they can, and will, sting you quite a few times!
Wasps nests can affect commercial property too so it’s essential to remove a wasps’ nest in any commercial area to avoid affecting business and not cause upset to your customers.
If you’re looking for help or advice in removing wasps nest, then please contact Fast Track Pest Control.
5 Facts about Wasps
- Wasps do not return to the same nest the following year.
- Only the mated Queen wasp survives the winter, all others die off.
- Nest are made from chewed up wood fibres usually found in cavity walls through digging their nests underground and into walls of buildings.
- Wasps are actually a critical part of our Eco-System. Not having wasps in the world would mean we’d become overrun by spiders and other insects.
- Wasps feed on nectar and help to pollinate plants and flowers, just like bees.
Highly populated cities often have to deal with pest control issues. Houses are built closer together, which often results in these unwanted house guests making themselves very comfortable, very quickly. This can range from mouse infestation to a large wasps nest, both of which are hard to deal with yourself so leaving a professional to deal with your pest infestation is always best practice.
If you are looking for the best pest control in London, Essex or Hertfordshire, Fast Track Pest Control can carry out free Rodent, Wasp, Bed Bug, Flea and Cockroach surveys for you to offer you peace of mind and professional bed bug service which provides results.
