Wasps
Pest controllers get thousands of call-outs to treat for wasps every year - so if you’re having wasp issues, you’re not alone!
Queen wasps emerge and start working on new nests in the Spring, as the weather gets warmer.
By the Summer months, wasp nests are working overtime, with up to 300 eggs being produced every day and up to 5,000 adults feeding grubs and building the nest structure.
In the UK you’re most likely to come across Common Wasps (Vespula vulgaris) and German Wasps (Vespula germanica). Both species are yellow and black striped, and have painful stings that can cause allergic reactions.
The dangers: why we control wasps
One of Britain’s most feared and potentially aggressive pests, wasps are known for their nasty stings and seemingly unprovoked attacks.
In reality, wasps will usually only attack a person if they feel threatened. The problem is a social wasp in distress emits a pheromone that sends nearby colony members into a defensive, stinging frenzy.
That’s right - scare a wasp and it might call for backup.
Wasp stings are at best painful, and at worst fatal.
If you’re sensitive to wasp stings then they can send you into anaphylaxis - a severe, potentially life-threatening allergic reaction.
Children, elderly people, those with allergies, and household pets are particularly sensitive to wasp stings.
Wasps around your business
If you own a shop or restaurant you need to take wasp pest control seriously.
If your customers experience a high level of wasp activity then they’re likely to complain and request a refund or leave a negative review. Either could result in a loss of future income.
Should all wasps’ nests be treated?
No. Wasps should only be treated if they pose a risk to public health and safety.
Wasps can be beneficial in gardens as they feed their grubs on caterpillars and other insects, thereby reducing these pest populations.
Signs of wasp nests
If you’re seeing a large number of wasps in and around your home or work, there’s probably a wasps’ nest or a substantial attractant nearby.
Wasp nests’ come in many different shapes and sizes. They’re amazing pieces of architecture that can contain up to 5,000 wasps during peak activity in late Summer.
They build their nest using chewed wood and saliva to make a papier mache material. The nest material is durable, lightweight and surprisingly waterproof.
Hundreds of wasps produce this papery material to build out their nest. Every wasps’ nest is both unique and shares characteristics with other colonies of the same species.
Wasp biology and behaviour
Wasps are classified under the order Hymenoptera, which means “membranous wings”. All the stinging insects belong to this group, and they are a highly evolved group of insects.
In the UK, we mainly get common wasps (Vespula vulgaris) and German wasps (Vespula germanica). All wasps have complex social structures and different ways of doing things.
Both common and German wasps are large, conspicuous buzzing insects with yellow and black striped, wasp-waisted bodies.
Characteristics of wasps
The queen wasp is larger than normal wasps (about 20mm).
She hibernates over winter, making a nest in the spring in which to lay her eggs. She feeds the grubs on insects until they develop into worker wasps, three to four weeks later.
Workers, all sterile females, forage for over a mile in search of food.
At the end of the year when the colder air arrives, and fruit starts to perish quickly, wasps start to starve or die of the cold.
The adult worker wasps start to die off, and the new queen wasps go into hibernation and emerge in the spring to initiate the process again, building completely brand new nests.
One nest may produce 3,000-8,000 wasps in a year.
What wasps eat
Wasps are natural pest controllers and tend to eat other insects.
At their peak in August and September with the youngsters reared, the workers turn to the sweet food they prefer and become a nuisance.
Wasp or bee?
It’s really easy for you to mistake bees for wasps.
The way we treat bees and wasps are very different.
Bee’s are an important, beneficial species rarely considered a pest.
Bees are hymenoptera, specialising in flowers, eating nectar for energy and pollen for protein.
Bees of all types are essential to our ecosystems, being the highest number of pollinating insects.
An estimated third of all crops are pollination-dependent, including those used in livestock feed, covering 70 different types of crop.