If you have noticed a lot of wasps around your home or workplace, the odds are that a nest is hidden somewhere nearby. Even when there is no nest, something close by is drawing them in: a popular picnic spot, perhaps, or an outdoor bar serving sweet, sticky drinks.
What a wasp nest is made of
Wasp nests are remarkable bits of engineering. The wasps chew wood and mix it with their saliva to make a papier mache material that is light, surprisingly tough and waterproof. Hundreds of wasps work together to build it.
Once it is established, a single nest can hold up to 5,000 wasps at peak activity. That peak usually falls in late summer, though the exact timing shifts from year to year depending on the weather.
Where wasps build their nests
You will not always be able to see a nest near your home or business, because wasps tend to build in sheltered, out-of-the-way places. Common spots include under trees and in bushes, inside wall cavities, beneath the eaves, or tucked away in a shed or garage.
How to spot the signs
The clearest sign of a nest is the wasps themselves. If you keep seeing them, there is almost certainly a nest within reach. To track it down, carefully follow a worker wasp. The workers are female, and they will lead you straight back to the colony.
Size tells you a lot about the stage a nest has reached. In early spring you might find a small one, no bigger than a golf ball. At that point you are usually looking at a single queen and a handful of workers. Leave it to grow, though, and by the height of summer that same nest can swell to the size of a beach ball, with thousands of wasps inside.
Why early treatment matters
The sooner a nest is treated, the smaller and less aggressive the colony will be. If you find one near your home or business, the safest move is to call in a professional rather than tackle it yourself. Our team can come out, remove the nest safely and cause as little disruption as possible to you, your family or your customers.
If you think you have a wasp nest, get in touch with our wasp control team. We are open every day except Christmas Day, from early until late.