Wasps

Common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) or the German wasp (Vespula Germanica)

Wasps, our favourite little yellow and black friends! So wasps can and do reside in the most inconvenient places, walls, bushes, eaves, attics, garden sheds, under decking, bin areas etc. They are social in their behaviour living in large colonies.

They are generally peaceful going about their daily business until they feel threatened. Stings can be very painful or even fatal if you have an allergic reaction. When you get stung a pheromone is released adverting to other wasps to join in, they can keep stinging multiple times unlike bees. 

If you do get stung, wash the affected area with soap and water followed by a cold pack to reduce swelling. They do use venom! If you are allergic to sting’s, always make sure you have the correct medication at hand at all times. 

The summer months are when they are a real nuisance especially… when you’re out in a beer garden or having a BBQ. Each wasp nest can have hundreds of individuals, some nests can be 1M in length, gulp. 

We supply and fit wasp bags, ideally installed from July to September, we’ll strategically place them in locations that are away from you. We need to visit once per month to add new attractant and make sure they’re still in position. They work by attracting wasps in via a small opening, inside the bag is a sweet syrup, when the wasps enter they won’t escape. 

We’ve been using these for many years, they don’t attract bees, totally non toxic and completely effective at removing foraging wasps. Great for beer gardens, schools, hospitals, and other external areas. Disposal of bags is in general waste bins. 

The initial cost per bag is £10.00 the service fee over the course of four months depending on how many bags is £5.00 per bag. 

So if you have ten bags, it’s £100 initial setup, thereafter £50.00 per month over a four month period. 

Did you know wasps are actually great pest controllers, they feed caterpillars and other insects to their larvae, they’re also great pollinators, many farmers are actually allowing them on their crops to remove nuisance insects instead of using harmful pesticides. 

The nests are made from wood scrapings mixed with saliva then moulded into an intricate structure, the nest. When a wasp nest has been treated they won’t return to it.

So if you see a number of wasps going backwards and forwards continuously, you can bet they’ll be a nest. 

If you see this behaviour don’t worry and don’t delay in calling us out, the treatment is putting on a sting proof suit and using a powder dispenser aiming at the entrance to the nest, we have never failed to treat successfully. We don’t remove nests unless you want us too, this can be done at a later date and charged at the appropriate rate. 

We don’t advise treating yourself as in our experience.. the diy treatments rarely work and without the appropriate PPE your will get stung. 

We also treat Hornet (Vespa crabro) nests.. 

WE DON’T TREAT BEES… 🐝 If you are having issues with bees, contact your local bee keeper.