Wasps & Hornets

Wasp nest control and wasp nest removal

There are more than 200,000 species of wasp worldwide – the vast majority are solitary and harmless. It is the social wasp species which cause problems.

There are eight social wasp species in the UK that look similar. Unlike honey bees, the common wasp has not evolved the ability to store food over winter and, in temperate regions including the UK, their nest colonies only last for one season.

Wasps can appear anytime in spring if the weather is warm enough and they will remain active throughout the summer. In the early spring, a young queen will come out of her dormant winter state and build a small nest about the size of a walnut.

To begin with the nest will contain 10 to 20 hexagonal cells and the queen will lay an egg into each one. As these hatch, the queen will busily feed the emerging larvae. Towards the end of May, these will have pupated and turned into workers who will start growing the nest and feeding the emerging larvae leaving the queen to concentrate on laying eggs. The larvae produce a sweet substance over their skin that acts as a reward for worker wasps that bring food back to them. By early September the nest will contain between 4,000 to 10,000 wasps.

Wasps feed their young on insect larvae and flies – which they will kill with their sting - and carrion such as dead rodents. And, of course, the spare ribs and drumsticks that will be by the barbecue during the summer. They also have a liking for sweet things, and can damage growing soft fruits and young apples on trees.

As summer nears its end, special large cells containing the next generation of queens and breeding males will be made. Once these have reached adulthood, the workers have no more larvae to feed and become redundant. The workers still crave the larvae’s sweet reward, which is when wasps become a nuisance by crawling into coke cans, hanging around café bins and enjoying food we leave on outdoor tables. This is also when the wasps are at their most aggressive and most likely to use their nasty sting, often attacking anything moving too near to the nest.

How to identify a wasp nest

Wasps prefer dry concealed locations and this often brings them into conflict with humans as they will nest in places like loft spaces, roof cavities, window-sills, air bricks and chimney pots.

In spring, the nest will be quite small and may be hard to find. By late summer the nests will often be visible.

How to get rid of a wasp nest

It is easiest to treat a wasps’ nest at the beginning of the season, when the nest is tiny. As the nest grows the treatment becomes more complicated. The wasps will have a direct flight path to and from the nest and, if you stand in the wrong place, they may well attack you. If you suspect there is a wasp nest in your loft, then you need to be extremely careful on entering and do not switch the light on as the light will cause the wasps to attack.

It's highly recommended and far safer to call in a professional pest controller to remove the nest as soon as it's discovered.

At PRIMAL we have a broad array of tools to help eradicate wasps from your home or business. Most nests can be treated quickly and effectively. Our wasp control service is skilled at tackling nests in even the most hard to reach locations.

Hornet Control

Many people are more scared of hornets than wasps, in part because of their larger size and brighter colouring. In fact, European Hornets are far less aggressive than wasps and will try to avoid conflict with humans.

Hornet populations across Europe are actually in decline and, despite recent media attention, are rarely seen in the majority of the UK. The European Hornet is sometimes seen in the southern counties and should you find you have a nest, PRIMAL can assist you with its removal.

Hornets are natural pest controllers as they feed on insects such as flies, aphids and caterpillars. However they are not popular with gardeners as they will damage plants to feed on their sap.

Hornet stings are incredibly painful and can be life threatening to individuals who are allergic. If you have been stung by a hornet or suspect you have been, visit this NHS choices page on dealing with insect bites and stings.

How to identify a Hornet nest

Hornets are often confused with wasps but they are much bigger - sometimes more than double in size. They have distinctive yellow and brown rings on the abdomen, differing to the black and yellow of a wasp. The nest of a hornet will also be much larger than a wasps’ nest.

The most frequent nesting site of hornets is hollowed out tree trunks but, like wasps, their nests will also be found in roof spaces, wall cavities and air bricks. They also like quiet areas of the garden like the shed and will even burrow underground to make a nest. Basically they will nest anywhere with a suitable cavity.

The queen finds and chooses a suitable nest site then builds a nest from wood pulp. She lays and cares for the eggs until they hatch. She then cares for the larvae until they are ready to pupate and become workers who then take over the development of the nest.

The queen and any new queens she creates will fly away and hibernate over winter but, as the weather becomes colder, the nest will die out. Old nests are not re-used in subsequent years.

Adult hornets are only a problem when they start to bother humans by foraging for sugary foods such as jam and fruit indoors, or around picnics and ice creams. Like wasps, hornets that come indoors can be treated by using an insecticidal aerosol spray.

Hornets are noisy when in flight and this makes it easy to trace their nest site. They are incredibly defensive of their nest and this is when they are most likely to attack. For this reason, be careful entering enclosed spaces if you suspect there may be a hornets’ nest. If you suspect you have a hornet problem give us a call today we can treat and remove a nest safely at your property quickly and affordably.