Reasons for control
- When disturbed or attacked they can become very aggressive and are able to sting repeatedly.
- In certain people wasp stings can cause an allergic reaction.
- They can cause damage to ripened fruit and can become a nuisance in the kitchen.
However, wasps can be useful. In the summer they eat other insects that are associated as pests in the home and garden. So if the wasps are tolerable, leave them alone. Wasps do not carry any diseases that threaten humans.
Biology
The common wasp (Vespula vulgaris) is yellow and black with a sting on the end of the abdomen.
They are social insects and live in nests of up to 10,000 workers. In the early and late summer this will consist of the queen wasp and sterile female workers. Towards the end of the summer the queen will produce some male drones and fertile females, which will mate to produce the queens for next year.
Queens will emerge from hibernation during April and May to build new nests.
The first generation of worker wasps will not be active for at least 4-6 weeks after the queens have emerged from hibernation. They build their nests by chewing small amounts of wood from trees, reeds, garden fences and garden furniture, which they mix with their saliva to form a pulp.
The wasp builds their nest in a burrow, however they do not build their own burrow so may use abandoned animal burrows, garden sheds and lofts.
In the autumn the nest dies. Only the young queen wasps survive and leave the nest to hibernate.
Wasps never return to the same nest again.
Prevention & control
To stop wasps swarming around your home try these measures:
- Clear away fallen fruit from around the base of the trees.
- Make sure dustbins have tight fitting lids.
- Cover sweet smelling foods.
- Do not allow food scraps from the sink waste to build up.
Treatment
If you believe you have a wasp nest and they are becoming a significant nuisance the pest control officer can advise you on the best action. The usual action to treat the problem is to spray an insecticide into the nest, which will kill most of the wasps inside fairly quickly. Guildford Borough Council use a dust treatment containing 1% Bendiocarb.
The wasp nest must be located before the problem can be treated.
The hornet is a very close relative of the wasp, it is larger but not as aggressive and because it is uncommon it should not be destroyed.
We do not offer a pest control service for bees as these are also a protected species. If they are causing problems the best solution is to contact a Bee Keeper from the yellow pages who can come and collect the swarm and move it elsewhere.
Useful contacts for pest control matters