Information about wasps
Wasps are beneficial garden insects, collecting insects and larvae to feed to developing wasp larvae in the nest during the summer.
Worker wasps will feed on a variety of foods, including fruits such as apples, pears and plums. They collect wood to construct nests and may damage the wooden fences and garden furniture in the process.
By the end of the summer, the queen wasp stops laying eggs and the workers no longer need to collect food for the young in the nest. They become free to search for sweet things, such as cakes or sweets, and can become a nuisance.
It's the ability of wasps to cause painful stings that concerns people most. Reactions can vary considerably from intense pain and swelling round the area of the sting, to a severe allergic reaction, known as anaphylactic shock, which can be life-threatening.
The queen wasp lays eggs in the nest and hatch into larvae within a few days. By the end of the summer, the nest may contain 20,000 or more wasps. In the autumn, the new queens and males produced from the nest mate and the fertilised queens search for hibernation sites.
With the onset of winter, the nests die out and are never reused.
Treatment can be carried out professionally by our pest control service.
Our service
The standard treatment costs can be found on our domestic fees page.
This covers:
- Initial visit and assessment
- Advice on possible infestation cause and measures to deal with it
- An insecticidal treatment will be applied if wasp activity is found or suspected
- If possible, the wasp nest will also be removed or destroyed
If no treatment is carried out, you'll only pay a call-out and survey fee.