Wasps can easily create chaos around somebody’s property, house or home by setting up their nest too close or even inside the property. The usually unwelcome pests can make using parts of any property, house or garden unpleasant and even virtually impossible to use normally in some circumstances.
People are used to wasp nests in trees and roofs and outbuildings but they can even be found at ground level. They can also appear almost overnight.
Wasps in the countryside are not all bad as they do eat aphids, insects and caterpillars and therefore form part of nature’s balance in the local ecosystem.
However, if you are about to have a summer lunch or jam sandwiches for tea, they can ruin your afternoon. Some people are very frightened and can go into panic or shock if wasps go near them or may have an allergic reaction.
Assorted defences, remedies and solutions do exist to combat the flying nuisance.
If the nest is too close to the house or where children play etc., then complete removal is recommended. This can be carried out by an individual (with extreme care), but it is generally more sensible to call in the local council or pest control officer. (These days there is usually a charge from the council for this work.)
Other control methods include a variety of wasp traps that trap the wasps in solutions in enclosures that they can enter but cannot escape. Even insectivorous plants such as the pitcher plant can be grown in greenhouses.
Individuals can be covered with an anti-insect repellent that can render them repellent to midges, mosquitoes, wasps and other similar creatures.
It is also possible to put up dummy nests to reduce the risk of a nest being set up near you, as the wasps are territorial and a queen will not start a nest near another.
As an illustration of a low-level quickly constructed wasp nests, the example below was constructed within 8 days. Luckily, the mower was not simply dragged out of the shelter without looking at what it would have dragged through first!
26th July 2010