How to Tell If You Have an Active Wasp Nest on Your Drapers Green Property

The first day or two after you suspect a nest matter most, because the choices you make now decide whether you stay safe and whether the wasps are easy to deal with.

Start by doing less

The natural reaction to a suspected wasp nest is to do something at once. People reach for a spray, a bag of foam, a ladder or a hose. Almost every one of those actions makes things worse. The first thing to do is nothing dramatic at all. Step back, take a breath and decide that you are going to gather information, not confront the colony.

The wasps have been there for weeks already. A day or two spent watching carefully from a safe place will not change that, and it gives you the facts you need to make a sensible decision. The aim of the first two days is to be safe, to confirm what you have and to arrange help.

Tell everyone in the household what you suspect, and where. A calm announcement is better than a panic, and it means nobody wanders into the flight path by accident.

Day one: watch and note

On the first day, choose a spot where you can see the area from a distance, ideally from indoors. Watch for fifteen or twenty minutes at a warm time of the day. Write down what you see in plain words.

• Where the wasps seem to go in and out.
• How many you see in a minute, roughly.
• Which direction they come from and leave to.
• Any sound, stain, flakes or scrape marks.
• Whether wasps are coming into the house.

Take a photograph if you can do so safely with a zoom. Do not approach the spot to see more.

Do not worry if the watch feels slow. Wasps follow a rhythm, and a quiet ten minutes can be followed by a burst of traffic. Sit comfortably, keep a cup of tea to hand and let the pattern show itself. If you have a second person, one can watch while the other writes, which makes the notes more accurate.

Check the weather as well. On a cool, wet day, a nest looks quiet, so choose the warmest part of the day for your main watch, and repeat it if the first attempt was in poor conditions.

What to avoid straight away

There are a few actions to avoid completely. Do not block the hole with filler, foam or a stone, since wasps may find another way out. Do not spray anything into it, because sprays rarely reach the nest properly and will anger the wasps. Do not hose it, smoke it, hit it or knock it down. Do not stand on a ladder near it. Do not shine a torch into it at night.

Equally, do not ignore your own safety. Do not sit or work next to the suspected spot, do not leave windows open on that side of the house, and do not let children or pets investigate.

If wasps are in the house, shut the door of the room, put a towel along the bottom and keep other doors closed. Avoid swatting.

Many people also ask about plugging a gap with something other than filler, such as a rag, a ball of newspaper or a cork. This has the same effect as any other blockage, and wasps are good at finding or chewing a new route. Treat a gap you can see as the doorway of an occupied home, and leave it exactly as it is.

Finally, do not call a neighbour round to take a closer look, or turn it into a spectacle. The more people near the nest, the greater the chance of a sting. A single calm observer at a distance is all that is needed.

Day two: confirm and decide

On the second day, repeat your watch at a different time. If the pattern is the same, with wasps visiting the same place and going in and out, you can reasonably say you have an active nest. If you only see occasional wasps wandering over a wide area, it may be foragers drawn to something else, and tidying up food and bins will help.

If you are still unsure, describe what you have seen when you ring. We can often tell from the description whether it sounds like a nest. If the nest is in a rented property or a shared building, pass on your notes to the landlord, agent or manager at the same time, as who arranges and pays for treatment depends on the agreement or policy.

Think, too, about how you will describe the access. If the nest is at the side of the house or at the back of a garden, say how the technician can get there, and whether any gates are locked. If someone must be home, arrange it. Planning on day two saves time on the day of the visit, and means the work can often go ahead sooner.

Staying safe in the meantime

Keep a clear boundary around the area. Move garden furniture, toys, washing lines and bins away. Cover food and drink if you are outside. Wear shoes, and if you must go near, walk calmly and do not wave your arms.

If anyone is stung, wash the sting with soap and water, remove the sting if you can see it and apply a cold pack. Call 999 for swelling of the face, lips or throat, wheezing or difficulty breathing, dizziness or a widespread rash. People with known allergies should speak to their GP, and tell us when they book so that the booking can be prioritised.

If you have friends or family who are due to visit, give them a quick call. Ask them to park and enter by a different route if the nest is close to your front door, and to keep children and dogs away from the garden. A little advance notice is easier than managing a sting in the middle of a visit.

Booking

In practice, Wasp Nest Removal Essex is open seven days a week and offers same-day service for domestic and commercial customers. A nest is treated for a fixed £90 only, and an additional nest on the same property costs £35 only. The work is fully insured, so one visit is guaranteed. Our technician covers Drapers Green and the villages around it.

Telephone 01245 327274 or use the contact page to book online. Share your notes from the first two days, including a photograph if you have one, and ask whether the empty nest can be taken down after treatment.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Drapers Green