Wasps Around Your Guttering and Fascias? How to Find the Nest in Hadstock

Wasps do not always build just one nest on a property, and checking every roofline at the outset means the technician can deal with them all in one visit.

Why more than one is possible

Several wasps can start nests in the same neighbourhood, and a property with many sheltered corners may attract more than one. A house, a garage, a porch and a shed each have their own roofline. One wasp may choose the back gutter and another the side of the garage. Sometimes the nests are close together, and sometimes at opposite ends of the plot.

So if you find one, it is worth checking for others.

There is no way of predicting this, so a thorough look is the only answer. It takes half an hour at most.

A nest inside the house roofline and another in a garden wall or the ground is possible too. The technician can deal with these in the same visit if told in advance.

It is also possible that one nest is old news. If you saw wasps in one place earlier in the summer and a different place now, the first nest may have failed and a second have started, so describe the order in which you noticed things.

How to check the whole property

Work methodically. Walk round the outside slowly, one elevation at a time, and look up at each roofline from a distance. Watch each for ten minutes on a sunny afternoon. Note any gap with wasp traffic.

• The back and front gutters and fascias.
• The porch or canopy.
• Garage and outbuilding eaves.
• Sheds, summerhouses and lean-tos.
• Trees, hedges and holes in the ground nearby.

Write down each place. If you find two, you will have two entries to describe to the technician.

Use a phone to take photos of each spot. Label them if you can, with the side of the building and the height.

Do the walk-round on a dry, sunny day, between late morning and mid afternoon, when wasps are busiest. On a cool, grey day, you may see nothing at all.

Telling nests apart

It can be hard to tell whether wasps at two locations are from one nest or two. Wasps from one nest do not usually use two widely separated entrances. If you see steady streams at both, treat them as two nests. If the second location has only a trickle, it may be an early nest that has just started.

Do not try to work it out by following wasps. Simply report both places and let the technician decide.

Another sign is difference in timing. If one place is busy in the morning and the other in the afternoon, the sun on each wall may explain it rather than two nests. The technician will sort this out.

Wasps from a nest that has just started may only come and go occasionally. Even so, a young nest is worth treating, since it will grow rapidly through the summer.

Planning the visit

When you book, tell us how many nests you think you have and where. The technician can plan the visit to deal with each in turn. A second nest on the same property is priced at £35 more than the first, so there is no need to worry about the extra cost of a thorough check.

Keep people and pets away from every affected area. If the nests are on opposite sides of the property, you may need to keep the whole garden clear.

Mention if the nests are on different buildings, for example the house and a neighbouring outbuilding. Access may need to be arranged with another owner.

Your own notes are valuable here. A sketch of the plot with each suspect place marked is quick to make and easy to describe over the phone.

Please tell us if one of the nests is on an outbuilding that is locked, so we can arrange access. Gates, padlocks and dogs all affect planning.

Ask neighbours too. If wasps seem to come from the boundary, there may be a nest on their side, and a joint approach is neater than two separate bookings at different times.

Safety

Where more than one nest is active, the risk of a sting is greater, since there are more wasps and more flight paths. Keep windows shut, bins lidded and children and pets indoors. Do not try to deal with the smaller nest yourself because it looks easy.

Should someone be stung, rinse the spot with water, scrape the sting out if it is still in the skin and use a cold pack. Phone 999 without delay for swelling of the lips, face or throat, wheezing, dizziness or a widespread rash.

Even when the second nest looks small, treat it with the same respect. It is likely to grow quickly.

Colonies peak in August, with 2,000 to 10,000 or more wasps in each nest. With two nests, the combined number is large, which is another reason not to put off the call.

Treat each area as a separate hazard and mark them mentally: the safe route round the garden may need to avoid more than one wall.

Cost and booking

The first nest costs a fixed £90 with one visit guaranteed, and the additional nest on the same property costs £35 more. The same price applies wherever the nests are and whatever the time of day. The technician for Hadstock works seven days a week, offers same-day service and treats homes and commercial premises, fully insured. To get a technician booked in, call 01245 327274 or send the form on the contact page and say how high up the wasps are going in.

Afterwards, have every gap repaired, so you do not face the same problem next spring. Mention any allergy at booking.

Keep notes on every repair, so you can show what was done and where.

A thorough repair of each gap is the best protection. Ask the builder to check the whole property while they are there, not just the places where wasps were seen.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Hadstock