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

A garden wall looks solid, but old mortar, loose copings and crumbling joints leave small hollows that wasps will happily occupy.

Walls are not as solid as they look

A garden wall is made of units held together by mortar, and mortar weathers. Over years, frost, rain and roots open up joints and loosen copings. Behind a crack there may be a hollow in a rubble core, a gap where a pillar meets a panel, or a drain hole in a retaining wall. Walls that have been repaired many times can be the most hollow of all.

For wasps, a dry cavity in a south-facing wall is ideal. It stays warm in the sun, keeps off the rain and is rarely disturbed. The result is that boundary walls can host nests as readily as the house.

Where to look on a wall

Walk along the wall at a distance and look at the weak points. Crumbling mortar joints, missing bricks, loose coping stones, weep holes at the bottom of retaining walls, and gaps where a wall meets a gate pillar or a house are all worth a glance. A good position is at an angle to the wall, so you can see along it.

• Wasps flying to a specific joint and vanishing.
• A little pile of mortar crumbs below a hole, from wasps enlarging it.
• Dark staining around an opening.
• A hum that is louder when you stand near one section.

Only one or two of these will be present in the early stages. Keep checking.

Listen as well as look. A wall holds a colony’s hum surprisingly well, and on a quiet warm afternoon you may be able to hear it from a pace or two away. Walk along the wall slowly and stop where the sound changes. You are not trying to touch the wall or put your ear to it, just to notice differences.

The aspect of the wall matters. Walls that face south or west get the afternoon sun and are warm, so nests there are busy and visible when other parts of the garden are still cool.

Photograph the wall from a few metres back at the start, so you have a record of the pointing and any existing gaps; later changes will then stand out.

Retaining walls and banks

Retaining walls hold back soil, and the ground behind them is loose and often full of old burrows and root channels. A weep hole or gap at the base may lead directly to such a space. Wasps may enter at the wall and nest in the soil behind it, so the nest is partly underground and partly in the structure.

Banks and sloping beds next to walls are similar. Look for the same pattern of traffic. A flow of wasps into a gap at the foot of a retaining wall is a good indicator, even if you cannot see the nest.

Dry stone and flint walls are especially full of voids. Between the stones there are gaps of every size, and the loose rubble inside gives wasps room to build. A flint wall may seem solid, but it is often a shell filled with loose material. Traffic at one small hole may lead to a surprisingly large cavity.

Brick walls with a cavity, such as house walls, are different from garden walls, but the same principle applies. A gap in the pointing high on the wall may lead into the cavity, which runs the whole height. It is worth looking at the garden wall and the house wall in the same way.

What not to do

Resist the urge to fill a hole with cement, expanding foam or stones. This is a common reaction and a poor one. It can trap wasps in the wall, and they will try to dig out another way, which may be through the wall into your garden or house.

Do not pull out loose bricks or knock off coping stones to see inside. Do not use a hose or pressure washer. If the wall is the boundary with a neighbour, avoid leaning over. Take clear notes of what you see and leave the wall alone.

Repairs afterwards

Once the nest has been treated, and the technician has confirmed there is no further activity, you can think about repointing. A wall in good condition is less attractive to a queen in spring. Ask the technician whether the empty nest can be taken down or left, and whether any particular gaps are best repaired.

Do the repair after the colony is gone, not before. Mortar work disturbs the wall, and an unsealed nest could be set off by the hammering and drilling.

If you have a wall with climbing plants or trailing growth, you will have to allow for the fact that the entrance may be hidden. Look for the stream of wasps, not the hole. The principle is simple: if wasps disappear into the greenery at one point, a nest is behind it.

Also keep in mind that walls hold heat after the sun goes down. A nest in a stone wall may be active later in the evening than one in a tree, which is worth remembering if you only look at the end of the day.

Booking

Wasp Nest Removal Essex treats nests in walls for a fixed £90 only, and an extra nest on the same property is £35 only. The technician is fully insured, and each booking has one visit guaranteed. Our technician covers Kelvedon and nearby villages, with same-day service seven days a week for domestic and commercial customers.

Call 01245 327274 or submit the booking form on the contact page. Tell us which wall it is, roughly where along it the wasps go in and whether it is a boundary shared with a neighbour.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Kelvedon