Wasps vs Bees – How to Identify Them Before Arranging Pest Control in Marks Tey

Most stings and most wasted money come from the same few mistakes, and avoiding them starts with identifying whether you have wasps or bees.

Mistake one: assuming every striped insect is a wasp

The most common error is a simple one. Someone sees a yellow and black insect, decides it is a wasp, and acts. Yet a great many of the striped insects in a British garden are bees, hoverflies or other harmless visitors.

The cost of this mistake can be real. A bumblebee nest destroyed in panic is a loss to the garden, and a wasted callout means the genuine problem carries on growing. Meanwhile the person has probably been stung in the process, because bees defend themselves when attacked.

Take a minute to look properly. Note the waist, the surface of the body and where the insect goes. If it is round and furry and busy on flowers, it is a bee, and it needs no treatment at all.

Each of these is easy to avoid once you know about it, and none needs special equipment.

Mistake two: swatting, flapping and chasing

When a wasp lands near you, the instinct is to swat it. That is exactly the wrong response. A swatted or crushed wasp can release signals that attract others, and an insect that is flapped at is much more likely to sting.

Stay still, or move away slowly. If a wasp has landed on you, let it walk and fly off. Most will leave within moments if left alone.

Children are particularly prone to running and waving. A calm rehearsal beforehand, with a simple instruction to walk away without flapping, is the best defence. Never throw things at a nest or at flying insects, and do not stand with your arms waving beneath a nest entrance.

Households often disagree about how serious a nest is, and that can lead to delay. One person wants to act, the other says leave it, and in the meantime the nest keeps growing. A neutral way to settle it is to agree on where the nest is relative to daily life. If anyone passes within a couple of metres of the entrance, treat it as a problem. If it is well away from every path, door and seat, waiting a little is more reasonable.

Mistake three: blocking or spraying an entrance

Householders often try to deal with a nest by filling the hole, taping over it or squirting something into it. The results are rarely good.

Blocking an entrance does not remove the colony. The wasps simply look for another way out, and that can lead into the house through a ceiling, a light fitting or a gap around a pipe. Spraying a nest with a shop-bought product can agitate the colony and leave you with a swarm of angry insects between you and the door. Many people are stung this way.

If you have honeybees, any such action can harm a valuable colony. In all cases, the right response is to keep clear and seek help.

Mistake four: delay and denial

The opposite mistake is to ignore the signs. A small nest in May is easy to overlook, and many people hope the problem will go away. It does not. A colony grows steadily through the summer, and by August it can hold from 2,000 to 10,000 wasps or more.

If you see a steady stream of slim, smooth insects entering a gap, do not wait to see what happens. An early report is easier to deal with and keeps risk low for the household. Nests do not die down until autumn, and a nest by a door or in a loft stays hazardous until it is treated.

Equally, do not let embarrassment stop you asking whether you have bees or wasps. Anyone can mistake them.

Another mistake is relying on folk remedies. Hanging a paper bag, burning something or putting out sugar traps will not deal with a nest, and some of these ideas attract more wasps to your garden. Save the effort. Observation from a distance, a clear description and a professional visit are what actually resolve the problem, and they do so with far less risk.

Mistake five: trying to look closer

Curiosity causes plenty of stings. People lean towards an entrance, hold a torch up to a hole, tap a wall to hear what happens, or open a loft hatch to see inside. All of these disturb the colony.

You do not need to see inside a nest to deal with it. A photograph from several metres away, a note of where the traffic goes and a sense of how busy it is are enough. Binoculars or a phone zoom do the rest.

Wash the sting site, remove the sting if it is visible and apply a cold pack; any sign of a serious allergic reaction, such as a swollen throat, wheeze, dizziness or a body-wide rash, is a 999 emergency.

Doing it right

The better path is simple. Identify the insects from a safe distance, keep children and pets away, do not interfere with the entrance, and book help for wasps. If you have honeybees or bumblebees, contact a local beekeeper or bee organisation.

Booking starts with a call to 01245 327274 or fill in the contact page booking form. Treatment costs a fixed £90 per nest with one visit guaranteed; if there is another nest on the same property it is £35 per nest.

We work seven days a week; domestic and commercial customers are welcome, same-day service is offered and the team is fully insured. Anyone with a known allergy should speak to their GP; say so when booking if someone is allergic, so the visit can be prioritised.

Marks Tey and the surrounding villages are covered by the same technician.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Marks Tey