Wasp Control

Wasps are a seasonal pest issue within the UK; despite their feared reputation wasps are a beneficial insect and a form of pest control in their own right for a wide range of other pests such as aphids. We have several species of wasps in the UK; whilst most do not cause an issue a few species such as the German wasp (Vespula germanica) can quickly become a nuisance in the later months of the season, especially around September-October and control is recommended before this point.

To find out further information on wasp behaviour and biology we recommend looking at the Wikipedia page here; for information on treatments, we also recommend looking at the BPCA (The main association of the UK pest control industry) website which can be found here.

Control of wasp nest is generally straightforward but does come with additional risk factors when it comes to treating the nest; taking steps to minimise the risk such as treating the nest at night and wearing suitable protective clothing is recommended.

As wasps are social eradicating sole worker wasps are unlikely to control the issue; the target for any treatment would be to kill the queen as this will have in turn stop eggs from being produced and larvae from feeding the workers. Once a queen is dead the overall nest will quickly shut down.

For best results, nests should be directly injected with a suitable powder; this increases the chance of the powder coming into contact with the queen, the main target of any treatment. If direct access to the nest is not accessible the user will have to directly inject any entrance points that the wasps are using; this is a more time-consuming treatment as it relies on the worker wasps to indirectly transport the powder to the nest internals.

Wasps traps are a convenient solution to control problematic individual wasps and to keep more significant issues from occurring. Carefully placed wasp traps will trap scout wasps before they can report back exciting finds such as sugary drinks; often a problem around beer gardens. Placement of traps are recommended before the season starts.