April 29th, 2021 by Sarah Miles

Wasps are nobody’s favourite creature: they sting, they’re persistent, and they’re aggressive. There’s nothing surer to ruin a good picnic and you really don’t need a wasp nest in your home or garden.

So, what is the point of them? They certainly don’t appear to have the redeeming features of spiders or bees so do they just exist to make our lives more difficult? Well, actually, wasps are really quite fascinating and contribute more to society than you might think.

Here are 5 facts about wasps that, while not necessarily endearing them to you, may just make you see them a little differently:

1. They are pollinators

We all know that bees are incredibly important to crop and flower pollination but so are wasps. They’re not quite as effective as bees have hairy bodies that effectively captures the pollen, which wasps don’t have, but they do nevertheless help to pollinate, and we’d be in trouble without them. They also contribute to crop security, and even human health, as they both feed on and parasitise pests such as caterpillars, whitefly, and mosquitos.

2. To avoid a wasp nest, be vigilant in spring

While wasps are at their most prevalent in late summer, watch out for them in spring as this may help you avoid having a nest built around your home. Only the young queens survive the winter and come the warmer weather in spring, they start looking around for a suitable location for their nests. Look out for large, single wasps around your home at this time of year. If you kill the queens at this time, you’re less likely to end up with a nest of thousands of them later. Also, look for early signs of nest building. These will start out as small structures and will often be located under eaves, in guttering, in sheds, and in-wall cavities where there is both shelter and easy access to the outside.

3. Wasps are using your garden furniture to build their nests!

As well as your fence and your shed. Wasp nests are constructed from wood. They scrape it from these items and chew it to make a pulp, which they can then shape into the hexagonal cells that make up the structure of the nest. This is the reason the walls of the nest appear papery – they are literally made of wood!

4. Wasps only use their nests for one season

Once abandoned in late summer, wasps will not return to the same nest again. Therefore, if you’ve made it to September time without being bothered by it, there may not be any need to take action. Unfortunately, they’ve usually made their presence known well before this time.

5. Wasps have good reasons to be angry!

We all know that rejection and too much booze can bring out the worst in us and wasps are no exception! Wasps are often especially aggressive in late summer and this is when you’re most likely to be stung. Don’t take it personally; it’s at this time, after the queen has laid the last of her eggs, that she prevents the worker wasps from returning to the nest, thus cutting them off from their usual food source. This forces them to seek food elsewhere, and that is when the hungry, angry wasps start coming into homes and hanging around near bins and outdoor eating areas. They will also eat fermented fruit, which effectively makes them drunk, and it would appear that too much grog makes wasps aggressive and irritable as well as humans!

What not to do if you have a wasp nest

Knowing what not to do is as important as knowing how to get rid of a wasp nest as the wrong move could see you facing thousands of threatened wasps who have stingers and aren’t afraid to use them. Knocking the nest down or sealing up the entrance are the worst things you can do. Instead, treat with a pesticide, such as a fumer, spray, or dusting powder. The best time to do this is at night when the wasps are least active. If you don’t feel confident tackling it yourself, you can always get a professional in to deal with it.

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The Protector FCIK (Flying and Crawling Insect killer) is a residual aerosol that is HSE registered and ensures instant knock down of flies, wasps, cockroaches, carpet beetles, fleas, moths, bedbugs, lice, ants and all other flying and crawling insects.  

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