OUR SERVICE:

Firstly it is important to accurately identify the bee or wasp. Using our experience we can help with this and then advise a correct course of action.

Bees should not be treated unless necessary, especially Honey Bees. We strictly follow the “Pest Management Alliance” code of practice in controlling Honey Bees. Other types of bee can be treated where appropriate.

Wasps are much more aggressive and will often need treating. We will firstly locate the nest and then treat with an insecticidal dust, which will soon control the problem.

ABOUT BEES AND WASPS

Perhaps the most feared of insects, wasps and bees enjoy mixed reputations – wasps for being useless and aggressive, and bees for being important to the environment and the makers of honey.

BEES

Bees are not viewed with the same fear as wasps, although they do deliver a nasty single sting. But, they rarely use the stinger in their tail; mostly because once it is used… they die. It takes a lot of agitation to a bee to get it to sting.

Many people are under the impression that if a bee colony moves in to their home, garden or outbuilding etc., that there is nothing they can do as bees are protected in the UK. This is not always the case!

Bees are seen as more useful and, as their numbers are under threat from disease and a decrease in their natural habitat, we try to look after them more than we do wasps. For this reason, if possible, we may try to move the nest.

Although fairly docile, sharing your home or outdoor space with an insect that can sting is not a welcome thought for many.

WASPS

Wasps tend to enjoy less of a kind reputation, with many people seeing these flying, stinging insects as useless but, experts now agree that wasps do play their part in the ecological balance.

There are various species of wasps found across the globe, with some being more aggressive than others. In the UK, even though the wasps can and do sting humans and pets, they only do so when under stress or in defence of their hive. They are also known to become more aggressive towards the end of summer as their desire for sugary foods increase. Wasps can also attack in a swarm and can deliver more than a single sting.

For this reason, along with the risk of anaphylaxis, you should NEVER attempt to move or interfere with a wasp nest; always leave it to a professional pest control technician.

There is good news…

Wasp nests have a finite life cycle;

  • At the end of the summer, before the coolness of autumn sets in, females mated in their current nests will leave to look for possible venues for their own nests. They will then hibernate for the winter. Sometimes you may come across them in sheds and other outbuildings; they simply lie on a surface and can look ‘dead’.
  • As the warmth of spring begins to creep back, the hibernating queen awakes and starts the process of building her nest. She will strip all kinds of materials to start this process, from cardboard to soft wood; these marks can often be seen as ‘tramlines’ in materials and can be a sign of activity nearby.
  • In her new nest she will lay her eggs, buzzing back and forth for food as she feeds her young but, when they reach a certain level of maturity, they will become the hunters as she remains in her nest, laying eggs.
  • And this will continue until the cooler days of autumn arrive again, where once again mated females will leave the nest and look for a place to make their own nest. The queen wasp is always in charge in the nest; should she leave the nest will die. When she dies at the end of summer, her life’s work complete, the nest will die with her. Once all the wasps are dead, you can remove the nest but, again, this task is best performed by a pest control technician.

OUR TREATMENT:

Wasp stings are a painful itch for a few days but much more dangerous to susceptible people. For this reason we always respond quickly to calls to treat wasps nests and can usually treat them on the same day we receive the call. For what it costs for professional treatment it really isn’t worth the risk of dealing with it yourself.