Identifying wasps
Wasps:
- have black and bright yellow bands
- have a narrow waist in the middle of a thin body
- are 10-15mm long
- have a smooth, hairless body
- are often found around rubbish and food
- feed on other insects
Bees are rounder, fatter, slower moving and hairier than wasps. The rear legs are fat, and they have duller coloration. They only feed on pollen, so they are often found near flowers and plants.
Home treatments for wasps
An adult must be present throughout each visit. Treatments in your home involve:
- one visit
- injecting dust into the nest usually in lofts or outside under the eaves
- an advice sheet with information about the insecticide used, where it was placed and any special precautions
- taking measures to protect children and pets
The nest will be dead in one or two days after the treatment.
Useful facts
There is no need to remove a dead or dormant nest as wasps will not return to a dead/dormant nest.
During the bee season in May and June, you should take particular care to ensure that you correctly identify whether you have bees or wasps. If you book a wasp treatment, and our pest controller discovers that you have bees, the law does not allow us to undertake a treatment.
Wasps never return to last year's nest.
Almost all nests discovered in early spring (March and early April) are dormant nests from a previous summer. You can often avoid unnecessary expense in early spring by only booking a service if you see wasps using the nest. If not it is almost certainly a dormant nest from a previous year.
Identifying what a wasp looks like
