![]() The best thing to do is open the windows and allow the queens to escape and then seal up entry points into the property from the outside to make it wasp proof, thereby preventing the problem the following year. Many homeowners mistakenly assume that they must have a nest when queens emerge from their crevices in spring and sadly many use pesticides to kill off the queens. Queen wasps get their sweet sugary liquids as nectar from flowers making them valuable pollinators. Most of these call-outs can be ended by advising the customer that the queens will quickly move on and are generally harmless to humans and are very beneficial to the biodiversity. The presence of these queens can cause concern among members of the public.Īs mentioned, in most circumstances pest controllers can recognise very quickly, just from the description from the customer, that a call for a ‘wasp nest’ is in fact queen wasps emerging from hibernation or seeking hibernation spots. ![]() Pest controllers may often receive calls for ‘wasp nests’ which turn out to be a few ‘waking’ queens or queens seeking hibernation spots. We also have that period before nests establish (Spring/early Summer) and when the nests wind down for the year (Autumn) when queen wasps cause a nuisance to householders and businesses across the UK. Education will mostly discourage treatments. Fear can also play a part in needing to destroy a wasp nest but should only be done so in extreme circumstances. However, there can come a time when the presence of wasps is detrimental to public health due to their sting and associated reactions such as anaphylactic shock and the pain caused by the stings. Where possible it is worth leaving wasp nests to continue their valuable activities. ![]() Wasps are beneficial in gardens as they feed their grubs on caterpillars and other insects, thereby reducing these pest populations. The fertile females will become next year’s queens. Both the fertile males and females then leave the colony to mate and find somewhere to hibernate.Īs the temperature falls through winter, the current queen and the adult workers die and the nest is left empty. The hibernating queens will ensure the continuation of the life cycle when they awake in spring.For our second in-depth PestWatch feature, Natalie and Dee are doffing their caps to the most regal of all the species you’re likely to encounter - the queen wasp. They eventually develop into fertile males, known as drones, and fertile females. Larvae then hatch, and are fed by the adult workers. After about a month the eggs hatch into sterile female adult workers, who take over the building and foraging, while the queen continues to lay eggs for the rest of her life. She then begins the process of constructing her nest using ‘paper’ which she creates by chewing up wood.Īs each cell of the nest is carefully built, the queen lays an egg in it. She has bright yellow and black stripes, with a triangle-shaped head, a distinctive ‘waist’ and a sharp pointy sting.Įmerging from hibernation during the spring, the queen chooses a suitable area to build her nest, such as a hollow tree or in the cavity of a building. ![]() The queen wasp is essentially the leader of the nest, and her main role is to lay eggs.
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