Wasp nests are usually very easy to see or find, assuming that the nest is in a tree or hanging off your roof edge. However, what if you have wasps on your property but can find the nest? This is when things get interesting. While larger wasps like Bald faced wasps are not able to hide as easily as paper wasps and yellow jackets but given a large enough opening even they can hide their nest. This usually happens in human-made structures. Yellow jackets with their small size can make a nest almost anywhere. From a tiny hole in the mortar of a brick wall behind the aluminum siding of a house.
Wasps nests in houses
They can make nests in holes in foundations and even in the soffits of your roof. These entryways are no issue for a wasp to enter and even allow them to survive the winter, making nest after nest that can become a super nest made up of generations of wasp nests. While the wasp lifecycle cannot be interrupted as the original queen of the nest must die in order to produce new queens the nest itself can be added to and expanded, which sections may be abandoned and then reinvigorated. A wasp nest in the walls of your house could grow so large that it consumes multiple walls and stretches from one side of the house to the other.
Wasp nest inspection
Finding these nests can be very difficult. While you can watch the wasps fly around and wait for them to enter an area they are bothersome and will sting you if they think you are harassing them. It’s also hard to tell if they are entering an opening looking for insects to kill and feed to the queens larva or if they’re entering it because there is a nest there. The easiest way to tell is if a large number of wasps are coming out of the opening and regularly going back in. If you do find a wasp nest on your property that is inside of a structure then it’s not something you can treat on your own. You will need to hire a professional who has the right tools and commercial grade chemicals to deal with the wasp nest inside the wall or attic. Trying to spray it yourself will often fail and result in the wasps attacking you.
Wasp nest treatment
If you have a wasp nest on the exterior, hanging from a tree or hanging off your roof can be treated domestically but make sure you do it vigorously. The best way to kill a wasp nest in that situation is to go after it at night when the wasps are sleeping. Spray as much pesticide into the nest as quickly as possible and then leave. When you come back the next morning you should not see any wasps and can remove the nest and put it in a bag for disposal.
Professional treatment
If you do see wasps in that area then you know your treatment failed and should stay away from it and call a professional. At the end of the day the danger of wasps swarming a human is severe and deadly. If you feel unsafe killing a wasp nest yourself then you should call a professional to do it. If the nest is on a structure many companies will offer a warranty, even if their treatment does not work the first time they can return to do it again for free.
