One of the most important aspects of maintaining the upkeep of lush and healthy plant life in your garden is to know the ins and outs of insects that can make their habitat on your trees. Wasps usually live in gardens and you can see them among tree branches. Being more familiar with the behavior of these flying insects can help keep you and your garden safe.
For homeowners who have gardens with trees, it is vital to consider the ecosystem as a whole. Most of the time when people spot a wasp nest, they rush to call for a wasp nest removal service.
But, before you get the help of professionals for proper wasp nest removal, there are a few things you need to know first.
How to Identify the Presence of a Wasp Nest in Your Garden
How will you even know if there is a wasp nest in your garden, then? For starters, you should know exactly what you are searching for. These insects often build their own structures or live in spaces like empty foxholes or hollowed trees, for instance.
If there are no obvious and visible structures that may indicate the presence of a wasp nest in the garden, be sure to watch out for consistent points of exit and entry. These are parts of the tree where wasps seem to enter and exit often. When wasps put up their house on tree branches, their nest will be easy to spot.
Mainly grey in colour, wasp nests look like grey paper stuck together. It then forms what resembles a tiny paper mache football. You have to find a wasp nest as soon as possible. These nests can grow in size quickly within a short span of time. Be sure to inspect your tree branches and observe the flight patterns of these insects. Doing so will help you determine when it is necessary for you to take immediate action.
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Dangers and Risks of Having Wasp Nests in Gardens
Wasp nests are no doubt one of the worst nightmares you can ever have in your garden or home and hundreds can be seen every year all over Dublin.
But, what most people don’t know is that many of these insects actually have predictable behaviour that will give you an idea right away of the danger you might be facing at the moment.
You might end up getting stung once you venture too close to the wasp nest or if you find yourself standing between the nest and the wasps.
Once disturbed, wasps can become extremely animated and start pouring out of their nest and on the surface. In just a matter of 15 minutes, the insects will go back inside the nest again and things will return to normal.
The real danger occurs if the wasps get disturbed first. This is similar to pulling a grenade’s pin. The wasp nest has been primed and prepared to unleash everything it got on the target or threat.
Just imagine kicking a ball at a fence or hedge where a wasp nest is attached. The wasps will swarm out and start settling down after several minutes. But, take note that not all insects go back inside. After several minutes, the unsuspicious person who kicked the ball will come to collect it, thinking it is safe.
However, once the person gets within 6 feet of the wasp nest, the wasps that rest on the surface of the nest will see the person and just like that, the insects will attack as a single unit even before the person gets the chance to turn around and run.
Threats of Wasp Nests in Your Garden Trees
Wasps are infamous for their rather terrifying reputation of being among the most feared and aggressive pests in Dublin and other parts of the world.
There are some people, like the elderly, young children, and those with allergies who tend to be more seriously affected by the stings of wasps. It is the reason why, depending on whether you often stay in your garden or not, the best solution is often treating the wasp nest.
If there are more activities in the garden, people may get close to the tree where the wasp nest is attached more often. It is also a bad sign the moment the wasps get distressed. Once aggravated, these insects will emit pheromones signalling the nearby colony members. The other wasps will fly from your garden tree to defend their comrade.
Your trees themselves are also at risk if these bear fruits. Wasps have the tendency of burrowing into the flesh of fruits like apples and pears to feed on their sugary juices. There is actually nothing much you can do to prevent this. The only thing you can do is to get rid of the wasp nest in garden trees.
Watch Out for the Different Forms of Wasp Nests
It is always a good decision to watch out for the presence of even a small wasp nest in your garden, yard, and home. The best ways how to control and get rid of a wasp nest will depend on where it is located.
Your first option is to ignore it. If there are only minimal stings and the nest is found away from human activities, it will be better to simply leave it alone. Once freezing temperatures kick in at fall, all the workers and the queen will be killed as these don’t survive during winter. Your best choice is to avoid doing anything if you can wait until then.
But, if there are risks of stings and you can no longer put up with them, nest treatment is necessary. In general, there are three common wasp nest situations and each of them gets controlled in different ways.
Exposed wasp nests
Exposed wasp nests are those hanging from horizontal surfaces like tree branches or eaves of the house. It is a straightforward task to treat these nests and sometimes, you can do it on your own.
You can use an aerosol insecticide can labelled for hornets and wasps and spray this on the entrance of the nest. But, be sure to do it late at night once the wasps no longer fly in and out of their nest. A single application is often enough to get rid of them. Just treat the nest again if there are any survivors.
Ground-nesting wasp nests
It is also common for wasps to nest in the ground, particularly in old rodent burrows. The opening leading to the nest is visible but not the actual nest itself. It is not easy to find these nests although people usually notice such nests during late summer.
Applying granular or dust insecticide is the best way of treating these nests. Again, you need to do it during the late evening activity after the wasp activity stopped. Avoid using liquid products since these are less effective in this case.
Hidden wasp nests
It can be very challenging to deal with nests hidden inside buildings. Similar to ground nests, the only thing visible is that space where the insects fly back and forth, with the actual nest remaining concealed. Wasps commonly form their nests in spaces below stairs, attics, and wall voids.
Avoid spraying the opening of the nest. It is ineffective since the nest doesn’t line up with the location of the opening, which means that the insecticide doesn’t reach the nest where the colony resides. Similarly, you should never try blocking the opening just so the wasps won’t be able to get out.
When you do any of these, the wasps will only go to a different direction and most of the time, it means that they will find their way inside your house. People often end up being swarmed by wasps after they spray or seal a nest opening.
The best method of control here is applying dust on the opening. The product should be labelled for use around and in homes.
Are Wasp Nests Beneficial for Garden Trees?
Despite all the bad rap that these flying insects get, wasps actually play an important role in your garden’s ecosystem. Caterpillars and other insects are some of their main sources of food and they feed these to their grubs.
Having a healthy wasp population in your garden can help ensure that the population of these insects won’t get out of hand. It will also ensure that the leaves of your trees will not be destroyed and overrun. Even if this is not really a good enough reason for having an active wasp nest in your garden trees, this should also give you a better understanding of why they exist in the first place.
For this reason, it is best to get rid of a wasp nest in garden trees if it poses a safety and health risk to you and your family or the public.
At the end of the day, you need to ask yourself: can I undertake a wasp treatment safely by myself or should I use a professional wasp nest removal service in Dublin? to help treat a wasp nest in the garden or inside your home?
When to Contact Pest Control Experts for Wasp Treatment
There are times when a wasp nest might be located in hard-to-reach areas like a tall tree, on the roof, or inside the cavity of your floorboards or wall. If it is impossible for you to access the nest or you already tried the do-it-yourself options mentioned above, your best move is to contact The Wasp Specialist in Dublin and let them deal with the wasp infestation.
In case you or a member of your family has an allergy to wasps, it is also important to call a professional who can deal with your problem at the soonest time possible. Never attempt getting close to the wasps if you have an allergy to their sting.
![Allergy to Wasp Sting wasp sting allergy](images/wasps/wasp-sting-allergy.jpg)
Ways to Keep Wasps Out of Your Garden
After the successful removal of wasp infestation, you can do the following to keep these insects out of your home for good:
- Reduce potential sources of food by covering trash with a lid, regularly cleaning up crumbs or spills, and avoiding food and pet food left unattended for a long time.
- Seal off exposed points of entry, specifically in your attic, basement, and roofing and around door and window frames.
- Avoid the use of perfumes and heavily scented candles and sprays inside the house since these can attract these nectar-loving pests.
- If there are smaller roofed items in your backyard like birdhouses and dog kennels, use aluminium for covering below the roof’s exposed part.