Wasp, Hornet and Yellow Jacket Nests: When to Leave It Alone

Timing changes everything

A nest in June holds a small colony and a queen who is still building. The same nest in late August or September holds thousands of insects whose food supply is collapsing, which makes them markedly more aggressive and more likely to sting without much provocation. If you noticed a nest early and left it, that decision gets re-evaluated every few weeks.

Tell the insect apart first

Honey bees are furry, golden-brown and generally uninterested in you. Wasps and hornets are smooth, brighter and more sharply marked. Yellow jackets often nest in the ground or in a wall cavity rather than in the open, so the giveaway is a steady stream of insects going in and out of a single hole in the lawn or the siding. It matters because honey bees should be relocated live rather than treated.

The removal attempts that go wrong

Spraying a nest at midday, when most of the colony is out and will return to find you standing there. Knocking a nest down with a broom. Blocking the entry hole of a wall nest, which drives the colony inward and sometimes into the room. Using fire, which is how people lose sheds. Working at height on a ladder while insects are actively defending, which is where the serious injuries come from.

When it is genuinely urgent

A nest over a doorway, near a playset, at a bin or beside anywhere people sit. Anyone in the household with a known sting allergy. A nest inside a wall cavity with an interior room on the other side. In those cases do not wait for the weekend.

Getting it dealt with

Stinging insect calls are treated as priority, including evenings and weekends. Most removals take well under an hour. Call (833) 652-6912 and describe where the nest is and what the insects look like.

☎Call (833) 652-6912