Wasps In Spring?

It is never fun to be stung by a wasp. This hairless cousin of the bee has a sting that can make a grown man cry. A tough grown man. Yes, uncle Jim, I'm looking at you.

The sting from a wasp can even develop into something more serious for people who have an allergic reaction to these stings.

It is always good to get nests removed when you see them on your property, except in spring, and under certain conditions. Here's what you need to know.

In fall, queen wasps mate and seek out a place to overwinter.

They will crawl into a knot hole of a tree, burrow into a soil cavity, slip under a leaf litter or tree bark, wiggle into a rotted log, and sometimes squeeze into a house--maybe even your house.

The rest of the colony dies. Yes. Every last one of them.

So, if you come across a wasp hive outside of your Montgomery County home, on an eave of the garage or under the roofline of your shed, you're safe to knock it down with a broom.

There is very little chance that any wasps are alive in there. Even perennial species don't colonize old nests.

The real danger to watch out for in spring is when overwintering queens look for a place to build their nest. If you don't have year round home pest control, here are a few things you can do to protect yourself from getting a nest under your eaves, porch, deck, outbuildings, or inside your walls and attic spaces.

⭐ Inspect your property in early spring and consider the places that a wasp queen would find inviting.

⭐ Use a caulking gun to fill in cracks and openings in your garage, shed, and exterior house walls, to prevent these queens from finding an entry point.

⭐ If you have any rodent burrows on your property, fill them with soil. Queens will not dig to get in there.

⭐ Check all the screens on your house and make sure there are no holes.

⭐ Applying wire screen to seal off access to the under part of your porch or deck is a great idea for more than just preventing wasps.

⭐ If you find a queen in the earlier stage of beginning her nest, swat her with a fly swatter, and that is the end of her colony.

The best way to protect your home and family from wasps and a host of other harmful pests is to have a pest management company do scheduled visits and guide you in making your yard uninviting to pests.

Stop those wasp queens before they build, and your summer can be about having cookouts and lounging in the yard, instead of treating wasp stings. It is worth every penny.