Bee, Wasp and Hornet Control on Vancouver Island
When you’re enjoying the outdoors the last thing you want to deal with are wasps, hornets, and other insects that can sting. The Pest Doctor offers pest control services for a variety of insects that buzz and sting including bee, wasp, and wasp hornet control on Vancouver Island.
We have the experience to carefully handle hives and nests, properly removing them and preventing further infestations at your home and business. Call The Pest Doctor in Nanaimo and surrounding areas to request an estimate and inspection today. We arrive in unmarked vehicles and provide pest control solutions customized to your needs.
Bald Faced Hornets
Bald Faced Hornets are social wasps. They are predominantly black with white stripes around their thorax and abdomen. They're about one inch long, can fly very fast, and are aggressive. Bald faced hornets create a nest from cellulose that is grey and round with a single opening at the bottom. It ranges from softball in the spring to beach ball size in the fall. Likely nest sites include trees, shrubs, and around overhangs of buildings. Hornets can be aroused to sting in great numbers when the nest is disturbed or threatened.
Yellow Jackets
Yellow Jackets are also social wasps. Slightly smaller and slower than hornets, yellow jackets are predominantly black with bright yellow markings building similar structured nests either in the ground, a log, wall voids, or attics. Yellow jackets are commonly observed hovering back and forth at the small nest opening or around garbage cans and other areas where they forage for food. They are usually not aggressive except when disturbed at the nest.
Paper Wasps
Paper Wasps are semi-social insects, ¾- to 1-inch long, varying in colour according to species. The umbrella-shaped nests of these slender, narrow-waisted wasps are a single layer of exposed brood cells suspended from a single, central stalk. They are natural enemies of many garden insect pests and thus are considered to be beneficial insects by many gardeners. Paper wasp nests can be dislodged from eaves using sprays of high-pressure water from a good distance.
Mud Wasps/Daubers
Mud Wasps/Daubers do not form colonies. They are solitary andrenid bees and are important pollinators of native plants. They usually nest in sun-exposed, dry areas of yards. Although there is just one bee per nest, many of these bees typically nest close to each other. They may be found flying around their nests in the spring but are gentle and very rarely sting people since there is no "nest guarding" instinct. Sprinkling the area of their nests with water may be enough to encourage them to move as they avoid damp areas.
Visual Confirmation
Unless wasps become a threat, we urge you to leave them alone. They play an important role in the ecological balance of your backyard, neighbourhood, and the local community.
In the case of social wasps, look for steady activity around a single opening. Without activity, it’s probably an old empty nest. Wasps build a new nest from scratch each year and do not reuse the previous year's nest.
It is possible to have gatherings of wasps foraging for food without the nest being on your property. Look for the point of interest and remove the attraction.
Treatment
Treatment for social wasps is a residual and contact spray. Simply removing the wasp nest will not resolve the problem, because surviving wasps will reconstruct a new one. Treatments are successful any time of day since returning workers contact the residual and die. Outdoor insect repellents, such as coils, can be used to enjoy backyard activities. Traps can also be set up at a distance of 40 or 50 feet from your favourite areas to lure foraging insects away.
Application
Plan to stay away from the area for at least 1 hour after application. Angry wasps may still try to protect the nest.
After Treatment
You will see the workers returning to the nest until dusk. Avoid contact with the treated nest for 24 hours. Within 10 days, any hatchlings will also have died, rendering the nest inactive. To prevent secondary infestations by dermestids or other pests, remove the nest when all activity has ceased.
