Wasp nest removal in Grenada
A disturbed nest defends itself, and wasps can sting more than once. Most of the bad stings we hear about happened to someone on a ladder with an aerosol. Removing a nest is quick work with the right kit, so it is worth calling rather than trying it yourself.
Why nests need care
- A wasp can sting more than once, and a disturbed colony calls in others to defend the nest.
- Nests grow through the warm months. One that was the size of a golf ball early in the year can hold hundreds of wasps by the end of it.
- Paper wasps build in the places people reach into without looking: eaves, soffits, roof spaces, meter boxes, shutters, sheds and thick hedges.
- A nest that has been disturbed but not dealt with becomes defensive and stays that way, so a half-finished job is worse than none.
Wasp stings hurt, and a wasp can sting more than once. For most people that is as far as it goes. For anyone with a known sting allergy it is a medical emergency, and a lot of stings at once is serious for anyone. If someone is stung and has trouble breathing, swelling of the face or throat, or feels faint, treat it as an emergency and get medical help immediately.
How to tell you have a problem
- A steady stream of wasps going in and out of one particular spot.
- A papery comb visible under an eave, in a shutter, or inside a shed or meter box.
- Hard mud tubes on outside walls or roof timbers, which means mud daubers.
- More wasps around food, sweet drinks and bins, particularly later in the year.
- Wasps consistently around one soffit, vent or roof gap.
- Wasps behaving defensively when you go near one part of the property.
Common species here
The most common stinging problem here. Builds the open, papery comb that hangs downwards under eaves, in shutters and inside sheds.
Solitary, and the builder of the hard mud tubes you see on walls and in roof spaces. Very rarely aggressive, and usually best left alone unless the nests are unsightly.
How we treat it
We find the nest and work out the safe way to approach it: where the wasps are flying, who needs to be indoors, and whether we need equipment to reach it.
We treat the nest at the entry point with everyone and any pets kept clear. Where we can, we come early in the morning or in the evening, when most of the colony is at the nest.
Once the colony is dead we take the nest down where we can reach it, since an abandoned nest attracts other pests, and we close the gap so the same spot is not used again next year.
What you can do yourself
None of this replaces a treatment, but it makes the treatment work better and last longer.
- Do not spray a nest from a ladder. If you have to move quickly you cannot, and this is how most stings happen.
- Do not block the entry hole. The colony will find another way out, sometimes into the room on the other side of the wall.
- Keep children and pets away from the area and close the nearby windows until it has been treated.
- Keep bins closed and clear fallen fruit, which is what draws foraging wasps later in the year.
- Check eaves, shutters, sheds and meter boxes early in the year, while a nest is still small and easy to deal with.
- Tell us when you call if anyone on the property has a sting allergy, and we will prioritise the job.
Common questions
Not covered here? Call us on (473) 403-7251 and we'll talk it through.
Wasp nests are one of the jobs we put first, and we treat urgent cases the same day where we can, particularly where the nest is near a doorway, a play area, or someone with a sting allergy. Call us for these rather than sending an email.
Please do not. Knocking down an active nest brings the whole colony out at close range, and if you are on a ladder you have nowhere to go. It also does nothing about the wasps that were out foraging and come back to the site.
Send us a photo from a safe distance and we will tell you. It matters, because honey bees are handled very differently, and where a colony can be moved rather than destroyed that is the better outcome. We will tell you if that is what you have.
The same nest is not reused, but a good spot tends to attract a new colony the following year. That is why we close the gap after removal rather than just taking the nest away.