Don’t Get Stung: How to Get Rid of Wasps and Their Nests Around Your Home

Hearing a buzz around your home? It’s not the sound of conversation or gossip.

Every year, about 15 thousand wasps start searching for a home. They colonize in trees, walls, attics, and anywhere else they can build a nest. These wasps won’t feel apologetic if they sting you or a loved one.

If one of your family members is deathly allergic to wasps, you need to keep them safe.

Here are a few tips to help you get rid of wasps around your home. Don’t let them stay! Instead, use these tips to keep your home safe.

1. Make Sure You’re Not Allergic

Before doing anything, you want to make sure you’re not allergic to wasp stings. Otherwise, taking the nest on alone could prove life-threatening. Potentially life-threatening allergic reactions occur in 0.4% – 0.8% of children and 3% of adults every year. Between 90 and 100 deaths occur annually as a result.

Don’t take the risk. Instead, visit your doctor to determine if you’re allergic to wasp stings. If you’re not, you can proceed with a plan to remove the wasp nest on your own.

If you are allergic, ask someone else to get rid of the wasps for you. Don’t put yourself in a life-threatening situation.

If You’re Stung

If you’re stung while trying to remove a wasp nest, the initial symptoms include:

• Sharp pain or burning around the site
• Redness
• Swelling
• Itching
• The appearance of a raised welt

You can treat mild and moderate reactions by washing the area with soap and applying a cold pack. You can also use calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream to soothe skin irritation or itching.

Severe allergic reactions are referred to as anaphylaxis. Your body will go into shock within minutes after you’re stung. Make sure to seek immediate emergency care.

Symptoms can include:

• Lightheadedness
• Loss of consciousness
• Difficulty breathing
• Hives
• Swelling of the face, lips, or throat

If you have a history of anaphylaxis with you, make sure to carry an emergency kit or EpiPen. You might need cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) or additional epinephrine as well.

2. Call the Pros

It’s usually best to let the professionals get rid of wasps for you. Consider calling an exterminator. They can help if the nest is in an awkward or difficult-to-reach spot.

If you’re allergic to wasp stings, you’ll definitely want to call professional exterminators.

Our Northern Virginia Pest Control residential services are available to help. We can remove the wasp nest for you and ensure the pests don’t infest your home. Ongoing services can also help decrease your chances of experiencing infestation in the future.

3. Find the Nest

If you decide to tackle the small wasp nest on your own, you’ll need to find it first.

Look for a round, umbrella-shaped cone. You’ll likely find it attached on a horizontal surface that’s located in a protected area. Wasps are often located in:

• Tree branches
• Soffits
• Porch ceilings
• Window corners
• Attics
• Beneath porches and decks
• Inside grills

If you can’t find the wasp nest on your own, call a professional to identify the problem.

4. Gear Up

Once you find the wasp’s nest, you’ll need to wear protective clothing. Otherwise, you could risk the pain and discomfort of a wasp’s sting. Even if you’re not allergic, getting stung hurts.

Make sure to wear long jeans, socks, boots, and a hoodie. Protect your hands by wearing gloves. You should also wrap a scarf around the lower half of your face and wear protective glasses.

If you plan on using pesticide spray, make sure you’re wearing older clothes as the spray may cling to the fabric and damage your clothes. Following use of pesticides, wash or discard the clothes immediately.

5. Keep Children Away

If you decide on using pesticides to get rid of a small wasp’s nests, keep your pets and children inside. Keep everyone away from the area for at least 24 hours. The pesticides for killing wasps are very strong and poisonous.

If you see any dead wasps fall to the ground, make sure to dispose of them.

Otherwise, a pet or local wildlife could consume the dead wasps (and the poison) themselves.

6. Target the Nest Early

It’s important to get rid of wasps and their nests as early in the year as possible.

A queen wasp usually chooses a spot for her nest in early spring. Then, the colony will grow throughout the spring and into summer. This can lead to a colony containing a thousand or more wasps.

At the end of summer, the last of the wasps are born.

Getting rid of the nest earlier in the year will help you tackle the nest while the colony is smaller. Wasps are also less aggressive at this time. If you kill the queen, you won’t have to worry about a new nest forming in the same area.

7. Destroy the Nest at Night

Wasps are the least active at night. Their reaction time is slower in the evening, too.

Don’t use a ladder to reach the nest. You could risk falling and injuring yourself. If the wasps are in a high spot, use smoke to get rid of them.

For illumination, use a red light instead of a normal flashlight.

There are different ways you can remove the wasp nest, including:

• Pesticide spray
• Insecticidal spray
• Smoke
• A bucket of water and/or dish soap

The most effective option is to build a small fire and smoke them out. They’ll abandon the nest and you won’t have to use dangerous chemicals.

8. Have an Escape Plan

Before you get rid of the wasp’s nest, have an escape route planned. After spraying the nests, the wasps will swarm. You’ll want to get out of the way as soon as possible.

9. Prevent Their Return

After they’re gone, seal entry posts such as cracks around windows and doors. Knockdown any abandoned nests so the wasps don’t build a new one on top of it.

Avoid a Quick Sting: How to Get Rid of Wasps & Their Nests

Don’t get stung! Instead, learn how to get rid of wasps and keep your family safe and sound.

Remember, you don’t have to take on a nest alone. Contact us today. We’re here to help!