Deep eaves, wooden pergolas, thick hedges and plenty of caterpillars in the garden: George houses are close to perfect for paper wasps. By February, some homes have a nest on every side.
Wasp nests near doors, windows, patios, pools and play areas in George should come down, and spring is the time to do it, while a nest is still the size of a coin and only one or two wasps are tending it. Leave it until February and the same nest can be as big as your palm, with dozens of wasps on guard, and that's when people get stung. A nest at the far end of the garden that nobody goes near can often be left. Wasps hunt caterpillars and other garden pests, so they do some good.
We treat and remove wasp nests at homes, schools, guest houses, restaurants, offices and farms across George.
Where wasps nest in George
Paper wasps build open, grey, papery combs hanging from a single stalk, in sheltered spots out of the rain. In George, that usually means:
- Under the eaves and in the corners of gutters and fascia boards
- In wooden pergolas, carports and lapas
- Inside hedges and dense shrubs, where you only find them with the hedge trimmer
- Under garden furniture, braais and children's play equipment
- Inside water meter boxes, sprinkler valve covers and electricity boxes
- Behind shutters and in window and door frames
Mud daubers turn up too: loners that build little mud tubes on walls and ceilings. They're rarely aggressive and don't defend their nests, so they're more a cleaning job than a danger. See our wasps profile for the differences.
The George wasp year
A single mated female starts a new nest in spring. For the first weeks, she's on her own, and the nest is tiny. As workers hatch, the nest grows steadily through summer, and by February and March it's at its biggest and busiest. In autumn the colony winds down, and new queens find sheltered places to spend the winter, often in the same garden.
That's why a walk around the house in September or October, looking under the eaves and in the pergola, is the best wasp prevention there is.
How we deal with the nests
We walk the whole property first, because one nest under the eaves is rarely the only one. Hedges, the pergola, the carport, outbuildings and the play equipment all get checked. Nests are treated when the wasps are home, first thing in the morning or towards evening, with a product that gets into the cells where the larvae are. When everything on the nest is dead, we take it down; a dead nest full of larvae left hanging attracts ants and other scavengers. Before we leave, we'll point out the corners that get rebuilt year after year, so you know where to look next spring.
Leave these to us
Swatting a big nest off the eaves with a broom, particularly from the top of a ladder, is how most bad wasp stings happen. Hosing a nest from close up and trying to burn one are just as risky, and fire under the eaves can do far more damage than the wasps. The one exception: a tiny nest at ground level in early spring, with one wasp on it, can be knocked off early in the morning while it's cool. Anything bigger, call us.
Schools and outdoor businesses
Wasps go where people eat outside: restaurant terraces, coffee shop courtyards, school tuck shops and guest house breakfast patios. One sting to a child on the playground, or a guest at breakfast, can turn into a real emergency if that person is allergic. A spring check of eaves, pergolas, umbrellas and play equipment prevents most of the problem, and our commercial pest control contracts can include it.
Is it really a wasp?
Check before you act. A wasp has a smooth, shiny body with a pinched waist and builds a papery nest out in the open. A honey bee is fuzzy and brownish, lives inside a cavity on wax comb, and comes and goes through one opening. Bees need different handling; see bee removal in George.
Stings
Get away from the nest first, then wash the sting and hold something cold on it. Swelling of the lips, face or throat, wheezing, dizziness or several stings at once all mean medical help, straight away.
German wasps
Paper wasps are the familiar ones around George houses, but keep an eye out for the German wasp. It's an invasive European species that has taken hold in parts of the Western Cape. It's chunkier and brighter yellow and black than a paper wasp, and it builds a closed, football-shaped paper nest hidden in a wall cavity, a roof or a hole in the ground, which can house thousands of wasps. German wasps scavenge meat and sweet food, so they're the ones that won't leave your braai alone. If you see wasps flying steadily in and out of a hole in the ground or a gap in a wall, don't block it. Call us, because a disturbed nest of this kind can send out a lot of wasps at once.
What it costs
We price by the number of nests, their height and whether any are hidden in roofs, walls or hedges. A couple of nests at the eaves of a single-storey home is a quick job. Nests along a double-storey roofline, or a German wasp nest in a cavity, take more time and care.
See our main wasp nest removal page or the wasps profile, or pest control in George for everything else in town. Phone 044 012 5011, or tell us online where you've spotted nests.
Frequently asked questions
When is the best time to deal with wasp nests in George?
Spring, while a nest is small and only a queen or a few workers are on it. By late summer the same nest is far bigger and much more defensive.
Wasps are flying in and out of a hole in the lawn. What are they?
Possibly German wasps, which nest underground or in wall cavities. Don't block or flood the hole. Keep people away and call us.
Are the wasps building mud nests on my walls dangerous?
Mud daubers rarely sting. They live alone, they don't guard their cells like a paper wasp colony, and the old mud cells can simply be scraped off.
Can you remove nests at a school during term?
We plan school work for before classes, after hours or a weekend, so the children aren't around while we're busy.
Will you take the nest away afterwards?
Where we can reach it, yes. A nest left hanging still has larvae in it, and those draw ants and other insects.
Why do wasps keep building on the same corner of the stoep?
It's sheltered, dry and warm, which is what a paper wasp queen looks for in spring. Check that corner every few weeks from September, while any new nest is still tiny.