Wasp and bees contamination of your home, apartment, or a country house is a huge problem, especially because spring comes within a month. Even though winter season is a slow one for these insects, they still can sting and destroy your pleasant winter evenings with a family. Furthermore, if one of your family members has some sting allergy, then you might end up in a hospital altogether. To eliminate the risks of stinging, you need to know how to get rid of wasps and similar insects. The problem is that all of them can build their shelters in your home’s walls, roof, foundation, and even in the chimney! As soon as you notice any signs of wasps or bees in your home, you need to get rid of them once and for all. We will try to answer the question how to get rid of wasps in the article below.
Identification of your enemy
Before you begin active battles with the “enemy”, you need to identify whether you deal with bees, wasps, hornets, or someone else. You can read full definitions and distinctions about these insects here. Yet, we offer you a shortcut of this info to understand how to get rid of wasps as fast as possible.
- Among all striped stinging insects, bees sting the hardest and they are covered in brownish hair.
- Wasps are much larger than bees. They have smooth bodies and their stripes are much brighter.
- Visually hornets look almost identical to wasps. However, hornets are much larger and have a rounder shape of their body.
There are usually between 8 and 60 thousand bees in a colony. So hot to get rid of wasps or bees if they outnumber you significantly? The first rule is to be careful! Remember that it’s much easier to get hornets and wasps irritated. So once you feel that you might have a colony of these insects in your home, act very carefully. Hornets will only attack you if they feel danger and on your side, while bees and wasps can attack you for no reason.
Evaluation of the situation
Before you start thinking of how to get rid of wasps and bees, you need to evaluate the scope of the problem. Most often these insects get out of their home in the twilight or at dawn. If you see a swarm of wasps or bees that is not larger than a basketball, then don’t panic at all. This is only a separate part of the old colony that is looking for a new place to stay. Don’t rush into exterminating the insects; start from calling a beekeeper.
In case you see a larger swarm, then you need to act fast and efficiently. Read on to learn the ways of action in such situations.
Whom to call for help?
In case the insects’ nest is located far from your home, you can leave it be. As you know, in most cases wasps and bees won’t attack you, unless you decide to come too close to their dwelling. So how to get rid of wasps and bees in this case and what service to contact?
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Beekeepers
If you know how to find a beekeeper or there are apiaries in the area, then call for their help. You will kill two birds with one stone: get rid of the insects and help the local business to grow.
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Local university
If you have no contact with any beekeeper and don’t want to research the issue, then you can always contact some zoological department at a local college or university. Professors will give you a consultation or give contact information of a beekeeper in the area.
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Exterminators
This is the easiest way to deal with a problem. All you need is find any local exterminators and describe the kind of your problem. The experts will come and remove any insects from your territory.
How to get rid of wasps beehive?
Methods of beehive removal depend on its location.
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Wall or roof
If you find a beehive inside your wall or on the roof, then don’t try to understand how to get rid of wasps yourself! It’s very dangerous! Call for professional wasp & bee exterminators.
You might wonder “why”?! For starters, one beehouse may weigh as much as 90 pounds! If the combs have some honey in them, then they are complicated in terms of removal. Most cases require you to remove the roof or the wall to take the combs out.
NOTE: One of the most common mistakes that people make when thinking of how to get rid of wasps and bees is to concrete over the entrance into the beehouse. You can be sure that small insects will find their way out, and this time it might in an even more unusual way: a way out of the beehouse and inside of your house. In this case, you won’t be able to even enter your home before wasp and bee exterminators arrive with help.
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Tree
If you see that a tree close to your home is contaminated with these insects, then the plant will have to be removed. Unfortunately, there is no other way how to get rid of wasps. For such situations, you may need to call both wasp and bee removal exterminators as well as tree removal experts.
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Chimney
Chimneys are also very beloved places for wasps, bees, and hornets. You might have heard that to the question “how to get rid of wasps” people would advise smoking up the insects. But don’t do this ever! High temperature caused by the fire will lead to combs melting. This means that your chimney will get sweet and sticky and might only attract more other insects! It’s highly advised to call for wasps and bee removal services to avoid injuries in this case.
If you’ve found a swarm of wasps or bees in your courtyard, don’t rush into panicking and thinking how to get rid of them. Until the insects start creating a bee house, there is a great chance that they will leave your territory. Wait for 24 hours tops. After that call either a beekeeper you know or contact wasp and bee removal services.
And the last word about how to get rid of wasps. Try to identify these problems now, when winter is still on. This is the period when all these stinging insects are slow and so will be able to make you less harm than in summer. Once you spot the issue, you already know how to act. But it’s essential to inspect your home now and not when spring starts knocking on your door.