From about early September onwards a Wasps’ nest starts to produce new queens, which will hibernate for the winter and then start to build next year’s nests. An average nest produces up to about 2,000 new queens.
These queens then leave the nest and look for places to hibernate, typically in roof voids and lofts and it is quite
common to find hundreds of them at a time on the floor of the loft or void.
Once this process has started, it will continue until the first cold spell, usually in November although in 2006 we were still destroying nests into December.
Our operative will destroy the nest on your property but since some queens will have already left the nest they will escape the treatment and may continue to cause you a problem.
This can result in a continued stream of Wasps falling into the upper rooms of the property or the rooms adjacent to the nest, which can continue throughout the winter. You are also extremely likely to have numerous new nests around your property the following year, although the old nest will not be reused.
This does not mean that we have failed to destroy the nest but merely that these queens had already left it. This problem will almost certainly occur with any nests left alive beyond the middle of September.
Where this occurs the only solution is to carry out a “fogging” or “smoke” treatment of the loft or void using an insecticidal generator which will kill the vast majority of these queens. The additional treatment is entirely voluntary and your operative will explain the options to you.
Unfortunately this incurs an additional expense of £20 if completed on our initial visit.
Return visits to treat the loft only, where your nest has already been destroyed, will be the same price as our initial visit.
If it is late in the season and/or you are currently experiencing Wasps entering your property we would strongly suggest treating the loft on the initial visit to save further expense.