We have been receiving a number of calls from customers regarding wasps recently. 

 

Although wasps are currently out and about, it is very early in the season and most of our call outs at the moment turn out to be bees, primarily masonary bees. 

 

As you can see from the picture there is a difference, masonary bees (left) are a solitary bee although you may see many grouped together. 

With the surprise taste of Spring we had here Berkshire in February, we have seen some Queen wasps emerging from hibernation a little earlier than usual, these Queen wasps will be looking for suitable nesting sites for the upcoming warmer summer months. 

 

Wasps can start on building their nests as early as March so now is the time you may start noticing some wasps around your home, especially within the loft or around the roof of your property. Some nests may not become active enough to notice until the end of May or early June and due to the warmer weather, we have been having here in the UK, along with the very mild winters, wasps can now remain active as far into the season as December. 

At Abbey Pest Control we also offer contracts for a range of commercial businesses, our existing commercial customers include lettings agents, convenience stores, pubs, restaurants, takeaways, hotels and builders’ yards. 

Over the past week we have dealt with a variety of pests around Reading including Tilehurst, Caversham and Woodley. We started the week by checking up on a couple of ongoing rat jobs to ensure they were progressing as planned. We installed temporary proofing at one home, this will be replaced with a permanent proofing solution once we have confirmed this is the entry point. 

Ever wondered what the inside of a wasp nest looks like? 

 

Wasps start building their nest in the spring, as the colony grows the nest grows alongside it. The nests are made from wood pulp, gathered from trees, fences and even cardboard. The workers collect the wood and mix it with saliva to enable them to build the nest. 

This nest was found within a bike shed at a block of flats in Arborfield, was extremely active and was removed a couple of days after treatment. 

 

At the bottom of the page is a short video of the nest and the clean up/ removal of the nest. 

Over the past few weeks, with the temperatures rising, wasps are coming out in full force and nests are becoming increasingly active, below are some photos of a nest we treated in Calcot, Reading.  

 

Watch the video to see how we tackled the nest!