How Long Does Professional Wasp Nest Treatment Take in Cross Gates?
When the wasps have gone, the nest is still there. This guide covers the days and weeks after treatment, the empty nest, and keeping the problem from coming back.
The wasps have gone but the nest has not
A week after the visit the garden is quiet. The wasps have stopped coming and going, but the grey, papery lump under the eaves is still there, and every time you walk past it you wonder what to do with it. Nobody tells you much about this stage, and it deserves its own plan.
The treatment itself is usually a single visit, followed by a settling period of a day or two. This article starts after that, and covers the weeks that come next.
The weeks after a treatment are quieter, and nothing urgent is needed. But a little thought now saves trouble in the spring, and it helps you feel that the matter is truly finished.
People often feel slightly unsettled by an empty nest, and that is understandable. Knowing what is safe to do with it, and what is better left, takes most of the worry away.
A quick reminder of the first days
In the first hours after treatment, returning wasps are usually seen near the nest, and that tapers off. By the next day there are far fewer, and over a day or two activity around the nest fades. Lone wasps may still visit your food and drink for longer, which is a different matter from the nest.
If steady traffic continues after a day or two, phone 0113 347 0014. The price graphic says ‘1 visit guaranteed’, and the aim is a single visit. Once things are calm, you can move on to the empty nest.
A good habit is to write the date of the visit on a calendar and to look at the old entrance after a week, from a safe distance. A quiet entrance after several days is the signal that the nest is over and you can start thinking about tidying up.
Treat the whole of that first week as a time of caution. Even if everything looks calm, keep food covered outdoors, because lone wasps are drawn to sweet things, and they can be mistaken for signs that the nest is still alive.
The empty nest: leave it or remove it?
An empty wasp nest is made of chewed wood fibre and is not reused the following year. Even so, we would not advise removing it yourself until you are sure no wasps are in or around it. The safest course is to ask the technician whether the nest can be taken down, ideally when you book.
- Wait until there has been no activity for several days.
- Do not poke it with a stick or knock it with a ladder.
- If it is high, behind a fixture or in a roof space, leave it to the professionals.
- Wear gloves and avoid breathing in debris if you do handle one that is clearly dead.
A nest in a loft or wall void may simply be left where it is. Ask for advice about what is sensible in your case.
Do not be tempted to put an empty nest in the kitchen bin or the compost bin without checking it. A nest that appears dead can still hold a few drowsy wasps, particularly in cooler weather. If you have any doubt, leave it alone.
A nest that was inside a loft, a cavity or a chimney is often best left in place. Attempting to remove it may mean disturbing insulation, plasterwork or brick, and the benefit is small. Ask the technician for their view if you are unsure.
Making good the entrance
Once activity has stopped for some time, think about the gap the wasps used. A hole in brickwork, a gap behind a fascia or a crack round a pipe will look as inviting to a queen next spring as it did this year.
Repairing it is a job for you or a builder, and the right moment is when you are certain the nest is finished. Doing it too early traps wasps inside and sends them looking for another way out.
If the nest was in the ground, the hole will often close up by itself over time, though filling a depression in a lawn is a job for later.
If you are a landlord or a tenant, who repairs the gap is a matter for the tenancy agreement, so check yours. Whatever is agreed, the sooner the entrance is properly closed after the nest is finished, the better chance you have of keeping next year’s queen out.
Keeping watch next year
Wasps begin building from late April depending on the weather, and a queen starts a nest on her own. A nest at that stage is small and easy to deal with. A routine look round the outside of the building once a month from spring onwards is enough.
- Check the eaves, soffits, sheds and garages.
- Look at any hole or crack in a wall.
- Watch for a wasp repeatedly entering the same gap.
- Look in bushes, hedges and long grass for unusual traffic.
There is no need to be anxious about it. Most households deal with one nest and never see another. A little vigilance in spring is all that is needed, and the first sign of a new nest can be dealt with while it is still small.
Gardens with fruit trees and compost heaps attract wasps late in the year. Clearing windfalls promptly and keeping the compost covered will reduce the number of wasps visiting, whether or not they come from your own property.
Booking again if you need to
If a new nest appears, the process is the same: ring, describe where it is, agree the fixed price of £90 on the phone and arrange the visit. An additional nest on the same property is £35. We cover domestic and commercial properties, seven days a week, with same-day service offered. The form on the contact page works too.
Wasps on your property in Cross Gates?
Fixed price £90 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.