When Is Wasp Season in Ilkley?
The classic mistake is to book the marquee, the caterers and the guests months ahead and to think about wasps only when one lands on the cake; the calendar lets you plan around them.
Leaving wasps off the event checklist
People organising an outdoor gathering think about rain, parking, toilets and music, and almost never about wasps. Then a wasp lands on the cake, someone panics, and a pleasant afternoon turns into a scramble. The mistake is not that wasps turn up; it is that nobody looked in advance for the nest they were coming from.
Because the date of an event is usually fixed long before the day, the wasp calendar is worth a place on the planning checklist. This guide is for anyone hosting a garden party, a wedding with a marquee, a christening, a street party or a charity afternoon in or near Ilkley, a West Yorkshire spa town in Wharfedale. It shows what the season is likely to look like on the date you choose and what to do in the weeks leading up to it.
Choosing a date: what the calendar means
Queens begin founding nests from late April onwards, weather permitting. The colony grows through the summer and peaks in August, when a nest can hold 2,000 to 10,000 or more wasps. After that the colony declines through September and into autumn.
For an event, that gives you a rough guide.
- May and early June: nests are small and young, and there are few wasps about. Fewer problems, but a nest being founded near your venue is the one to catch early.
- July: the colony is growing rapidly, and wasps start to appear around food and drink.
- August: the peak. The most wasps, and the most risk if a nest is near the event.
- September: numbers begin to fall, but wasps are keen on sweet food and drink.
You cannot always pick the date, but knowing what to expect lets you make the right preparations. None of the periods is wasp-free, because it all depends on the weather.
Six weeks before: the venue walk-round
If you are hiring a venue rather than using your own garden, ask the manager whether there have been nests nearby in earlier seasons and whether anyone checks the grounds before events. Venue staff are often glad to be asked, and you may learn about a trouble spot.
Visit the garden or venue while you still have time to act. Look at the places where guests will stand, sit and eat.
- Check the eaves, walls, chimneys and outbuildings closest to the event area.
- Look at hedges, trees and shrubs next to the marquee or seating.
- Walk the lawn and borders for small holes with wasps going in and out.
- Check the area where bins and catering supplies will be.
- Look underneath staging, tables and stored furniture.
If you spot a steady flow of wasps to one place, that is a nest. Do not try to deal with it yourself in the run-up to the day. Disturbing it when you are under time pressure is how people end up stung, and a nest that is dealt with early causes far less worry than one found on the morning of the event.
The week of the event
Repeat the walk-round a few days before. A nest can start and grow in a few weeks, so a clear check in June does not guarantee a clear garden in July.
Then think about how the event itself will run.
- Serve food in small quantities and cover it until guests are ready.
- Use lidded or covered drinks jugs, and keep an eye on cans and open bottles.
- Place waste bins away from the seating and keep them lidded.
- Clear plates and glasses regularly rather than in one go at the end.
- Tell the caterers, bar staff and helpers who to speak to if wasps become a problem.
Position the food table well away from the likeliest nest sites, such as walls with gaps, old outbuildings and thick hedges, and keep the drinks station in the open where you can see it. Wasps tend to be most noticeable once food has been out for a while, so plan to refresh rather than leave things standing.
A short briefing for helpers is worth giving: no swatting, stay calm, move guests away if needed, and report any nest to one named person.
If a guest is stung, and if someone is allergic
Ask guests in advance, discreetly, if anyone has an allergy to wasp stings, and make sure they know what to do and where their own medication is. If you know that someone is allergic, mention that when you book so that it can be taken into account.
For an ordinary sting, wash the area, remove the sting if you can see it and use a cold pack. If someone develops swelling of the face, lips or throat, wheezing or difficulty breathing, dizziness or a widespread rash, call 999 straight away. Do not wait to see whether it passes. Anyone with a known allergy should have spoken to their GP beforehand.
Make sure at least one helper knows where the first aid kit is and who is nominated to look after anybody who is stung. In the middle of a busy afternoon, nobody wants to be asking around for who has a cold pack or whether anyone knows what to do.
It is also sensible to keep a cold pack or a bag of ice somewhere accessible on the day.
Getting a nest dealt with before the day
Wasp Exterminator Leeds covers Ilkley and the surrounding area. Each nest is treated for a flat £90, and 1 visit is guaranteed; an additional nest on the same property is £35.
No call-out charge is made, and bookings are taken every day of the week, and same-day service is offered for homes and businesses alike. The price is confirmed on the phone before the technician visits, so there are no surprises and no work starts unless you say so. Ring us on 0113 347 0014 or use the online booking form on the contact page. Give us the date of your event when you phone so the timing can be planned together.
Wasps on your property in Ilkley?
Fixed price £90 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.