How to Tell If You Have an Active Wasp Nest on Your West Park Property
Not every wasp nest is hidden in a roof. A small hole in the lawn or a flower bed, with wasps passing in and out, can be just as busy.
A small hole in the grass
You are mowing the lawn, or perhaps just walking across to the washing line, when a wasp flies out of the grass near your feet. Then another. Looking down, you see a hole about the size of a ten-pence piece, with a faint trampled look around the edges.
Many people never think of a nest being underground, yet wasps commonly use old burrows left by small animals, spaces beneath paving and cavities at the base of hedges or trees. A nest in the ground can be just as large as one in a loft, and it is far easier to disturb by accident, because people walk, mow and dig close to it.
If you have a garden in West Park, here is how to tell whether a hole is a working nest entrance.
The good news is that a ground nest, once identified, is straightforward to leave alone until the technician arrives. The danger lies mostly in not knowing it is there.
What the entrance looks like
The opening is usually round or slightly irregular, often between two and four centimetres across, though a tunnel below may be longer. It may be in bare earth, in a bank, at the foot of a wall or tucked in the roots of a shrub. Bits of loose soil may sit around the lip, and there is often a small worn path leading to it.
The giveaway is traffic. Wasps will enter and exit in a steady line, with others hovering a few centimetres above the hole before dropping in. On a warm day you may see a continuous flow, and the busier the colony, the stronger the stream.
An unused burrow or an ant hole is quiet. If you stand at a safe distance and see nothing come and go for ten minutes in warm weather, it is probably not the nest.
Sometimes the hole is hidden under a low shrub, a stack of plant pots, a pile of leaves or the edge of a paving slab. If wasps seem to disappear under cover at one spot, trust what you saw, even if you cannot make out the hole itself.
Watching from a safe distance
Stay several metres back and do not walk across the area to get a better look. Ground nests are particularly risky because the hole can be hidden in long grass, and vibrations from footsteps carry through the soil.
- Mark the spot from a distance, for example with a note of the nearest fence post or tree.
- Keep children, pets and garden games away from that part of the garden.
- Avoid mowing, strimming or digging near it until it has been dealt with.
- Do not pour water, fuel or anything else into the hole.
If wasps begin flying towards you, walk away calmly and go indoors. Running and swatting only make things worse.
Fine weather brings the best view. Try to choose a warm, dry afternoon and bring a chair, so that you are relaxed and not tempted to inch closer. If you are unsure whether you have the right hole, a second, calm observation on another day usually settles it.
Other signs that point to a ground nest
Look for wasps that appear to come out of the lawn itself, particularly in the same patch day after day. You may notice patches of grass looking flattened, or scraps of soil being carried out and dropped nearby. In the later part of summer, the area can become noticeably noisy at close range, although you should not test that.
Pets are often the first to notice. A dog sniffing at a patch of ground or yelping suddenly while out in the garden may have found the entrance the hard way. If that happens, bring the animal indoors and keep everyone away from the spot.
Nests begin in late April, depending on the spring, and are at their largest in August. If you see wasps going in and out of the ground in high summer, assume the colony is substantial.
Remember that a ground nest may not be limited to the garden you own. Wasps may have settled in a verge, a neighbouring lawn or a bank on the far side of a fence. Even so, flying wasps can wander across and spoil an afternoon on your side.
Why not fill the hole in
It is tempting to flatten the soil, cover the hole with a slab or pour something in. None of these is wise. A colony that is blocked in will tunnel out elsewhere, and a new exit can open in a flower bed, a path or even close to the house. Disturbing the ground can also release a large number of defensive wasps at once.
The same goes for an old, quiet hole in autumn. Even if it looks abandoned, you cannot see what is underground, and it is safest to leave it undisturbed until a technician has checked.
Booking a visit
Make a note of where in the garden the hole is, how long you have been seeing activity and whether there are any other holes nearby. That makes the visit more efficient.
Wasp Exterminator Leeds covers West Park, in the Leeds area, and the surrounding districts. Treating a nest costs a fixed £90, another nest on the same property costs £35, and no call-out charge applies. The technicians are trained and the work is fully insured; we work seven days a week and offer same-day service.
We confirm the price by phone before the visit and wait for your agreement before starting. To book, call 0113 347 0014 or complete the form on the contact page. If someone in the household is allergic to wasp stings, please tell us when you book so that we can take it into account.
Wasps on your property in West Park?
Fixed price £90 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.