When it’s warm out, there are lots of things to do outside, but wasps are also more likely to show up. To get rid of these buzzing bugs and stop them from causing problems, you need to know how they act. In this guide, we’ll go into detail about how wasps act and how you can use that information to keep them away.
The stages of a wasp’s life
To understand how wasps act, it’s important to know how they live:
- In the spring, when the weather gets warmer, queen wasps come out of slumber. They look for places to nest, like eaves, holes in walls, or holes in the ground.
- Once a good spot has been found, the queen starts building a small nest and laying eggs. Wasp workers come out of the eggs when they hatch.
- Summer: The number of nests grows quickly in the summer. Worker wasps look for food to feed the queen and the growing young.
- Fall: As the weather gets cooler, the group changes how it acts. As worker wasps look for sugary foods to store for the winter, they become more violent. Wasps make new queens and males at the end of the season.
- Winter: When winter comes, the number of people in the group goes down. Only queens who have just mated can stay alive by finding safe places to sleep. The rest of the people in the group die.
How they Eat
For control, it’s important to know how wasps eat:
- Proteins and sugars: Most of the food that worker wasps eat, like insects and spiders, is protein. This is used to feed the growing larvae. They also eat things that have sugar in them, like nectar and food.
- Wasps are good predators because they hunt insects that can hurt fields and gardens. This keeps the number of pests down.
- Scavenging: Late in the summer, worker wasps become scavengers and look for sugary foods. This is when they are most likely to bother people at outdoor events.
Wasps are insects that are very protective of their territory:
- Wasps are protective of their nests and will attack if they think someone is coming after them. When you get too close to a nest, the birds may sting to defend themselves.
- Territorial borders: Wasps set up borders around their nests to protect them. If you see a lot of wasps in one place, there might be a nest nearby.
Places to nest
To get rid of wasps, you need to know where they build their nests:
- Eaves and Roofs: Paper wasps and yellow jackets often build their nests in safe places like eaves, roof gaps, or attics.
- Yellow jackets often build their nests underground, either using holes that are already there or digging their own tunnels.
- Bushes and Trees: Bald-faced hornets build big nests in trees and bushes that look like pieces of paper hanging from the branches.
- Seasonal Behaviour: Throughout the year, wasps act in different ways:
- Wasps spend the spring and early summer building nests and taking care of their young. They are less likely to fight and to look for food on the ground.
- As the weather gets cooler in late summer and fall, worker wasps become more violent when they look for food. This is when they are most likely to get in the way of things going on outside.
In the end,
Understanding how wasps act is a key part of getting rid of them. By learning about their life cycle, what they eat, how they act in their territories, where they like to nest, and how they change with the seasons, you can come up with plans to stop outbreaks and safely deal with ones that are already there.
Wasps are important to ecosystems because they pollinate plants and get rid of pests. For a healthy environment, it is important to find a balance between successful control and keeping these helpful insects alive. If you find a dangerous wasp nest in or around your home, you might want to hire a professional pest control service to get rid of it quickly and safely.
We are a team of dedicated pest control professionals that have been in this business for more than 10 years and counting! Pest Control Cobourg has gathered the best pest control technicians from all over the region to deliver you the best quality of service possible.