WASPS & HORNETS

Getting rid of wasps can be a dangerous undertaking. Many wasps are quite aggressive, and their stings can be extremely painful. There are four types of wasp that commonly infest homes in York Region.

York Pest Control employs expert technicians who are used to handling wasp infestations. Let us eliminate your wasp problems for you, so you don't have to.

The bald faced hornet has a large body, which is dark in colour and contrasts with its paler face. They are extremely aggressive, and their sting is quite painful. Bald faced hornets favour large nests built on buildings, or in trees.

The bald faced hornet can be controlled with either a dust or a liquid formulation. Let the qualified professionals at York Pest Control handle your hornet problem to avoid being stung.

Paper wasps are yellow and black in colour, and can be distinguished by their long bodies and skinny, dangling legs. Paper wasps will sting when agitated. They build flat, open nests, without any paper covering over the nest's exterior.

Paper wasps can be controlled with either a dust or a liquid formulation. In order to avoid being stung by paper wasps, have the trained professionals at York Pest Control eliminate any infestations you may come across in your home or place of business.

Yellow jacket wasps are distinguished by their bullet shape and the yellow and black stripes ringing their abdomens. They behave aggressively, and are quite willing to sting. Yellow jacket wasps nest in the ground, on buildings, and in shrubs and trees. Their nests start off roughly the size of an orange, but the wasps will continue to build onto the nest until it is the size of a football, or potentially even larger.

Yellow jacket wasps can be controlled with either a dust or a liquid formulation. If you have an infestation of yellow jacket wasps in or around your home, it is best to have the experts at York Pest Control come by and eliminate them for you.

Mud daubers are solitary wasps that construct small nests of mud in or around homes, sheds, and barns and under open structures, bridges and similar sites. These wasps are long and slender with a narrow, thread-like waist. Some are a solid steel blue or black but others have additional yellow markings.

This wasp group is named for the nests that are made from mud collected by the females. Mud is rolled into a ball, carried to the nest and molded into place with the wasp’s mandibles. There are three different wasps that practice this behavior. The black and yellow mud dauber builds a series of cylindrical cells that are eventually plastered over with mud to form a smooth mud nest about the size of a fist. The organ-pipe mud dauber, a more robust, black species, builds cylindrical tubes resembling pipe-organ pipes. The third species is a beautiful metallic-blue wasp with blue wings. This one does not build its own mud nest but instead uses the abandoned nests of the black and yellow mud dauber.

After completing the mud nest the female captures several insects or spiders to provision the cells. Prey are stung and paralyzed before being placed in the nest. A single egg is deposited on the prey within each cell, and the cell sealed with mud. After the wasp has finished a series of cells, she departs and does not return. The larvae that hatch from the eggs feed on the prey items left by the adult wasp. New adult wasps emerge to start the process over again.

Wasps usually evoke a great deal of anxiety or fear. However, solitary wasps such as the mud daubers do not defend their nest the way social wasps such as hornets and yellow jackets do. Mud daubers are very unlikely to sting, even when thoroughly aroused. They may sting if mishandled.

A good preventative pest control program will help in reducing these pests.