Yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets love the heat. The warm weather gives them more energy to buzz around and allows them to become more active. This is why as the summer rolls on you will see more and more of these stinging insects. They don’t mind living right alongside humans, so if you’ve seen them flying around, then you should keep an eye out for stinging insect nests around your home. These paper nests are usually found in eaves, attics, rooflines, or along the exterior of your house. To identify which stinging insect you’re dealing with on your property, check out our previous blog!
What is bringing these stinging insects into your yard? To better understand, we need to look at the things they are attracted to. Stinging insects are more likely to create their nests in areas that will provide them with both food and water sources. Stinging insects prefer to feed on sweet foods such as ripened fruit. If you have fruit trees or bushes in your backyard, yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets may create their nests on your property. To deter these pests from doing so, pick up any fruit that has fallen to the ground or is damaged. They also enjoy flowers and aphid-produced honeydew, so limiting the number of flowering plants on your property could help make it less attractive to stinging insects.
Another target for yellow jackets, wasps, and hornets is your trash! Your trash could provide a lovely food source for these pests. Leaving your trash or even your recycled bottles and cans out and uncovered is a common mistake that can attract not only stinging insects to your yard, but all kinds of other pests as well! It’s important to keep your trash and returnables covered and tightly sealed. When having a BBQ or get-together, keep all food items covered during the event to keep the insects from hovering around them.
As the weather turns cooler, stinging insects may move indoors, and the climate in New England makes it even more likely for this to occur. These stinging insects can gain access to your home through gaps in your siding, holes in your screens, and open garage doors, so sealing these areas can help keep them out! Be careful when sealing all these openings to your home in case there’s still a nest inside. We recommend having an expert inspect and remove all the nests to prevent trapping them inside your house.
If you notice stinging insects or a nest around your home, it’s important to seek professional help. All three of these stinging insects can deliver painful stings not only once, but multiple times, one after another! Some individuals may have an allergic reaction to these stings. If this occurs, it is important to seek medical attention immediately. We do not advise that you try removing stinging insect nests on your own as these pests can be very dangerous and will become very aggressive if disturbed. In addition, some of these stinging insects can be extremely territorial, meaning they will readily attack any perceived threat to their nests to protect them. Instead of risking your safety by trying to get rid of these stinging pests yourself, let the professionals at Big Blue Bug Solutions take care of them for you! Give us a call today to get started with a plan that’s right for you!