What Attracts Stinging Insects to New England Homes?
Here in New England, our homes have a lot to offer stinging insects. Some of them make sense, while others might actually surprise you. But understanding what attracts stinging insects to your yard can actually help you to reduce their populations on your property and reduce your chance of being stung. To help you accomplish this, here is our list of the top 5 things that attract stinging insects!
- Do you have beautiful flowers in your yard? Well, though they may look visually appealing and add a nice element to your property, those flowers will also attract stinging pests of all shapes and sizes. But, of course, we don't have to tell you that. You're probably aware that bees, wasps, and hornets feed on the nectar found in flowers and flowering plants. And we don't expect you to get rid of those flowers to keep stinging insects out of your yard. However, it is important to put flower beds in locations that are less likely to lead to the establishment of nests like away from your exterior walls and the overhanging roof above, where paper wasps prefer to establish their nests.
- Do you have bright colors in your yard? If you do, this can cause unwanted encounters with stinging insects. Sometimes, all it takes is the promise of flowers to lure stinging insects in. Therefore, bright colors and floral patterns on objects or structures in your yard should be avoided if you want fewer of these stinging pests around.
- Do you have sweet smells in your yard? Bees, wasps, and hornets could mistake those smells for flowers and enter into your yard. These smells can come from perfumes, colognes, air fresheners, potpourri, juice left in a cup, soda cans, sweet foods, and more. If it smells sweet, those insects will take notice.
- Do you have a lot of bugs in your yard? Some stinging insects don't just feed on sweet things. In fact, many will also eat protein and bugs are a great source of protein for wasps. Some wasps such as cicada killer wasps prefer to feed on a particular bug. In the case of the cicada killer wasps, that insect is the cicada bug, hence their name. So if you have cicadas in your yard, expect to have cicada killers. In general, everything you do to prevent bugs in your yard will have an impact on wasp populations.
- Do you have gaps or holes in your home or other structures? How about in your lawn? Any gaps in your exterior walls and exterior structures provide the perfect location for some stinging insects such as honey bees to establish their nests. For others, holes in your lawn are all that are needed for nesting. Yellow jackets, for instance, commonly create nests inside holes in the ground. Reducing gaps and holes in the exterior of your home and filling in any holes in your lawn can help prevent unwanted harborage in the wall voids of your home and in your yard.
Stinging Insect Management
While it is definitely painful to be stung by bees, wasps, or hornets, those insects still play an important role in nature and eliminating them completely should never be the goal. Instead, the goal should be managing those insects so they can be beneficial without being a threat to you and your family members. This is where partnering with a pest control company can really make a difference! The professionals will use modern Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies, routine inspections, and nest removal to maintain the proper levels of these insects. They’ll also have the training and experience to deal with complicated issues like honey bee infestations. When handling honey bee infestations, there are federal regulations that must be observed as they are important pollinators and their populations are on a sharp decline.
When you hire a licensed pest control professional, you’ll also receive the proper level of pest control. There are many mistakes that can be made when dealing with stinging pests. The wrong chemicals can be used or the wrong amount can be applied. Improper methods can cause pets, children, and others to become sick. Untrained individuals sometimes mistake harmless wasps for aggressive wasps. Digger wasps, for example, are beneficial, solitary insects that are important for pollination but don't pay any attention to people. They typically only need to be dealt with when they accidentally establish themselves in high traffic areas. Yellow jackets, on the other hand, can quickly become aggressive if you approach their nest. In fact, sometimes all it takes is the vibration of a lawn mower to set them off!
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