Why Are Wasps Flying Into Your Colwick Home? Common Causes and Solutions
Outdoor meals, pet food and barbecues can bring wasps to your door. Find out how to cut the attraction in a Colwick home and when a nest is the cause.
Food outside leads wasps inside
A wasp follows scent, and the scent that reaches it from your garden is not limited to what is on the plate. Pet bowls, the grill pan, the tray the burgers sat on and the sticky mat beneath the table are all part of the trail. Once wasps have found it, the next logical step is to follow the smell inside to the kitchen.
In Colwick, on the eastern side of Nottingham, as in the rest of the area, many homes have a back door that opens straight onto a patio or lawn. That makes a convenient short route for a wasp from a food source to the house.
Be honest about how long the food has been out. Wasps do not need much, and a smear of burger fat on a plate left on the lawn for an hour is plenty to start a trail that leads, in the end, to your kitchen window.
The usual suspects in the garden
Go and look at the garden as though you were a wasp. Which spots hold meat, fat or sugar?
- Dog and cat bowls left out through the day, particularly wet food.
- The barbecue and its drip tray after a meal.
- Open bin bags, and the bottom of a wheelie bin with spilled juice.
- Plates and cups left on the garden table overnight.
- A hummingbird-style sugar feeder or a bird feeder with sweet mixtures.
- Paddling pools or buckets holding sugary water from a child's drink.
Wasps also collect water, so a dripping tap, a pet water bowl or a shallow tray can bring them to the area even when no food is out.
Think about timing too. A bowl put down at noon and forgotten until supper has had hours to attract wasps, and by the time anyone notices, the habit has been formed. Wasps that find a reliable source tend to return to it and tell no one, but others follow the scent.
Routines that make a difference
Feed pets at set times and take the bowl in when they have finished. Wash it, rather than rinsing it, because a thin film of food is still attractive. After a barbecue, scrape the grill and wipe the tray while it is still warm, and bag any leftover food straight away.
At a meal outdoors, keep food covered until it is served and put the dishes back indoors as soon as you finish. Serve sweet drinks in cups with lids, or in bottles with a straw, so that a wasp cannot slip into a can. Put a bin with a tight lid a few steps from the table, not alongside it.
If a wasp does arrive, sit still, move the plate gently away and let it leave. Waving it off or running tends to turn a nuisance into a sting.
A tidy garden is not about perfection. It is about removing the food that is available for a long time. Ten minutes of clearing after a meal is worth more than an hour of chasing wasps later.
Pets and wasps
Dogs and cats often chase a wasp or snap at it, and that can end badly. A sting to the mouth or throat is more serious than one on a paw, so call a vet if a pet seems distressed, if its face begins to swell or if it has trouble breathing.
Keep pets inside if you can see a stream of wasps in one part of the garden, and do not let a dog investigate a hole in the lawn or a gap in a wall. Wasps will defend a nest, and a dog sniffing at the entrance can trigger a swarm.
If a pet has been stung, the owner can help by keeping calm and keeping the animal quiet, and then asking a vet for advice.
A practical garden checklist
Before the next meal outdoors, run through this short list. It takes only a few minutes and prevents most of the common causes.
- Bring in pet bowls and wash them, then store the food in a sealed container.
- Wipe down the table and chairs, including the underside of the table where spills collect.
- Check the bin lid closes fully and empty any food waste.
- Rinse bottles and cans before putting them in the recycling.
- Move the barbecue away from the back door and clean the grill after use.
- Close the back door once everyone is inside, and use a screen if you prefer it open.
If you have followed the list for a week and still have a stream of wasps coming through the door, that is useful information in itself. It suggests the source is a nest and not your cooking, and the next step is to watch where they come from.
When the garden is not the answer
If you have made all the changes above and the wasps keep coming, in numbers, from the same direction, something is attracting them from a distance, and that is likely to be a colony. Stand at an upstairs window or well back in the garden and see if you can follow a wasp. Watch where several of them vanish or reappear, such as a hole in the soil, a gap in the shed or a spot on the house.
A fixed charge of £95 deals with a nest, and a second nest on the same property is £35. No call-out charge is made, and we confirm the price on the phone before anyone comes. Ring 0115 937 5117, or send the booking form via the contact page. Same-day service is offered, we are open seven days a week, and the work is domestic or commercial. If anyone in the family has a sting allergy, say so when you book.
Wasps on your property in Colwick?
Fixed price £95 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.