Wasp Control for Dorket Head Restaurants, Pubs and Commercial Premises
Sweet drinks, picnic benches and a quiet corner of the garden make a pub a popular spot for wasps, and this guide covers what licensees can do about it.
The beer garden in August
A sunny Saturday fills a pub garden with drinkers, children and the smell of sugary mixers. It is also the time of year when wasps are at their most numerous and most interested in people. A pint left unattended for a moment, a child with a lemonade, or a cider glass with a sweet rim can each carry a wasp to a table. Licensees often notice the problem as a series of small incidents. A regular flicks away a wasp, a customer shrieks, a bar worker finds three in a drink. Pay attention to these early signs. They tell you that a nest is somewhere in range and that foraging has become regular.
A tidy garden is not always a safe one. Planters of flowers, hanging baskets and ivy against a wall make good shelter and good forage for wasps, so a pretty beer garden may need more attention in high summer than a bare patio does. The aim is not to strip the place of greenery but to know where the wasps are going.
Where the nest might be
Pub gardens have more hiding places than people realise. Wasps like: - Sheds, outbuildings and stores at the edge of the garden. - Gaps in fences, trellis and old walls. - Hedges and dense bushes along the boundary. - Trees with hollows or thick growth. - Holes in the ground, often in a bank or flowerbed. - Eaves and roof voids at the back of the building. Do not go looking from close range. Watch the insects for a few minutes from a safe place and see which way they fly after they leave a table. A line of wasps heading to the same point is a strong hint.
Do not rely on memory alone when you ring. A few photographs taken from the building, a sketch of the garden with a cross where the wasps seem to disappear, and the time of day when they are busiest all help to describe the spot.
Make the garden less attractive in the meantime
While you arrange treatment, reduce what draws wasps to the tables. Clear glasses and bottles often, particularly those with sugary dregs. Keep bins well covered and as far from seating as possible, and empty them regularly. Wipe sticky tables, and cover food. Ask kitchen staff to bring out only what is needed and to collect plates promptly. Train staff not to swat. A flailing arm tends to make wasps more aggressive, and a disturbed insect can sting. Calmly moving away or covering a drink is much more effective. If a customer is stung, offer a cold pack, suggest washing the area and removing the sting if visible. Anyone who shows swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing, dizziness or a widespread rash needs 999.
Bar staff can make a difference with small habits. Putting a cover on a jug of squash, using bottle stoppers on open bottles of mixers, and offering lids on children's drinks all reduce the number of wasps landing on glasses. Collecting empties on every circuit of the garden stops the pile of dregs that wasps love.
Protecting your customers without closing the garden
Closing a garden on a good day is costly, so think about proportion. If the nest is far from the seating, it may be enough to keep people away from one corner and to ask a technician to attend at the first opportunity. If it is near the door to the toilets or by the main path, a temporary barrier or a table placed across the route may be sensible. Think about children. Pub gardens often include play areas, and a nest close to a climbing frame or a sandpit requires prompt action. Keep play equipment clear until the nest has been dealt with.
Events deserve extra thought. A summer fair, a wedding party in the garden or a barbecue day with sweet puddings and open cans of drink will attract more wasps than a normal service. If you have such a date coming up, deal with any nest before it, rather than a day or two beforehand, so that you are not wondering whether it will hold.
Pricing and what happens on the day
The treatment of a nest is £95 per nest, with £35 for any additional nest at the premises. The price is confirmed on the phone before the visit, there is no call-out charge and nothing is done until you agree. We offer same-day service, seven days a week, and the aim is a single visit by a trained, insured technician. If you are a tenant of a brewery or pub company, check your agreement about who arranges and pays for pest control, as that varies. Tell the technician where the kitchen is, where deliveries come in, and when the garden is quietest. Ask whether the empty nest can be taken down when you book.
Keep a short written note for your own records: the date you found the nest, who reported it, and when it was treated. If a pub company, brewery or landlord needs to be told, the note makes that conversation simple. It also helps the next licensee, if you ever hand the place over.
Booking
We cover Dorket Head and the surrounding villages, for domestic and commercial customers. Phone 0115 937 5117 or use the booking form on the contact page.
If you run the pub as a tenant, it is worth reading your agreement to see who arranges pest control, since arrangements with pub companies vary. We cannot say what yours contains. Whichever it is, tell the right person about the nest straight away and let nothing hold up the booking.
Wasps on your property in Dorket Head?
Fixed price £95 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.