Same-Day Wasp Nest Treatment in Wigston – What to Expect
Ground nests are easy to miss until the wasps are everywhere, so here is how to recognise one and what a same-day treatment visit involves.
The nest you cannot see
Most people picture a wasp nest as a papery ball hanging in a loft. Many are nothing of the sort. A good number are underground, built in an old rodent burrow or a hollow beneath a lawn, a bank or a flower bed, with nothing visible but a small hole and a steady flow of wasps.
For a householder in Wigston, just south of Leicester, this can be confusing. There is no obvious nest to point at, only an irritating run of wasps across the grass and the occasional person stung while mowing.
Same-day treatment is offered for ground nests in the same way as for any other, and calling early in the day helps. This guide explains how to confirm what you have and what happens when the technician comes.
A small boy with a ball, a dog with a sniffing habit and a ride-on mower are the three most common ways people discover a ground nest by accident, so the earlier you spot one the better.
Signs of a ground nest
A ground nest is easy to confuse with the burrows of solitary insects, so take a few minutes to watch from a distance. Telltale signs include:
- A hole roughly the size of a coin or a little bigger, with bare or crumbling soil around it.
- A constant coming and going of wasps along the same flight line, not one or two casual visitors.
- Wasps landing, walking into the hole and re-emerging, rather than hovering over flowers.
- A sudden angry reaction when the mower or a footstep passes close by.
Do not test the theory by getting close. Watching from several metres away for a few minutes will tell you enough, and it is safer for everybody.
If you are unsure whether you are looking at a nest or at harmless mining insects, the number of insects is the clue. A single insect digging is likely to be something else. A nest entrance has traffic, with wasps arriving and leaving all day, often in the sunniest and warmest hours.
What to do before the technician comes
Mark the area from a distance so that nobody walks into it. A garden chair placed well back from the hole is more than enough, and a quick word to the household and neighbours about the spot is better still.
- Stop mowing and strimming near the area until the nest has been dealt with.
- Keep children and pets off that part of the garden.
- Take food, drink and rubbish bins away from the zone, as sweet scents bring more wasps.
- Do not pour anything into the hole or cover it with a slab or turf.
When you ring 0116 214 9259 or send the booking form, mention that the nest is in the ground and describe where in the garden it is. It helps if the technician knows to look at a lawn rather than a roofline.
It can also help to take note of the time of day when traffic seems heaviest, since that tells the technician how active the colony is. Do not stay outside to count; a quick look from a window is plenty.
The visit and the price
The technician who comes is trained, and the work is fully insured. They will want to see the entrance, so be ready to point from a safe distance and to explain how they can get to it without cutting through anything you value. A side gate left unlocked is a great help if you will be out.
The price is confirmed on the phone before the visit. A nest costs a fixed £95 to treat, and if a second nest is found on the same property, that is £35 extra. There is no call-out charge. Nothing begins until you have agreed.
Ground nests sometimes come in pairs, particularly in a large garden, so it is worth walking the boundary from a respectful distance after the first has been found. If you notice another entrance, tell the technician rather than investigating.
If there is a vegetable patch, a pond or a play structure close to the entrance, say so on the phone. The technician can then plan their approach with those in mind and keep disturbance to a minimum.
Keep the route to the entrance clear of obstacles too, such as garden furniture, hoses and bags of compost, so the technician can approach without tripping over anything while working near the nest.
Leave pets indoors during the visit so that the technician can concentrate on the nest.
After the visit: the lawn and the weeks that follow
Expect to see a few wasps hanging around the hole for a time after treatment as returning foragers find their home gone. Keep clear for the rest of the day and follow the technician’s advice about when the area is safe to use again.
Do not be tempted to dig the hole out immediately. Leave it alone until all activity has stopped, and fill it only once you are confident nothing is going in or out.
The colony peaks in August and winds down later in the autumn, so a nest found late may be on its way out anyway, but it is still worth treating while it is active. Wasps that are left to defend a nest near a lawn will go on stinging anyone who passes.
Whilst waiting for the old burrow to quieten down, a bit of patience goes a long way. A garden that had a wasp nest in July can be used again in a few days, as long as the entrance is respected.
Wasps on your property in Wigston?
Fixed price £95 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.