How to keep wasps out of your garden

It’s a warm summer’s day and the perfect time to enjoy your garden relaxing outdoor in the sunshine. The last thing you need is to hear the unnerving drone of a pesky wasp. So, learn how to keep wasps out of your garden.

The problem with wasps is their life cycle

The queen lays thousands of eggs whilst the worker wasps busy themselves with feeding the new generation. In mid-summer, the queen stops laying eggs and stops releasing the pheromone that encourages the work wasps. The worker wasps no longer benefit from the queen’s pheromone and become hungry for sweet food and drinks. This is the reason why they are attacked by our food.

Steps you can take to reduce wasp activity

Every summer wasps can ruin an otherwise perfect day for you and your family. There are a few simple ways you can reduce the chance of your garden time being ruined this summer.

Food and drink should be covered reducing the likelihood that wasps will take a hint to join the meal.

Keep bright flowers away from your eating areas. Wasps eyes have been developed to identify bight flowers. Therefore keeping bright flowers away f4rom your eating area will reduce wasp activity

Wasps can be kept away from eating areas by burning citronella candles.

Swatting wasps is not a good idea

If all your attempts to dissuade wasps from joining your meal fail, try not to swat them away. Worker wasps produce a pheromone, used as a rallying cry to other wasps to return to a nest under attack. This pheromone can be activated when they are under attack, resulting in summoning other wasps to the fray, which increases the risk of you or members of your family getting stung.

How to deal with a sting

The initial reaction is to scratch the area of the sting, try to avoid this as it can lead to infection and make a simple sting far worse.

Keep the area clean and cool with soap and water before applying a cold compress or ice to reduce swelling.

Keep cool for at least 10 minutes. If swelling occurs try raising the affected area for 15 minutes

Solving the problem for good

The solution is to treat the nest, this is dangerous as the wasps can become aggressive resulting in stings to the person attempting to treat the nest. It’s worth remembering that, unlike bees, wasps can sting you multiple times before they die.

The easy solution is to get in the professionals and let them take the hassle out of your wasp nest. If you need help please click on the “HELP” button below and your local Lawnscience professional will contact you.

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