Chandler Property Owner's Complete Guide To Wasp Prevention

Wasps are an unfortunate fact of life. They seem to always pop up at the worst times, and it doesn’t help that they’re just plain scary looking. When they buzz down into your picnic area or they create nests in your outdoor deck spaces, they add a layer of anxiety to any activity. But this anxiety isn’t just some irrational fear that we can’t explain. The frightening truth is, if you knew how dangerous wasps in Chandler can be, you’d pay a lot more attention to the best ways to keep them off of your property.

A Unique Pest: A Unique Danger

While everyone knows that wasps can be unwanted guests at any outdoor event, they don’t know the variety of wasp species and their dangers. When people think about wasps, they generally picture paper wasps. However, wasp is a blanket term that includes paper wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets as well. Paper wasps and hornets will make their nests in high places like trees and the ceilings of outdoor decks, while yellow jackets prefer to make their nests in the ground.   While these pests are slightly different, they do have a few concerning attributes in common. What makes a wasp different from a typical bumblebee is their ability to sting multiple times without bringing any harm to themselves. They also are a lot more territorial than bees, doubling the danger. Wasps emit distress signals to other nearby wasps when their nest is disturbed, exposing whoever disturbed them to multiple stings from multiple wasps. This many painful stings can quickly lead to adverse health effects in many cases, from shortness of breath to fatal anaphylactic shock.

Proper Prevention Strategies

Since these pests can be so dangerous, prevention needs to be a top priority. But this is a lot easier said than done. So what attracts them to your property in the first place? Well, wasps love any source of sugar. If you’re sitting outside enjoying the deck, and you take your eye off of your open soda can, a wasp may sneak in while you’re not looking. That next sip won’t be fun. While this is a rare occurrence, it’s still scary to think about.

Sources of sugar that are more likely to attract wasps to your property include fruit trees or hummingbird feeders. In order to deter wasp attraction, focus on the following preventative measures:

• Keep an eye on any potential food sources around the property, from pet food to hummingbird feeders.

• If you want to keep doors or windows open, make sure they are protected by screens to prevent wasp entry.

• Keep all of your garbage covered with heavy lids to restrict any access to food sources.

• Remove any wasp nests on the property as soon as possible (always with the help of a certified pest professional).

• Fill in holes in the ground to reduce convenient nesting areas for yellow jackets.

As you’re trying to prevent wasps, keep in mind that they spend most of their time pollinating plants. Spearmint plants, one of the most common plants on Chandler properties, are highly attractive to wasps. The wormwood plant, on the other hand, contains toxins that will repel them. Reducing the use of spearmint plants while increasing the amount of wormwood on your property can be a winning recipe for wasp prevention.

Unfortunately, sometimes homeowners do everything they can to prevent wasps and still wind up with a nest on their property. At the end of the day, there’s just no substitute for professional pest control solutions. For more wasp-prevention assistance, or for the safe removal of an active nest, contact the professionals at Green Home Pest Control today.