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Wasp nest control
How Wasp Nests are Destroyed
The treatment of wasp nests is a fairly straightforward exercise for an experienced professional. However, the process should not be treated lightly. The moment you disrespect a wasp nest is the very moment that you get stung.
Full time pest controllers use “professional use insecticides” alongside specialist application equipment, they also have to undergo specialist training in the proper use and application of such chemicals. These insecticides are not available to the general public and certainly won’t be available in your local hardware store.
In most circumstances wasp nest control will be undertaken with an insecticide dust named “Ficam D”. This dust is pumped into the nest or the opening where the wasps are gaining entry to the nest, this could be a hole in wall or under a roof tile, even a hole in your lawn. As the wasps arrive back from their daily foraging duties, they walk through this dust, becoming contaminated and carry it into the nest. The dust takes some minutes to effect the individual wasps, this gives them time to contaminate the whole nest area before they expire. As more wasps arrive back at the nest, more dust will be taken into the nest and the effect of the insecticide becomes greater.
When a nest is treated in this fashion, the majority of the wasps will die off within a couple of hours, individual wasps usualy die within minutes of coming into contact with the dust. The whole nest will be dead by the end of the day when all of the wasps have returned to the nest. Occasionally one or two wasps will not make it back to the nest that day (maybe they were trapped in a house or shed overnight) but will return back in the morning, as soon as they enter the nest, they too will be affected by the dust.
In some circumstances a wasp nest treatment may need a different
approach whereby the nest needs what is known as a “quick knock
down” insecticide, these are usualy aerosol type foam applications
which come in a can.
There are different types of foam applications available, but the ones
used by pest controllers are for professional use only. Foam type applications
react quicker than the dust type insecticides and are generally used when
a nest needs to be removed straight away for safety reasons, in other
words they kill the wasps immediatley. However the foam type applications
do have their drawbacks. The nest needs to be visible to apply the foam,
and if the nest has to be removed straight away, any wasps that are out
foraging will not be destroyed.
There are other types of applications available to pest controllers, such
as smoke generators, but these are designed for special circumstances
and again are for proffesional use only. Each type of application has
its uses.
Take a look at our wasp nest removal page for further information.