(PHOTO AND STORY: KHQ.COM)
It’s that time of year again. When you step outside, and hear the buzz of wasps that could start trying to make their home on your home.
Ray Vanderlouw is an industry expert with Pointe Pest Control. He says he’s been busy, especially because we’ve had a longer, wet spring and now had a warm day Monday.
“Everything wants to come out,” he says. “It’s going to be a great year for the stinging insects. There’s no doubt.”
Vanderlouw has been going around inspecting homes for different pests. At the one home we visited, we found four different nests that were brand new.
Vanderlouw suggests eliminating their food source, the nests, and where they’re drinking. If you get rid of two of those, you’ll get rid of the wasps. Wasps like feeding on aphids. If the leaves on your trees look sticky, aphids are likely there which means wasps are too.
If you have rough, weathered wood in your backyard, now’s the time to maintain it or to get rid of it if you don’t need it. That’s because wasps will chew on the wood and then go to a water source, mixing it together, to create their nest.
Get rid of standing water too. That will actually help eliminate other pests from your home too.
Of course, you can use sprays to treat your home. Vanderlouw says that’s effective in preventing the wasps from coming back. The best time to do so is earlier in the morning and later in the evening when the wasps are actually on the nest. Using traps now is also very effective. That’s because queens are emerging, and killing them now will prevent larger hives in the summer.
The best thing to do is to be proactive. And the best way to be proactive, Vanderlouw says, is to start treatment in the fall for wasps. It’s something to think about year-round.