Madison
Wasp Control

Every summer and fall I try and squeeze in as many trips to Devil’s Lake as I can. The convenient location just outside of Madison makes this an easy stop. With climbing, hiking, and kayaking galore, it can scratch whatever weekend itch I have. As the season progresses later into the fall, so does the threat of wasps. Unfortunately, these wasps aren’t content to just hang out near the lake. They follow me back to the suburbs making Madison Wasp Control a necessity.

Wasps come in various shapes and sizes. Some are long and slender like the mud Daubers who look like their abdomen is about to fall off. Others like the yellow jackets are more compressed and aggressive looking. My favorites are the paper wasps with really long dangly legs. They remind me of all of the gym jokes about skipping leg day to beef up the upper body. Regardless of how beefy they get in the body, they all are genetically wired to be self-proclaimed bouncers.

Wherever wasps build a nest or find some food, they view that as their territory. This is even true if they see your burger or your drink. Their little man syndrome knows no bounds. The protein means a gift for the larvae back at the nest in exchange for some sweet, sweet nectar. The coke means they can bypass the extra labor of hauling the chunk of burger to the nest and they can go straight to the nectar. As days get shorter and the populations get larger, the intensity with which they will protect their nest and find increases.

When you find a wasp nest on your home or business, it is best to examine it from a safe distance to determine the best course of action. If the nest is occupied either by larvae or adult wasps, it is best to treat the nest before removing it. Simply removing it may send them away or may cause them to build somewhere else. If that somewhere else is in a void, it can add complexity to the Madison wasp control equation. Treating the nest early in the morning or later in the evening (or treating it with a residual product that will keep working throughout the day) is best for eliminating as many of the colony as possible (many workers will be out foraging for food or building supplies during the day). If the nest is empty, simply knocking it down will suffice.

Wasps don’t return to their nests and most die from our harsh Madison winters or starvation late into the fall/winter season. It is just the queens that find a place to survive the winter to start the process anew each spring. Knowing this really highlights their reproductive ability. They are fast and ferocious at building up population numbers. There are many places in nature for the queen to hide such as a hollow in a tree or log, but our homes are much more attractive.

Most of our homes have sun-exposed sides that warm up nicely in the late fall. You can usually bank on these being the south and west walls. Wasps will land on here to warm themselves and will quickly find that gaps in siding and other small cracks and crevices provide the protection they need to survive the winter and set up shop there in the spring.

Wasp control should begin early – preferably before they are even noticed. Since they are a predatory insect, keeping the other arthropod populations in check around your home and business will be key to minimizing the attraction to your property. In addition to starting on the wasp diet control before they are flying around, it is good to keep an eye out for early signs of wasps and their nests throughout the year. Just because you aren’t feeding them doesn’t mean the woods or neighbors aren’t.

In addition to being the best in class at wasp alliterations, we have the help and resources you need to be successful in the battle against wasps. We can help with identification, ongoing monitoring, nest removal, prey control, and all around wasp control. Whether you need guidance or assistance in one part or the whole thing, reach out to a Rove wasp specialist to custom build your control plan today.