Ah, springtime: the flowers are blooming, the birds are singing…the insects are stinging.
Now that winter is over, you can expect to encounter stinging insects (and other pests) around your home and yard. There are dozens of stinging insects common in Ohio: you might find bees, wasps, yellow jackets, hornets, mud daubers, and other insects.
Here are just a few that might take up residence around your home and how to keep them out:
Bees:
Bees are typically easy to recognize, as most people are familiar with them. Common bee types include the honey bee and the bumblebee. A honey bee is about half an inch long, with an oval-shaped, winged body that is segmented into three parts. It has light brown and yellow stripes and looks fuzzy. Female honey bees have a stinger, while the males do not. A bumblebee has a similar appearance to the honey bee, but it is much larger and fuzzier. It can be up to an inch long, with a rounder winged body. Its stripes are yellow and black. Only female bumblebees have a stinger.
Bee hives are often found in hollow trees and rock crevices at least three feet above the ground. They are easily identified, thanks to their distinct honeycomb appearance.
Here are some types of bees:
- Honey bee
- Bumble bee
- Carpenter bee
- Cuckoo bee
- Sweat be
Hornets:
- European hornet
- Bald-faced hornet
Wasps:
Wasps vary widely in appearance based on the species, but you can recognize most from their “pinched” waist and two pairs of wings. Paper wasps, a common insect in our area, are typically dark brown with black wings and yellow markings. Some, however, look very much like yellow jackets, with a yellow and black body. Wasp nests are often spotted in sheltered areas. These include window sills, door frames, and the eaves of houses. Paper wasps build nests that seem to be made of paper (hence the name).
Here are some types of wasps:
- Northern paper wasp
- European paper wasp
- Potter wasp
- Eastern cicada killer
- Pipe organ mud dauber
Yellow jackets:
Yellow jackets are often mistaken for bees, and vice versa. Like a honey bee, a yellow jacket’s body is winged, has three segments, and is about half an inch long; however, a yellow jacket has a narrower waist and is much less fuzzy than a bee.
The nests of yellow jackets are particularly dangerous because you can stumble upon them— literally! Yellow jackets often build nests on the ground, under steps or porches, or on sidewalks, though they do also build them in the corners of buildings and on branches.
a type of yellow jackets:
- Eastern yellow jacket
(Fun fact: bees, wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets are all part of the same scientific order: Hymenoptera.)
Some of these stinging insects are mostly harmless—even beneficial (think honey bees). But others are aggressive and territorial—and you really don’t want them around your home!
How to Avoid a Stinging Insect Infestation
You don’t have to wait until there are swarms of bees or wasps around your home to deal with stinging insects. As they say—prevention is the best medicine.
By following a few simple steps, you can help keep stinging insects away from your home. This is because, while stinging insects are almost everywhere, there are a few places they prefer. Get rid of what’s attracting them to your home, and they will be less likely to take up residence on your garage or deck.
Here are our tips:
#1 Cover and remove sweet things.
Ever notice how wasps seem to show up during an outdoor picnic? To avoid attracting them, cover sugary foods and drinks. After the party, remove leftover food ASAP and seal any trash cans. You might also consider removing bird food, nectar, and pet food. To keep stinging insects away from you personally, also avoid sweet, flowery perfumes and lotions when you’re outdoors for extended periods.
#2 Keep your home, garage, and deck well-maintained.
Broken panels, holes in soffits, gaps, torn screens, and other crevices are great spots for nests. By keeping your home and yard well-maintained, you can encourage stinging insects to nest elsewhere. This also ensures that the insects don’t get inside your home. (Yikes!)
#3 Make yard work a habit.
Just as it’s a good idea to maintain your home, maintaining your yard is important for stinging insect prevention. That’s because some wasps, like yellow jackets, build their nest in ground holes—and you certainly don’t want to run over one of those with your lawnmower! To avoid this, keep up with your yard work and regularly fill in any holes left by rodents.
#4 Plant flower gardens away from your home.
Gardens attract not only bees but also wasps, hornets, etc. (As we said above, many stinging insects like sweet things like flowers—but others will also prey on the other insects in your garden.) If you garden, consider planting mostly non-flowering plants or keep flowering plants to the periphery of your yard.
How to Get Rid of Stinging Insects Safely
First, a warning: insect stings can cause pain and, in some people, severe allergic reactions, including anaphylactic shock. (Bees are a common allergy, but it’s also possible to be allergic to other stinging insects.) Before attempting to remove stinging insects—and especially stinging insect nests—be sure that you are not allergic to the insect’s sting.
If you follow the tips above, you may only encounter a few stinging insects (or none!) around your home. Any stray stinging insects can be dealt with in a few ways:
#1 Use wasp traps.
This remedy won’t work for infestations, of course, but it can be a good method if you need to control any stray insects that wander into your outdoor picnic. These traps can be purchased at your local home improvement store or DIY-ed with an old plastic soda bottle and sweet liquid (like soda or juice).
Note: some hardware stores sell “wasp decoys” that are supposed to keep wasps away by showing that the yard has been claimed by other wasps (as some wasps are territorial). However, take these claims with a grain of salt: they aren’t proven, and online reviews for the decoys are a mixed bag.
#2 Remove old nests.
Old nests aren’t reused (except in the case of carpenter bees), but wasps will come back to a good nesting site year after year. To prevent them from nesting in the same place twice, it’s important to remove the old nest and make the area less hospitable for them (fixing holes, screens, etc.). That said, make absolutely sure that the nest is empty before attempting to remove it. Wasp workers, for example, die off in the cold of winter, with only the queens surviving to rebuild the next year. If you attempt to remove what looks like an old nest during the warmer seasons, proceed with extreme caution.
#3 Call an exterminator for active nests.
We don’t recommend that you attempt to deal with a stinging insect infestation on your own, for two reasons:
Bees are important pollinators, so their hives should be moved (instead of eliminated) when possible. We understand why you wouldn’t want bees around your home (especially if a family member is allergic); however, consider hiring a professional to move the hive: it’s good for the environment and safer for you.
How to Get Rid of Stinging Insects without Harming Bees
Stinging insects are a pain—sometimes literally! If you have stinging insects like wasps or yellow jackets around your home, you want to get rid of them.
But how do you get rid of wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets without getting rid of bees?
Why Bees Are Beneficial
Bees might be tiny, but they make a big impact.
Bees play a significant role in pollination, a process that helps plants grow, breed, and produce food. In fact, 1/3 of all the food we eat, and about 75% of all crops we grow, are pollinated by bees! Think of the fruits and vegetables you love: there’s a good chance that those plants or trees were pollinated by bees. Other crops, too, benefit from bees. If you own any clothes made of cotton or take any medicine made with plant ingredients, bees played a role. And of course, there are bee byproducts that we use, like the honey that we eat and the beeswax that we use in skin care.
Bees are an important part of the ecosystem: plants, animals, and humans all benefit from bees, which is why it’s important to harm them as little as possible.
How to Get Rid of Wasps & Hornets—but Not Bees
We’ve covered how to get rid of wasps, hornets, and yellow jackets before: see our previous post for all the information you need. Essentially, we recommend taking the following steps to prevent stinging insects from moving in:
- Cover and remove food, especially sugary/sweet food. (Think trash cans, empty soda cans, picnic items, etc.)
- Keep your home and garage well-maintained. (This gives stinging insects fewer holes and gaps in which to nest.)
- Keep up with your yard. (Just like with your home, this makes your yard less hospitable to these insects. Pay close attention to rodent holes, and fill these in so yellow jackets don’t nest there.)
However, if you have wasps, hornets, or yellow jackets already, we recommend proceeding with caution—especially if you want to save the bees.
To get rid of unwanted stinging insects in a bee-safe way, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Do not use “wasp traps.”
- Do not spray pesticides indiscriminately around your yard.
- Do not attempt to remove a nest yourself.
Wasp traps attract and kill bees as well as wasps and hornets. If you want to minimize the effect your pest control has on bees, you’ll want to skip this solution.
Also, overuse of pesticides is one of the biggest mistakes homeowners can make when it comes to pest control. You’ll want to be careful with pesticides if you purchase and apply insect killer from the local home and garden store as some pesticides are toxic to honey bees.
Finally, we never advise attempting remove a wasp, hornet, or yellow jacket nest by yourself for safety reasons. These pests can be aggressive and will defend their nest with repeated stings if they feel threatened. Instead, we recommend calling in the professionals. A pest control professional has the tools and equipment needed to safely dispose of a live nest.
What to Do When You Really Need to Get Rid of Bees
There are times when you’ll need to remove bees from your home or yard:
- When you (or a family member) are allergic to bees
- When you have a true bee infestation (like a hive in your home)
In this case, we do not recommend attempting to remove the bees yourself. Attempting to remove a hive yourself can result in harm to you—and in harm to the bees. Although bees are not usually aggressive (unless they are Africanized honey bees), they will defend themselves if threatened. Whether you are dealing with a hive or a swarm, you don’t want to risk getting stung (particularly if you are allergic).
Instead of DIY, we recommend calling a pest control expert. It’s a win-win: your house is bee-free, and the bees safely go to a new home.
Wasps are typically aggressive, and nest removal can be dangerous. Most wasps (with a few exceptions) are very protective and will become aggressive if their nest is threatened. If you attempt to remove an active nest by yourself, you risk being stung repeatedly. (Many stinging insects have “smooth stingers” that allow them to sting repeatedly until the threat—i.e. you—is eliminated.)
If you find a nest, we advise calling in the professionals. A pest control expert has the knowledge, tools, training, and protective gear necessary to safely relocate or dispose of the nest.
Call Us Today
Contact Scherzinger Pest Control, a trusted pest control company in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas, including Dayton, OH, and now Columbus, OH. We’ve been pioneers, engineering new standards for ways of eliminating and controlling bugs and pests. Contact us by phone at 1-877-748-9888 or through our website, Facebook, or Twitter.
