How to Keep Wasps Away From Your Home and Deck

Summer is a time when hornets and yellowjackets emerge. Not only do these stinging insects create fear and ruin countless picnics or BBQs, they also pose a threat to your health if they sting and cause an allergic reaction. If you want to keep them from invading your home or deck, preventative measures are key.

You can take some preliminary steps to help prevent wasps and other stinging insects from invading your space. An additional step to help prevent these pesky pests from taking control of your lawn, contact PURCOR pest control. While at home treatments, and preventative measures can sometimes be a good start, professionals are best suited to deal with your pest problems. Contact PURCOR today to get a free quote on your pest needs. Here’s what you should know about wasps.

What is a Wasp?

First of all, a wasp is not a bee. You can distinguish the two by looking at their body and leg structure. Wasps, like yellowjackets and hornets, have smooth bodies and legs with a pointed lower abdomen, whereas bees are hairy. Also, bees live in colonies in a beehive. Hornets and yellowjackets commonly build pancake shaped, ball shaped, or umbrella-shaped nests using wood fibers that they scrape and chew into a pulp. Here’s another surprising fact: scientists have identified around 30,000 wasp species and most are solitary, and non-stinging.

What Attracts Wasps to Houses?

Wasps look for somewhere dry and out of the elements when looking for a place to shelter, like under decks, the eaves of houses, and on porch ceilings. Some species, like yellowjackets, like to live inside walls, attics or in the ground near retaining walls, rock walls, and larger plant root balls of garden areas. We recommend filling any crevices and cracks in your home and repairing torn window screens to avoid any wasp from wandering indoors. Another thing that makes your property appealing are gatherings like picnics and barbecues because wasps feed on fruits, meats, and trash. When wasps can’t find those, they like to eat nectar from flowers, especially bright ones. So if you want a garden, we suggest proper plant placement to reduce the number of wasps near your home. And if you have fruit trees, you may want to pick up any fruits that have fallen as soon as possible.

Keeping Wasps Away from Your Deck

Wasps are attracted to wooden decks due to the shelter and protection they provide. The number one reason homeowners see activity around their decks or wooden fences is because the wood fibers they provide which allow hornets and yellowjackets to build their nests. To greatly reduce the activity, make sure decks and fences are not weathered and exposed. We suggest painting or sealing decks using the proper wood sealant, stain or paint.

If Wasps are Still Attracted to Your Home

If you’ve found your home is still too appealing to wasps, or there’s a concealed wasp nest PURCOR can help. Our highly skilled technicians can come to your home, identify the type of wasp you may have, and find a solution so you can enjoy your outdoor festivities safely. So contact PURCOR today!