Why Are Wasps Flying Into Your Goodnestone Home? Common Causes and Solutions
Boiling fruit and cooling jars send sweet smells out of open windows, and a few precautions let you preserve the harvest without inviting wasps.
Why preserving attracts wasps
Few smells carry as far as bubbling fruit and sugar. As jam boils, the scent drifts out of the window and across the garden, and wasps that were foraging in the area find it. Cooling jars on the windowsill, a bowl of peelings by the sink and a colander of washed fruit all add to the draw.
Late summer is the peak of the preserving season, and it is also when wasps are at their most interested in sugar. The two coincide. In Goodnestone, as anywhere with a productive garden, it pays to plan the work with wasps in mind.
Nothing here means giving up on the harvest. It means thinking about timing, windows and waste.
Cider-making, wine-making and cordial all follow the same rule. Anything fermenting gives off a sharp, sweet smell that wasps find from a long way off, and a demijohn with a leaking airlock is a particular problem. Keep fermenting vessels in a room with a closed door, and wipe up any spills at once. If you must make them in a shed or outbuilding, check the building for wasps first.
Setting up the kitchen
A few changes before you begin make the work calmer:
- Close the window nearest the stove, and open one on the opposite side of the house to let steam escape.
- Fit a mesh screen to any window you must keep open.
- Cover bowls of fruit and peelings with a cloth or a plate.
- Keep the bin lidded and take it out when it is full.
- Wipe up drips of juice and syrup straight away.
- Wash the pans and utensils as you go.
If you have an extractor fan, switch it on, but check the outside vent has a working flap.
Think about the order of the day too. Begin the cooking in the cool of the morning, when wasps are slow, and finish before the afternoon warmth. Wasps are busiest in the middle of a hot day, so a pan of jam bubbling at two o'clock draws more attention than the same pan at nine.
Cooling and storing
Jars and trays of cooling jam are the most tempting items of all, as the surface is warm and sweet. Cool them in a room with the window closed, or cover them loosely with a clean cloth. Do not leave them on a windowsill or outside to cool.
Wipe the outside of each jar with a damp cloth once it is filled, because sticky residue draws wasps long after the cooking has finished. Store finished jars in a cupboard, not on a shelf in the garage or shed, where wasps may find them and enter.
If you give jars as gifts or sell them at a stall, pack them away indoors until they are needed. A table of jars at the garden gate on a sunny day is a feast for wasps. Use a lidded box or a cool bag, and keep a damp cloth to hand for the rims.
Dealing with waste
Peelings, cores and stones are the hidden problem. Do not put them in an open bucket or a compost bin with no lid. Tie them in a sack and place them in the outside bin at once, or freeze them in a tub until bin day. If you make your own compost, bury fruit waste under other material and keep the lid on.
Windfalls under trees should be picked up daily, since they ferment and attract wasps in large numbers.
Cooking fruit also leaves sweet water in the pan. Pour it away into the drain and rinse with hot water, rather than tipping it on the garden. Wasps are very good at finding a wet patch with sugar in it, and the step to your kitchen window is a short one.
When the wasps do not leave
If you have been careful and wasps still appear, a nest may be close. Wasps start nests from late April, depending on the weather, and by August a colony can hold from 2,000 to 10,000 or more. A busy line of wasps travelling to and from the same point outside, or appearing in rooms with no food, is a sign of one.
Do not tackle a nest yourself. Clean the area gently with water, remove the sting if you can see it and apply a cold pack. Swelling of the face, lips or throat, difficulty breathing, wheezing, dizziness or a widespread rash needs a 999 call. A person with a diagnosed allergy should ask their GP for advice.
Keep a record of what you see. If wasps appear mainly on the days you are preserving, the cooking is the cause. If they appear every day, the cause is something else. That small piece of evidence helps decide whether tidiness is enough or whether it is time to book.
Getting it treated
The fixed price for dealing with a nest is £120 for each one, with one visit guaranteed, and a second nest on the same property is £60 extra. There are no call-out fees, and neither location nor time of day alters the cost. Our technicians, who are fully insured and qualified, take bookings for domestic and commercial work all week.
Call 01622 410 019 or send an enquiry through the contact page form. If you are in the middle of a batch of preserving, say so, and we will work with you on timing.
If you share an allotment or a smallholding, make sure the others know. A nest in a compost heap, a shed or a bank near the fruit cage can sting a lot of people, and everybody on the site should keep clear.
Wasps on your property in Goodnestone?
Fixed price £120 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.