Do Wasps Return to the Same Nest Every Year? A Guide for Guston Gardens
A property that has dealt with one nest can still find a second in the same summer, and understanding why makes the second one far less alarming.
Two nests, one summer
It is more common than many people expect. A nest is treated or comes to an end, and a few weeks later wasps appear somewhere else on the same property. The reaction is usually dismay, followed by suspicion that the first job was not done properly.
In most cases that is not what has happened. Each nest is begun by a different queen. They do not share a home, and a second queen may have chosen a different spot on your property entirely, perhaps weeks later than the first. The two colonies have nothing to do with each other.
It is also nothing to do with last year’s nest. That colony ended in autumn and was never reused. The wasps you are seeing are new.
If you have been through this once already, the second nest can feel like a pattern. Try to think of it as bad luck combined with a good site. A property with several suitable places is simply likelier to be chosen by more than one queen.
Why a property can host more than one
A house and garden offer many possible sites. A large plot with a roof, a shed, a hedge, a lawn and a compost heap is effectively five or six separate habitats. Several queens arriving in the same spring may each pick a different one.
Queens also arrive over a period of weeks. One finds a gap in late April, another in May, and a third in June. The later ones may be less successful, but they sometimes manage a nest large enough to be noticed.
Because of this, a property with a first nest should be watched for the whole of the warm season, not just until the first is sorted.
A neighbour’s nest can add to the picture. Workers from a nest next door will cross your garden to forage, and you may see wasps in a place where there is no nest at all. That is one reason to watch the flight lines carefully before deciding that you have a second nest of your own.
Telling nests apart
If you see wasps in two different places, it is worth working out whether they come from one nest or two.
- Watch each entrance separately and note the time
- If both show steady traffic at once, they are separate nests
- Wasps at food or drink may come from either, or from elsewhere
- Large distances between sites make a single nest unlikely
Keep a safe distance throughout. Writing down the two positions, with the date and a rough count, is more useful than guessing.
When two nests are close together, such as one in the roof and another in the shed, the traffic may overlap. A short written note of what you saw, at what time and from which direction, helps to sort out which is which.
Resist the urge to follow the wasps to find the second entrance. Standing near a nest to track flight lines is a good way to be stung. A few minutes of quiet observation from a distance, repeated on different days, is far safer.
What an extra nest costs
The price is straightforward. A nest costs a fixed £120 per nest to treat. An additional nest on the same property is £60 extra, so a second nest costs less than the first.
The price does not change with the position of the nest or the time of day, and there is no call-out charge. If both nests are known at the time of booking, they can usually be dealt with in the same visit. If the second one turns up later, you can book again.
It helps to tell the technician about every site you know of when you ring, so that the visit covers them all.
Remember that the extra nest price applies to a nest on the same property. If the second nest is on a different property, such as a neighbour’s, it is a separate booking and a separate matter.
Booking both at once also saves you effort, because the technician can plan the visit around the two locations and deal with them in a sensible order.
Preventing a third
A second nest is a reminder to look at the whole property. Walk round and check each place that could host a nest: the roofline, the loft, the walls, the sheds, the hedges and the ground. Close any gaps you can, once they are clear of wasps, and watch the rest.
Keep up the weekly look until the end of summer. By October, activity will fade, and by November the nests will be empty. Winter is the time to repair gaps and clear away the old nests.
A fresh look in late June and again in early August catches most late arrivals. Late nests are usually smaller, but they can still be a nuisance if they are near a door or a seating area.
Making a booking
Our technicians treat nests at homes and commercial premises in Guston and nearby villages. Our technicians are fully insured and qualified, and you are promised one visit guaranteed.
Call us on 01622 410 019 or use the contact page at /contact-us/. Seven days a week, we can arrange same-day attendance or an evening or weekend slot. If someone in your household is allergic to stings, mention it at booking so that the visit can be prioritised.
Please list every location in your enquiry, however minor it seems, and give a rough idea of the height and access of each.
A second nest does not mean the first visit was wasted. It means the property is a good place for wasps, and that is information you can use when you repair gaps in winter.
Wasps on your property in Guston?
Fixed price £120 per nest, no call-out charge, same-day service available.