10 Facts About Wasps Everyone Should Know (Part 2)

In our previous article, we covered numbers one through five in our essential wasp fact list. Understanding more about these insects can protect you and your family when you encounter them. While wasps do benefit their ecosystems, proper wasp nest removal performed by professionals is critical to keep you out of harm’s way. Here is the second half of our top 10 wasp facts.

#6. Only queen wasps live through the winter. While all other wasps die off in the fall, young fertilized queen wasps hibernate through the winter and reawaken in the spring. They find hollowed wooden logs or other empty voids such as cracks between your roof and outdoor walls to seek shelter for the season. If you’re performing renovations, gardening, or tidying up your backyard during this time, it’s best to tread lightly to avoid an unwanted wasp encounter.

#7. Male wasps serve one purpose. Known as drones, their job is to find a queen and mate with her. As soon as they do, the male wasps die.

#8 Wasp colonies have a caste order. Unsurprisingly, queens rule the hive. Next, the caste favors males then worker wasps, which are always female. However, these female wasps do not mate and only lay unfertilized male eggs.

#9 The most abundant type of wasp in the nest are workers. The job of the workers is to protect the nest, feed the larvae, and forage for food.

#10. The end of the summer is the height of the wasp season. Toward the end of the season, the larvae will have transformed into males and new queens, which means they are off to mate and hibernate before the cold kills them off. The original queen of the nest will also die, leaving nothing of the original hive.

Understanding the behaviors and life cycles of wasps can give you insight into their world. In turn, this can help you determine how to manage an infestation without injury and when to call the pros to come to your aid.

Contact a knowledgeable pest removal company.

Don’t let wasps bug you, contact us for wasp control and wasp nest removal in Vancouver, Burnaby, Coquitlam, Pitt Meadows, and Maple Ridge. Avon Pest Control has a team of wasp exterminators who serve Surrey, Delta, White Rock, Langley, and all of Metro Vancouver. Call us today at 604-805-0278 and get rid of wasps in your property – residential or commercial!