Global climate change is now having very obvious affects on our weather...  resulting in warmer, dryer, spring months and extreme summer heatwaves.  As temperatures increase however, so does the menace of wasps and hornets.

NOWASP are specialist exterminators dedicated to the control of wasps and the removal of their nests.  To put the wasp and hornet problem into perspective, we are now responding to more than double the emergency call-outs than we were just three years ago!

So that you can easily find the help you need locally, we've structured this site to reflect the geographical areas covered by our two operating centres...  just follow the links at the top of the page.

If you want to know more about wasp species, their life cycle and habits, plus the real risk posed by the Asian Giant Hornet (sometimes known as the 'Murder Hornet'), you'll find more interesting information at the foot of this page.

Eliminating a wasp colony is a potentially dangerous process, requiring hands-on treatment of the nest with professional insecticide, and the use of specialised protective clothing...  which is why we never suggest attempting such a drastic intervention yourself!

WASP NEST REMOVAL

Although both wasp and hornet nests are never re-occupied the following year, NOWASP can return and completely remove the empty, but unsightly, nest once the treatment has had time to work...  which can be important when you come to sell your property in the future!

You won't get stung by NOWASP!

On each regional sector page you'll find clear, itemised, pricing for all treatment options...  plus any restriction or surcharges that may apply.

NOWASP is a family brand, owned by brothers Nick and Dave Atkinson, with two dedicated centres of operation, covering South and West Wales (from Llanelli), and the Three Counties area (from Hereford).

Go to the SOUTH & WEST WALES centre for Swansea, Llanelli or Carmarthen...  or, if you live in Hereford, Gloucester or Monmouth, visit HEREFORD & THREE COUNTIES.

NOWASP SOUTH WALES
Alpha Pest Control (Pest Cymru)
15 Swiss Valley,
Llanelli, SA14 8BS
01554 956 209

visit the Pest Cymru website

---

INTERESTING INFORMATION

COMMON UK WASP SPECIES

Although there are thousands of wasp species in the world, the predominant species in the UK are the 'yellow jackets' of the Vespidae family.  These are to be found living in nests with a queen and infertile workers or 'drones'. 

LIFE CYCLE

Unlike bees, who live off the honey they stored from the summer, wasps die out in the winter...  with the exception of the colony's queen.

Queens lie dormant over winter in small nests, about the size of a golf ball.  On emerging in the early spring, queen wasps will initially lay unfertilised eggs to produce male 'drone' wasps and populate a new colony.  But queens are also able to store sperm internally so, when triggered to do so by day length and temperature, she will use this stored sperm to fertilise eggs and produce additional queens.

Queens are produced twice yearly, firstly in April or May, to launch new colonies throughout the summer...  then again in September or October to provide a healthy stock of queens for the following spring.

It is very common to see wasps entering and emerging from roof spaces where you may even be able to see the nest without approaching.  Depending on how long they have been building, the size of a wasp nest can vary between that of a melon, to a medicine ball....  although most people tend to have them treated before they achieve that size.  Both wasp and hornet's nests are constructed from plant fibre, mostly wood pulp that is cemented in place using the wasps's own secretions.

Wasps feed off plant nectar but they have been known to attack bee hives, kill the bees, and feed off the honey inside.  Later in the year when semi rotten fruit is available, they become more aggressive, effectively drunk, and are more likely to sting you.

There are insectiside products available over the counter, but you would need to come into physical contact with the nest in order to to treat it, hugely increasing the likelihood of stings.  Although wasp stings are more painful than deadly, in rare cases, people have been known to suffer from life threatening anaphylactic shock.

Always call in the services of a professional pest controller such as NOWASP, who can use the correct industrial strength products and professional protective clothing to treat your wasp problem.

HORNETS

Generally a lot larger than wasps, hornets can measure up to 2 inches in length!  Like wasps, queen hornets, once fertilised, store sperm internally until they are ready to determine what sex of offspring are required.  When they have made a starter nest, the first hatch is generally made up of fertile queens and they are responsible for maintaining and enlarging the nest, foraging for food and care of the larvae...  whilst the male adult hornets (or drones) have one role, to fertilise queens for the following year.  Once that role has been accomplished they die.  As with wasps, only fertilised queens are able to survive over winter.

Also like wasps, hornets are able to deliver multiple stings, because their stings are not barbed.  Because of the higher levels of toxins hornets are able to deliver with each sting, they are more painful than wasp stings.  Although very painful, hornet stings are rarely fatal unless suffered by an allergic victim, and there have been reports of horses and cows, having disturbed a hornets nest, being stung to death!

To get rid of a hornet nest the treatment is similar to treating a wasps nest but, because of the increased levels of toxins in their stings, do not attempt this yourself, call in NOWASP Llanelli or Hereford.

GIANT ASIAN HORNETS!

There have been a growing number of the much larger asian hornets reported recently, but it is thought that they originated from queen hornets that have 'stowed away' in vehicles travelling from Europe, and Asian Hornets are not generally considered to have become established in the UK yet.

Although double the size of the European Hornet and scarey looking, Giant Asian Hornets are not particularly aggressive toward humans...  but pose a huge threat to the UK's bee population and any sightings are notifiable.  The English Channel is helping to keep the Asian hornet at bay in the UK, but with reports and sightings growing, it is perhaps just a matter of time before they do become established.

Beekeepers have been on high alert for over a decade and through local Asian Hornet Teams and the National Bee Unit, nests are tracked down whenever new sightings are made.

For identification information and to report a sighting of a Giant Asian Hornet or their nest, go to the Great Britain Non-native Species Secretariat website.