Over the next few months, you will be noticing bees, wasps, and yellow jackets returning. As warmer weather arrives, so do the stinging insects! Elizabethtown provides the perfect summer temps to keep these pests happy and content. If stinging insects settle in around your home to nest, you could be in trouble. While they are helpful in pollinating our flowers and eating pest insects that bother our gardens, this doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to keep a hornet's nest attached to your porch. We don’t recommend trying to remove nests on your own, however, as it can be very dangerous. Bees, wasps, and yellow jackets all have the ability to sting. Their sting is painful and can cause severe allergic reactions in some people.
Since bees have a barbed stinger, they will lose it once they sting once. The barb allows the stinger to remain in the victim. When the bee loses its stinger, a part of its abdomen is also lost; this causes the bee to die after stinging. This same idea is commonly associated with wasps as well, but this is false. Wasps and yellow jackets do not lose their stinger, so they have the ability to sting multiple times. Wasps and bees tend to be aggressive only when defending their nests, and if they perceive a threat. Yellow jackets are on the higher end of the aggressive scale, and are very territorial. They are more apt to swarm and track targets. No matter which stinging insect you're dealing with, they can be unsafe to have around your home and family.
What’s Attracting Stinging Insects To My Elizabethtown Yard?
To prevent bees, wasps, and yellow jackets from moving onto your property, you must first know what’s attracting them. There are multiple factors that could be drawing their attention. Stinging insects are pollinators, so the more flowers you have, the more appealing your property is. It’s not just flowers, however; all gardens and varying plants can attract stinging insects, as they enjoy feeding on garden-damaging pests. Trash receptacles and sweet smells, including barbecues and perfumes, will also be an attractant. Yellow jackets hunt arachnids. If flies are attracted to your property (from sweet smells or trash bins), arachnids will follow, as will stinging insects - one after another. Last, but not least, areas to build nests can draw stinging insects to your property. Eaves, under porches, siding, and other nooks can provide the perfect protection for their nests.
Protection Tips:
- Ensure screen are all intact.
- Cover trash with airtight lids.
- Keep food covered.
- Trim foliage away from your home.
- Contact professional pest control.
Our previous blogs can give you more tips on how to protect yourself against bees, wasps, and yellow jackets.
Don’t let stinging insects cause you problems this summer. Contact Action Pest Control if you notice them on your property. Our certified technicians will inspect your property and successfully remove nests. Read more about our stinging insect control, and contact Action Pest Control today to get started!