Watch out! More British Columbians spotting wasp nests this year
Compared to last year, one pest control company said it’s seen more than a 200% increase in calls related to wasps amid a surge of nests popping up around the province.
Jason Page is the owner and general manager of Solutions Pest Control in Vancouver and explained to Daily Hive that the business started to notice it was going to be a “wasp year” when it received an influx come late May and June.
He said in 2022, the business received about 200 to 250 calls but this year, that spiked well over 500 as of the end of August.
Page explained that there are a number of factors to this increase and “determining one specific [reason]… is a fool’s notion.” However, he does suggest the weather BC has experienced in recent years is playing a large role.
For example, Page said the heat dome in 2021 killed off many queens early in the season “and prevented them from building new nests… So we saw a lower 2022 population.”
However, since the summer last year was a bit cooler, “the population in 2022 produced more queens that survived the winter and headed out in the spring of 2023 to start their own nests.”
“And with the lack of rain… it was a mild winter and certainly a dry spring and summer [were] the perfect ingredients for all of this new populace of queens to build.”
So when will this nightmare end?
Wasp/Shutterstock
Page said his business is usually busy responding to wasp calls into late October, but by November, “there’s virtually no wasp calls at that stage.”
“But… it depends on Mother Nature,” he affirmed. “Last October, we had temperatures in the 20[°C range] right up until about a week before Halloween… If we have a similar fall this year like we did last year… we can expect [wasp] activity to continue.”
If BC experiences a mild winter, Page warns next year might be another good year for the wasps (but, of course, a hellish one for the rest of us).
If you have a wasp nest on your property (be it if itâs in a hidden area or in eyesight), Page recommends avoiding contact at all costs.
âYou never know how one is going to react and it’s always safety first,â he insisted.
Especially if a nest is built in an area that puts kids and pets at risk, which he said is absolutely a reason to call pest control for help.
But if the nest is far in reach âand the wasp nest isn’t bothering anybody,â Page suggested itâs not essential to remove it.
âThat one is when you may want to just let go and let Mother Nature take care,â he said. “The birds frequently target it later in the fall as a food source. The nest will always be vacated the following spring anyway, when they build the new one. And it can be knocked down at any point in time over the winter.â
If you’re out hiking and are stung, Page suggests returning to an area where you could potentially seek medical attention. While you may feel fine immediately after the bite, he warns, 20 to 30 minutes later, you could be in danger.
For more information on how to avoid getting stung and keep wasps away, visit the province’s official website.