Bees and wasps can be extremely dangerous to people who are allergic to stings. Reducing the risk of wasp attacks is important, as a wasp nest on your property could be putting a neighbour or a passer-by at risk.
We’ve got the right gear and the safety equipment to tackle bee hives and wasp nests safely.
European wasps can get extremely aggressive if provoked. When they sting, they release a pheromone that calls all other wasps in the area to you. Worse still, getting swarmed by wasps could be fatal, if you don’t have the right safety equipment.
Bees are less dangerous than European wasps, but they can still attack in large numbers if their hive is disturbed. In Autumn, they can still be highly aggressive.
European wasps are an aggressive invasive species that must be controlled. Unfortunately, there’s no other option for these wasps as they out-compete our local bees for food and can damage our ecosystem.
If you see European wasps on your property, you must call a qualified pest controller to remove them. Do not approach the nest or spray them yourself. Especially in Autumn, when they are extremely aggressive. We consider European wasp jobs high-priority, and will normally get there within 48 hours.
Pianto’s Pest Control use a powered dust blower to inject an insecticidal dust directly into the wasp nest. As forager wasps return to the nest at night, they track the dust further into the nest. This eliminates the colony and gets the queen.
Importantly, we recommend that your first consideration be to remove and relocate bees. Although Australia has one of the world’s healthiest bee populations, we believe we should keep it that way by keeping them alive.
Our team can recommend a local apiarist to come and remove your bees. What’s more, we keep a list of local apiarists on hand who can do this. To boot, most apiarist don’t charge you for it. In time, we also intend to add hive removal and relocation to our list of services in the near future.
Sometimes the hive is too far inside a wall and would require removing plaster or brickwork to remove. We also need to consider allergies and nearby children (i.e. in schools). You also may not want to wait for a removalist or can’t afford it.
In these cases, we have no choice but to eliminate the bees. This is a service we offer, and the process is very quick.
Pest managers blow an insecticidal dust into the entry points, which travels into the hive. As foragers return to the hive they bring the dust further into the hive, which eliminates the colony.
In Australia, the European wasp (Vespula germanica) is a well-established pest. This non-native wasp was discovered in Australia for the first time in Tasmania in 1959. They were also well-known in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, and Western Australia by 1978.
European wasps are large with bright yellow and black banded abdomens and two black spots on each yellow band.
They have two pairs of clear wings, the first of which is larger.
They fly with their legs close to the body and have black antennae.
When their nests are disturbed, European wasps become more aggressive than bees.
Wasps, unlike bees, can sting multiple times and do not die after stinging.
The sting causes a burning sensation as well as swelling. A more severe systemic reaction may occur if there are multiple stings.
Wasp, bee, and ant stings can cause an allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) in some people, but this is uncommon.
There is an effective treatment available, which entails known bee/ant/wasp sting allergy sufferers carrying a special kit when outdoors.
Source: the Australian Museum
Cheap, cost-cutting pesticides can be mixed with nasty solvents and low-quality constituents that can harm the environment. Hardware store pesticides can be even worse.
Pianto’s Pest Control uses high-quality ‘research & development’ chemistry in our treatments for bees and wasps. Moreover, we use an environmentally-friendly product, which is not mixed with harmful solvents.
Dragnet Dust is used in our bees and wasps treatments. Dragnet is a non-scheduled poison, so it’s safe to use around the home. Additionally, It is also double-strength, which means we can use minimal pesticide to get the job done in a targeted way, rather than using a lot of dust that can disperse into the environment or into your home.
Normally, the bees or wasps are gone by the following morning. There may still be some foraging insects returning to the nest after this, but not many.
The dust we use is not a scheduled poison. The active constituent (permethrin) is a safe and natural pesticide that is used in many products such as mosquito repellents.
Insecticidal dust used in the treatment is applied directly to the nest using an injection blower so there is little excess blowing into the environment. Furthermore, we sweep up any spillage or excess to prevent contact, just to be sure.
Yes, for a few hours. Especially in Autumn when new queens are being produced. This goes for both bees and wasps.
We always require that you bring pets inside and don’t go near the treated area until they have calmed down.
These are likely paper wasps.
There are two types of paper wasps in our local area: the Australian Paper Wasp and the Asian Paper Wasp.
If the wasps themselves are reddish-brown, they are likely the Australian Paper Wasps. Thankfully, they can normally be sprayed from a distance with household sprays and knocked down yourself.
However, if the wasps are yellow and black, they are likely Asian Paper Wasps. These are an aggressive introduced species and should be dealt with by a professional.
These are probably mud wasps. Also called mud daubers and dirt daubers, or sometimes ‘hornets’.
There are a few different types of mud wasp in our local area. We’ve got the mud dauber, the potter wasp, and the organ pipe mud dauber.
Do not confuse the mud with termite mud. We have had cases before where termites have gone on un-noticed because the owner thought they were mud wasps.
Normally, unless the adult is visibly present on the outside of the nest, you can just knock these down and spray the contents with bug spray. The adult does not live in the nest, it lays eggs and leaves caught spiders for the larvae to feed on.
An annual spider spray can keep the numbers down, if done at the end of spring.
