How To Keep Wasps Away From Your Washington D.C. Yard
08/23/2021
Stinging insects are extremely dangerous pests here in Washington D.C. For aggressive varieties such as wasps, home and business owners find themse...
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We have a lot of stinging insects in Maryland. But there are only a few that present a serious threat to residents. Today, we're going to take a look at them and see what we can learn that will help to reduce the dangers they pose.
Yellow Jackets
Life comes to a screeching halt when a wasp gets into the house, doesn't it? It is hard to enjoy a television show with a yellow jacket crawling on the wall behind the television and it is hard to play a board game around the kitchen table with one crawling on the inside of a windowpane nearby. But seeing and eliminating one yellow jacket is a simple nuisance. When you're attacked by dozens of angry yellow jackets while mowing your lawn, that is another issue altogether. Yet this is a common occurrence in Maryland. Yellow jackets have a preference for establishing nests in ground holes. All it takes to set them off is the vibration of a lawnmower.
European Paper Wasps
The gray, paper nests these pests create are a common sight in Maryland. If you catch them early, you can knock them down with a broom while the queen is away gathering materials. But what usually happens is nests become large, gray, egg-shaped eyesores filled with worker wasps that don't like it when you get too close. This can set them off and cause them to swarm. While paper wasps aren't nearly as aggressive as yellow jackets, they are more than capable of inflicting several painful wounds. Keep an eye out for developing nests in the springtime.
Carpenter Bees
Do you like to lay out in the sun or do you enjoy relaxing on your screened-in porch? Carpenter bees have a way or ruining outdoor relaxation. When enough of these insects bore their way into the wood of your home, you're going to hear them chewing. To say that it is an unsettling sound would be an understatement. But hearing carpenter bees is actually a good thing. It can prompt you to take action and have a professional eliminate those bees. A more serious problem is when carpenter bees bore into your home and you don't know they're doing it. Year after year, carpenter bees use old tunnels and expand on those tunnels. If they are left untreated, it can lead to frustrating repair costs. It could also cause timbers to be compromised and lead to personal injury.
Eastern Cicada Killer Wasps
This wasp has a scary name, doesn't it? But it is important to note that they aren't called Eastern Human Killers. These stinging pests kill cicadas. They don't have any interest in stinging people. The Eastern cicada killer wasp is a solitary wasp; not a social wasp. It doesn't swarm. It doesn't have a nest-protection instinct. And, unless you sit on one or handle one, you're not likely to get stung. But having these pests in your yard can be a serious problem. Eastern cicada killers dig burrows and excavate an impressive amount of soil. This makes them a frustrating lawn pest. Keep this in mind if you see 2-inch wasps flying around in your yard.
Baldfaced Hornets
These hornets are technically wasps, and they are cousins of the yellow jacket. They get their hornet name because of their large size and preference for creating aerial nests. If you see a large, grey nest on your home, don't be too quick to assume it is a paper wasp nest. Doing so could get you in trouble. Baldfaced hornets are far more aggressive than paper wasps and they often have sentries that fly around the outside of their nests. These sentries make it much more difficult to get close to a baldfaced hornets' nest without being swarmed and stung.
Stinging Insect Control
The best way to prevent the problems stinging insects can present is to have routine inspections from a licensed pest management professional. Inspections like this are a part of the residential pest control service we provide at American Pest. If you're concerned about stinging pests, Preferred Care is a great place to start taking back your yard and protecting your home. With Preferred Care you get coverage for over 30 common Maryland pests, including several stinging insects. Reach out to us today to schedule a free in-home pest control estimate. We'll help you figure out what pest pressures you're dealing with and guide you toward a pest control plan that is right for your specific needs and budget. Stinging insects aren't the only scary pests we battle. Get protected today!
