Stinging Insects
About
Causing fear and making it so people can’t enjoy their own outdoor spaces, stinging insects are formidable pests. Opportunistic, stinging insects build a nest wherever there is plenty of food, water, and shelter. Unfortunately, our yards and homes provide stinging insects with some of their favorite nesting spots, such as tree branches, shrubs, ground holes, roof eaves, decks, wooden playsets, chimneys, wall voids, and doorways. Our yards also provide them with plenty of places to forage like gardens, flowering trees and landscaping, compost piles, trash cans, and recycling bins.
Some of the more common species of stinging insects to take up residence in our Virginia yards include wasps, hornets, mud daubers, and carpenter bees. If stinging insects place their nests in an area away from our home and the high traffic areas of our yards, they typically don’t cause many problems for people. But, when they do place a nest near us, they become dangerous. They use their stingers to defend themselves and some to paralyze prey. Stings can happen accidentally when walking through your yard barefoot, gardening, or placing your hand somewhere a bee, wasp, or hornet is resting. They also sting if they feel you are a threat to themselves or their nest. If a stinging insect builds a nest in a less than ideal place in your yard, call a professional for help.
Matar Termite & Pest Control can help you eliminate stinging insects from your Virginia home or yard through our effective pest control solutions and the following prevention tips:
- Keep lids on trash cans and recycling bins to keep foraging stinging insects and the insects they feed on away from your yard.
- Limit the number of flowering plants located near your home.
- Cut back tree branches and shrubbery from your home to help prevent a nest from being built right next to your house.
- Keep a cap on your chimney.
- Fill in ground holes that develop in your yard.
- Keep screens in windows and doors to keep wandering, stinging insects from gaining entry into your home.