Wasps vs Bees – How to Identify Them Before Arranging Pest Control in Askern

What an insect wants from your garden is a surprisingly good identifier, because wasps hunt and scavenge while bees collect pollen and nectar and mostly leave your lunch alone.

Watch what they are after

If you cannot get a good look at the body, look at the menu. Wasps and bees want different things, and their choices show up very clearly around a garden table, a bin or a bed of flowers.

Bees are collectors. They work along flowers gathering nectar and pollen, then carry it home. You will see them on lavender, clover, fruit blossom and similar plants, moving steadily from bloom to bloom. They have very little interest in your sandwich.

Wasps are opportunists. Adult workers go after sugary liquids such as fizzy drinks, juice and ice cream, and they also hunt other insects to feed the growing grubs in the nest. That explains why they cruise around barbecues, open bins and fruit lying on the lawn. If an insect keeps landing on your drink can, it is almost certainly a wasp.

The tell-tale signs at a garden table

An outdoor meal is a good natural test. Try to stay calm and still, because swatting makes any insect more defensive.

• An insect that investigates your plate, circles your glass and returns again and again is behaving like a wasp.
• An insect that ignores the food and heads for nearby flowers is much more likely to be a bee.
• One that crawls into a drinks can or bottle neck is a wasp, so check before you sip.
• An insect that hovers over a flower for a moment and then moves along the border is a bee.

Cover food and drinks, and keep sweet rubbish in a lidded bin. This will not remove a nest, but it will tell you how much of the activity is scavenging and how much comes from an established colony nearby.

Where the insects hover tells you something too

Pay attention to where they hang about. Bees concentrate on plants. If the flower bed is humming and the wall is quiet, you are most likely looking at bees doing their job.

Wasps hover and come and go around buildings, sheds and fences, particularly if there is a gap or hole they use as a doorway. A wasp may also spend time scraping at old wood, because workers chew fibres to build the nest. If you can see an insect gnawing at a fence post, that is wasp behaviour, not bee behaviour.

Remember that a handful of wasps at the table can come from a nest some distance away, so the scavenging clue helps most when you also find a regular flight path to one particular opening.

Why getting this right matters

Honeybees and bumblebees pollinate crops and gardens, and they should be left alone wherever possible. If you are fairly sure your visitors are bees, contact a local beekeeper or the relevant bee organisation rather than a wasp treatment service. We treat wasps and will tell you plainly if your description sounds like something else.

With wasps, timing counts. Nests begin in early April depending on the weather, and the colony keeps growing until it peaks in August. A small start in spring can become a very busy nest by late summer, and the closer it is to your door or washing line, the more it tends to interfere with everyday life.

A nest should never be approached by the householder. Wasps can swarm and sting when threatened, and the safest approach is to keep your distance and let a technician deal with it.

Cutting down the attention in the meantime

While you wait for a nest to be dealt with, or while you work out whether there is one at all, a few habits keep wasp encounters down at home. They will not remove the cause, but they make the days more comfortable.

• Keep drinks covered outdoors, and check cans and bottles before you drink from them.
• Clear plates and spilled juice quickly, and wipe sticky surfaces.
• Keep bin lids shut and rinse out recycling that held sweet drinks.
• Pick up windfall fruit from the lawn and under trees.
• Feed pets indoors if you can, or remove bowls as soon as they have finished.

When a wasp does arrive, stay still or move away slowly. Flapping your arms rarely helps and can lead to a sting. Walking calmly indoors and closing the door is usually the safest response.

If you are stung, wash the area, remove the sting if you can see one and apply a cold pack. Call 999 if there is swelling of the face, lips or throat, wheezing or difficulty breathing, dizziness or a widespread rash.

Keep notes on when the visits are heaviest. If the insects arrive in much greater numbers around the middle of the day, that detail helps the technician understand how active the colony has become.

Getting help in Askern

When you ring, describe what the insects were doing as well as what they looked like. Say whether they were after food, whether you can see an entrance, and roughly how high it is. That helps the technician plan the visit.

Treatment of a wasp nest is a fixed price of £70, with a second nest at the same property costing £25 more, and there is no call-out charge. We confirm the price by phone before anyone attends, and nothing goes ahead without your agreement. Where special access equipment is needed to reach a nest, the price might be more, and we will explain that first.

Technicians are fully insured and qualified, work with domestic and commercial customers, and are available seven days a week. You can use the online booking form or the contact page, and the technician covering Askern and the surrounding villages is alerted straight away.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Askern