Wasp Control for Goldthorpe Restaurants, Pubs and Commercial Premises

Pavement tables and outdoor seating put customers beside wasp flight paths, so café and pub owners need a plan for when a nest turns up beside the terrace.

The appeal of the terrace, and its drawback

Outdoor seating is a valuable extra for a café or pub, particularly in the warmer months. It also puts customers close to hedges, planters, walls and awnings, and any of those could hold a wasp nest. Customers who came to relax find themselves ducking away from a nest entrance they cannot even see.

A colony starts in early April when the weather allows, and its numbers keep climbing into August. By then a nest may contain as many as 2,000 wasps, and the busy foraging flights go straight over the nearest tables. If your terrace gets sun in the afternoon, you will notice the traffic at that time of day.

For a business in Goldthorpe, in the Dearne Valley, the first step is not an expensive one: look carefully at what is within a few metres of your tables.

Cafés and pubs with decking, a patio or a paved courtyard are in a particularly difficult position because their customers sit very close to the structure of the building. Brickwork, window frames and fascias are all places where wasps may choose to build.

Not every wasp that visits your tables comes from your own premises, but if they keep returning in good numbers, the nest is usually very near.

Where nests hide near outdoor seating

Think of everything that is warm, sheltered and not often touched:

• the space behind an awning box or canopy;
• a gap in a wall, below a window ledge or in the render;
• planters, compost bags or garden storage stacked at the side;
• overgrown hedge, dense shrubs and low branches;
• gaps in stone or brick paving edges where soil has crumbled;
• a hole in nearby soil or a grass verge.

Look at each in turn from a distance, in the middle of a sunny day when wasps are busy. If you see a regular line of wasps heading into one point, mark it in your mind and keep customers away. Never poke it with a stick or shine a torch into it.

Looking after the customers outside

Here is a workable approach for the day you find the nest and the day it is treated.

1. Move any seats and tables nearest to the flight path to the opposite side of the terrace, and let customers know why.
2. Take dishes and glasses away swiftly, and cover sugary items such as cake slices and ice-cream.
3. Keep bins with lids closed and set away from seats.
4. Tell staff to avoid swatting, and to stay calm when serving near wasps.
5. Put a simple sign out if an area is closed, so customers do not wander into it.
6. Phone to arrange a visit the same day if you can.

If someone is stung, wash the spot and use a cold pack after removing the sting if it is visible. Swelling of the face, lips or throat, wheezing, difficulty breathing, dizziness or a widespread rash means calling 999.

Staff are better prepared if they have thought about it beforehand, so spend a minute explaining the plan before opening. Make sure that no one is required to carry trays past the closed area, and that whoever is locking up knows where the cones or signs belong.

How the service handles a trade premises

The Wasp Exterminator deals with wasp nests for domestic and commercial customers, and its technicians are fully insured and qualified. The price is fixed at £70 for a nest, with £25 for another nest on the same property and no call-out charge. If the nest is in a place that needs special access equipment, the price might be more, and the figure is confirmed on the phone before the technician visits. Nothing is done until the customer agrees.

The company works seven days a week and offers same-day service. For a café that makes most of its money at the weekend, that may mean the difference between a ruined Saturday and a normal one. When you call, say which hours the terrace is quietest and where the nest seems to be.

A few things are worth mentioning that make the call easier: how many tables are affected, whether the nest is above or below head height, whether the terrace is on the pavement or in a private yard, and whether anyone is waiting to let the technician through a gate.

Booking, then recovering the space

You can ring 07798 792 774 or send the online booking form or contact page. The technician for your area is alerted by text message and email, whatever day it is.

Once the nest is treated, some stray wasps might return for a short while to where the nest used to be. Keep the tables clean and cover the sweet items, and they will soon give up. If you would like to know whether the empty nest can be taken down, ask when you book, as that is a question for the technician. Check that nothing else on the terrace looks like a possible nesting spot, and make a note in your diary to look again in early April.

If the nest was in a hedge or planter, trimming back overgrown growth near the seating over winter can make the area easier to inspect when spring returns. Do not do any cutting while wasps are active.

Sharing the pavement and leased spaces

Pavement seating often sits on land that is not wholly yours, and walls or planters may belong to a neighbour or landlord. If you are unsure who should authorise the work, check your lease or licence paperwork, or ask the property owner or neighbour. Do not let that delay a phone call, because a nest does not wait and the technician can advise on what to arrange before the visit.

Where the nest turns out to be on a neighbour’s side of a wall, the technician can still tell you what is possible once the owner agrees.

Frequently asked questions

More wasp advice for Goldthorpe