Wasps

Identifying Wasps

• Wasps differ from bees in many ways:
• Bees tend to have ‘furry’ or ‘hairy looking’ bodies
• Wasps have very definite black and yellow stripes, bees’ stripes vary between amber and brown
• Hoverflies have only one pair of wings – bees and wasps have two pairs.
• Many species of hoverfly are slightly more orange in colour than yellow
• The characteristic hovering of hoverflies in not found in bees and wasps

Prevention of Wasps

It is extremely difficult to prevent wasps starting a nest in your house if they want to be there, as they can gain access through very small gaps. You can help to prevent attracting wasps in the summer by keeping fruit and sweet foods and drinks in the fridge or sealed containers. Wasps do not reinhabit a nest once it has been abandoned in the autumn / winter but can build a new nest in the same area the next year.