Limited time: Get $75 off your initial pest control service.

See all offers →

★★★★★

Nearly 40,000 5-star reviews · Family-owned since 2003

100% satisfaction guaranteed

1 (888) 239-BUGS
Get a Free Quote

Service

Wasp & Hornet Control

Wasp and hornet nests handled as part of your year-round program rather than a call-out.

1 (888) 239-BUGS or fill out the form for a free quote →

100% Guaranteed. if they're not dead, we're not done.

$75 off initial

Limited-time offer

Get $75 off your initial service.

Free estimates & quotes

No spam, ever.

Nearly 40,000 5-star reviews

100% satisfaction guarantee, if they're not dead, we're not done.

Licensed & insured Family-owned Pet & family safe

Direct answer

What does wasp and hornet control cover?

Wasp and hornet control in your area is covered under the year-round home program. Nests appear under eaves, soffits and screened enclosures through the warm months, and they are handled on your scheduled visits rather than as a separate call-out. Getting onto a program means you are not dealing with nests on your own every spring.

The stinging insects we treat across our markets.

Florida, Texas and South Carolina homes deal with the same handful of common stinging insects every spring and summer. They build different nests in different spots, and they need different approaches.

Paper wasps

Polistes species. Slender, long dangling legs, reddish-brown to dark brown with yellow markings. Build the small open umbrella-shaped paper nests you see hanging under eaves, porch ceilings, soffits, shutters, mailboxes, playsets and grill covers. Less aggressive than yellowjackets but will defend the nest if disturbed.

Yellowjackets

Vespula and Dolichovespula species. Short, stocky, bold black-and-yellow striped abdomen. Nest in the ground in old burrows, in wall voids, attic eaves and behind shutters. The most persistent scavenger at picnics, soda cans and trash bins in late summer. Colonies hit several thousand workers by fall. Defend the nest aggressively when disturbed.

Bald-faced hornets

Dolichovespula maculata. Larger than yellowjackets, glossy black with a white face and white markings on the abdomen. Build the big gray football-shaped paper nests you see hanging from tree branches, eaves, sheds and porch ceilings. Highly defensive of the nest. Will pursue intruders well away from it. Colonies can reach several hundred workers.

European hornet

Vespa crabro. The largest stinging insect most homeowners will see, about an inch long, brown with orange-yellow markings. Nests in hollow trees, wall voids, attics and sheds rather than hanging in the open. Unlike most wasps it is also active at night and is drawn to porch lights. Defends the nest aggressively if disturbed.

Cicada killers show up too. Your technician identifies what's active on your property and treats accordingly.

Specialized treatments

Dealing with one of these specifically?

These get their own dedicated treatment approach, different from our standard wasp & hornet control.

Mud Dauber Control

How to know it's a stinging-insect problem

Signs you've got an active nest.

Stinging insects don't hide. These are the signs your technician looks for during a wasp inspection, and the situations that should send you inside and to the phone instead of out for a closer look.

  • Paper-wasp umbrella under the eave

    Small open papery nest, the size of a quarter to a softball, hanging from a single stalk under the eave, porch ceiling, soffit, mailbox or shutter. The exposed comb cells point downward and you can usually see workers tending the brood. Easy to miss until you walk under it.

  • Bald-faced hornet football in a tree or eave

    Large gray football- or basketball-shaped paper nest hanging from a tree branch, eave, gable end, shed roof or porch ceiling. Single hole near the bottom with steady traffic in and out. Do not get close. Bald-faced hornets pursue intruders well away from the nest.

  • Yellowjackets flying in and out of a hole in the ground

    Steady traffic of striped yellowjackets going to and from a small dirt hole in the lawn, at the base of a tree, in a retaining-wall void or under a shed step. Often discovered by a lawnmower, which is exactly when the colony defends violently.

  • Wasps disappearing into a wall void or soffit

    A steady column of wasps or yellowjackets flying to one specific gap in your siding, soffit, gable vent, weep hole or behind a shutter is a wall-void or void-space nest. Do not seal the entry hole. Trapped workers will chew through drywall to find another exit and end up inside your house. Call us first.

  • Mud tubes on stucco, brick or siding

    Pencil-width mud tubes stuck to stucco, brick, siding or under the eaves are mud-dauber nests, not paper wasps or hornets. Mud daubers behave differently and are covered on our Mud Dauber Control page.

  • Repeated stings around the yard

    Stings on family members or pets, especially after mowing or yard work, usually mean a hidden ground or wall nest you haven't found yet.

Where stinging insects nest

The same harborage spots. Every spring.

Foundress queens scouting in spring look for the same protected, structure-shaded harborage every year. Treating those spots and removing last year's nest material is what keeps the structure from re-colonizing.

Eaves, soffits & gable ends

The single most common nest spot on residential homes. Protected from rain, warmed by the roof and easy for queens to anchor a paper or hornet nest. We treat these surfaces with a residual that knocks down scouting queens before they can build.

Wall voids, shutters & gable vents

Gaps in siding, behind shutters, around gable vents and weep holes give yellowjackets and paper wasps direct access to wall voids and attic eaves, the most dangerous nest type because you can't see the colony size and trapped workers chew into the home if you seal the entry.

Ground nests in lawn & landscaping

Yellowjackets take over old chipmunk and vole burrows, rotted stump cavities, the void at the base of retaining walls and any small opening in mulch beds. We treat the entry directly at dusk and the nest dies overnight.

Sheds, garages & outbuildings

Undisturbed corners under the rafters of sheds, detached garages, pool houses and storage buildings are textbook paper-wasp and bald-faced hornet harborage. They're protected, warm and rarely walked through by people.

Trees, shrubs & dense landscaping

Bald-faced hornet footballs hang from tree branches and dense shrubs against the house. Paper wasps build inside the foliage of crepe myrtles, magnolias and ornamental shrubs. Surprise discoveries during pruning are how a lot of homeowners get stung.

Playsets, mailboxes, grills & patio furniture

Paper wasps love anything kid-and-pet-traffic-adjacent that's protected from rain, the underside of playset roofs, inside mailboxes, the underside of grill lids that haven't been opened in a while, and inside the cushions of stored patio furniture. These are the first spots to point out to your technician.

Our treatment process

Inspect. Treat. Prevent.

Every job starts with a full inspection so the treatment plan fits your home, not a checklist.

  1. 01

    Inspection. Find every nest before we treat

    Stinging insect work is a safety job. Your technician walks the entire exterior. Eaves, soffits, gable vents, porch ceilings, shutters, exterior light fixtures, gas meter housings, mailboxes, playsets, fence posts, the underside of deck rails, and checks the lawn and landscaping for ground-nesting yellowjacket holes. We identify the species before we treat, because paper wasps, yellowjackets and bald-faced hornets all need different approaches.

  2. 02

    Treat the nest directly with proper PPE

    Your technician wears full protective gear and treats each active nest at the source, at dusk or early morning when the colony is in the nest and least active. We don't blanket-spray the structure hoping to catch wasps in the air; we treat the nest where the queen and brood live.

  3. 03

    Knock down nests & de-web the exterior

    Once the nest is treated and the colony is down, we physically remove accessible paper-wasp umbrellas, mud-dauber tubes and old hornet nests so the structure isn't left advertising harborage to the next queen scouting in spring. We sweep eaves, soffits, porch ceilings and exterior light fixtures as part of every visit.

  4. 04

    Perimeter residual & recurring service

    We apply a residual to the eaves, soffits, gable vents and known nest-building zones so foundress queens scouting next spring run into treated surface before they can establish. Recurring exterior service through the warm months keeps the structure from re-colonizing.

Between visits

A few habits that help.

Treatment carries the work. These quick habits keep pressure low between visits.

  • Knock down small starter nests in early spring before they grow.
  • Seal gaps in siding, gable vents and behind shutters so wasps can't access voids.
  • Keep trash cans covered and rinse soda cans before they go in outdoor bins.
  • Paint and seal exposed softwood trim, fascia and deck rails.
  • Never seal a wall-void nest without treating it first. Trapped workers chew inside.

Service areas

Wasp & Hornet Control by region

All service areas
Rainbow Row pastel historic homes in downtown Charleston SC

Wasp & Hornet Control in Greater Charleston / Lowcountry

Downtown Houston skyline at dusk over Buffalo Bayou TX

Wasp & Hornet Control in Greater Houston

Downtown Tampa skyline at sunset across the Hillsborough River FL

Wasp & Hornet Control in Greater Tampa Bay

Castillo de San Marcos historic Spanish fort in St. Augustine FL

Wasp & Hornet Control in Northeast Florida

Naples Pier at sunset over the Gulf of Mexico FL

Wasp & Hornet Control in Southwest Florida

Rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center on Florida's Space Coast FL

Wasp & Hornet Control in Space Coast

FAQ

Wasp & Hornet Control questions.

What's the difference between a wasp, a hornet and a yellowjacket?
All three are stinging insects in the same family (Vespidae) but they look and behave differently. Paper wasps are slender with long dangling legs and build small open umbrella-shaped nests under eaves and porch ceilings. Yellowjackets are short and stocky with bold yellow and black stripes, they nest in the ground, in wall voids and in old rodent burrows, and they're the most aggressive scavengers around picnics and trash cans. Hornets (bald-faced hornet, European hornet) are the largest. Bald-faced hornets build the big gray football-shaped paper nests you see hanging in trees and from eaves.
Should I just knock down a wasp or hornet nest myself?
No, and especially not a yellowjacket or bald-faced hornet nest. A single colony can hold hundreds to thousands of workers, and disturbing the nest without protective gear almost always ends in multiple stings. Nests on the structure are handled as part of your recurring pest control service, so point them out to your technician.
How fast can you get a nest treated?
Active nests near doorways, porches, playsets and kid- and pet-traffic areas are handled as a priority under your pest control program. Call your local office, tell them where the nest is and how many wasps or hornets you're seeing, and we'll get a technician out.
Can I just spray the nest with hardware-store wasp killer?
Aerosol cans from the hardware store can knock down a small, accessible paper-wasp nest if you spray it at night, hit it directly and have a clear escape route. They are not the right tool for a yellowjacket ground nest, a wall-void nest or any bald-faced hornet nest. Those colonies are too large, too aggressive and too well-protected for a 20-foot can. Foggers don't work at all on stinging insects. If the nest is anywhere near the front door, garage, porch, playset or pet area, just call us.
Are the wasps in my yard dangerous?
Wasps and hornets can sting more than once, and yellowjacket and bald-faced hornet nests defend aggressively when disturbed. Keep children and pets away from any active nest and point it out to your technician so it can be treated on your service visit.
What should I do if I'm stung?
Move away from the nest immediately. Wasps and yellowjackets release an alarm pheromone when they sting that recruits more workers. Wash the sting site with soap and water, apply a cold pack to reduce swelling, take an antihistamine if itching or swelling is significant, and watch for signs of allergic reaction. If you have hives spreading away from the sting site, swelling of the lips, tongue or throat, trouble breathing, dizziness or fainting, call 911. This is anaphylaxis and it's a medical emergency.
I keep seeing yellowjackets but I can't find a nest. What's going on?
Yellowjackets often nest in places you can't see. In the ground (an old chipmunk burrow, a void at the base of a stump or retaining wall), inside wall voids and soffits, behind shutters, or in attic eaves. Watch where the workers are flying to and from at dawn and dusk; you'll see a steady traffic line going to one specific spot, the nest entrance. If it's in a wall void, do not seal the opening. Trapped workers will chew through drywall to find another exit and end up inside your house. Call us first.
Why are wasps so aggressive in late summer and fall?
By late summer the colony has hit peak size and the available food is dropping off. Workers shift from hunting protein for the brood to scavenging sugars for themselves, which is why every cookout, soda can and trash bin is suddenly covered in yellowjackets. The colony also gets defensively aggressive as it protects the year's new queens. The whole colony dies off after the first hard freeze (only the new queens overwinter), but until then late-summer pressure is real.
What about honey bees and bumble bees?
We don't treat honey bee swarms or established honey bee colonies. They're a protected pollinator and the right call is a local beekeeper who can remove and relocate them. Call us with questions and we can help identify what you're seeing and refer you to a beekeeper if it's actually honey bees. Carpenter bees (large, shiny black abdomens, drilling perfectly round holes in wood fascia and trim) are a wood-boring pest we do treat. Bumble bees are pollinators and we generally leave them alone unless the nest is in a high-traffic conflict spot.
Will the nest come back next year if I leave it?
An old paper or hornet nest is not reused, the colony dies off in winter and new queens start fresh nests in spring. But the structure that hosted last year's nest is exactly the harborage scouting queens look for again. Removing old nests, sealing exterior gaps and applying a residual to the eaves and soffits in spring is what keeps the structure from re-colonizing year after year.
Do you treat carpenter bees?
Yes. Carpenter bees drill clean half-inch round holes in fascia, soffit edges, deck rails, fence posts and any unpainted softwood. We treat the galleries directly with a residual dust applied into the entry hole, then seal the holes after the bees are gone so the same gallery isn't reused. Painting and sealing exposed softwood is a major prevention step.
Can my family and pets be home after wasp treatment?
Yes, once treated surfaces have fully dried, as directed. Products are EPA-registered and applied according to label directions to the nest and the immediate exterior surface, not to play areas, garden beds or living spaces. We ask you to keep kids and pets indoors during the visit and for a short re-entry window your technician will give you on site.

Get wasp & hornet control for your home.

100% Guaranteed. if they're not dead, we're not done.

Schedule Your Inspection 1 (888) 239-BUGS

Ready when you are

Let's protect your home.

Tell us what you've seen and where. We'll get a local technician out to inspect your home and put together a wasp & hornet control plan that fits. Backed by our 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Get Your Free Quote 1 (888) 239-BUGS

Local office direct lines