Wasp Nest in a Shed in Cambridge

Why Wasps Like Sheds

A queen coming out of hibernation in spring is looking for somewhere sheltered to start a nest. A garden shed ticks every box. It keeps the rain off, it stays fairly still, and for much of the spring nobody opens it.

Timber sheds offer something extra. Wasps build their nests from chewed wood fibre, and weathered fence panels and shed cladding are one of their favourite sources. You may have seen them on a sunny day, scraping pale lines into old wood.

Where in the Shed to Look

• The roof apex and corners, hanging from a rafter or where the roof meets the wall.
• Under the roof felt, entered through a gap at the eaves, so you only see wasps going in from outside.
• Under the floor, in the space between the floor and the base.
• Inside stored things. Folded parasols, boxes, bags of compost, the grass box of a mower, an old coat on a hook.
• Behind shelving or stacked flower pots against the back wall.

If the nest is inside and you can see it, it is usually grey and papery. If it is under the felt or the floor, all you will see is the flight line. Our guide on how to identify wasp nests covers what to look for.

Getting Your Things Out in the Meantime

If you truly need something from the shed before the nest is treated, go in the cool of the early morning when the wasps are less active, move slowly, and do not reach near the nest. Be in and out. If the nest is by the door or directly above where the thing is, leave it; nothing in a shed is worth a face full of wasps.

Do not use a spray inside the shed as you go. In a confined space you are right in the middle of whatever comes out.

Why Treating It Yourself Is Harder Than It Looks

A small, early nest hanging in plain view in a shed is one of the few that some people are able to deal with themselves, and our post on removing a wasp nest yourself is honest about when that is reasonable. Most shed nests found in midsummer are not that. The space is enclosed, you are close to the nest, and there is often only one way out, which is the same door the wasps are using.

Nests under the felt or floor add another problem: the entrance is outside and the nest is somewhere you cannot see. Blocking the gap traps the wasps in with your tools, and they will find another exit.

A shed has one door, and in summer the wasps think it is theirs.

What Treatment Involves

We find the entrance, from inside or out, and treat the nest there. Before we start we tell you what we are using, where it is going, when you can use the shed again and what to do with pets, and ask you to follow those instructions. Where the nest is hanging in view, it can often be taken down once the colony has died, which in a shed is usually practical. The wasp nest removal service explains how the treatment works.

The price is £90 fixed cost for the nest, the same as a nest in a roof, with no call-out fee. Every treatment is guaranteed: if the problem comes back within 14 days of treatment, we return and re-treat free of charge.

Stopping It Next Year

• Open the shed and have a look round every week or two from April onwards. A queen's first nest is small and easy to spot, and she is on her own.
• Seal gaps at the eaves and around the roof felt in winter, when there is nothing living there.
• Keep the shed tidy enough to see into the corners and behind shelving.
• Keep compost bags and grass boxes closed.
• Treat or paint weathered timber, which wasps find less appealing to chew.

An empty nest left over from last year will not be used again, but it tells you the shed suits them. Watch that spot. For a nest in the lawn next to the shed, see wasp nests in the ground. Call 01223 902388.