Wasps, Bees or Hornets? Identification Advice for Wisbech Property Owners

Instead of looking at the insect, watch what it does. In Wisbech terraces with small yards and in the gardens near farmland, the behaviour of the insects around food, bins and ground tells you most of what you need.

Around food and drink

Wasps are attracted to sugar and protein, and from late summer you will find them on drinks, fruit and bin lids. They are persistent and return after being waved away. Bees do not go for your lunch. A bee on your drink is rare, and one at a sticky bin is much more likely to be a wasp.

Around flowers

Bumblebees and honey bees work flowers methodically, moving from bloom to bloom. Wasps visit flowers too, but briefly, and mostly for nectar. Ivy in flower in autumn draws a crowd, including the ivy bee, a small bee that looks a bit wasp-like and which nests in sandy soil. It is harmless.

Around holes in the ground

• A fast, straight stream in and out of one hole: probably wasps.
• A slow trickle of furry insects: probably bumblebees.
• Many separate small holes with single bees: solitary bees.

Around the house

A nest in the building shows as one entrance with steady traffic, often under tiles, at a soffit or through an air brick. In a terrace, a nest next door can still send wasps into your yard and sometimes into your loft.

Hornets

A big insect, with a brown and amber body, that flies on into the evening is worth a photograph. Do not approach it.

Wisbech yards, farmland edges and old buildings

Wisbech has Georgian streets near the Brink, terraced homes with small yards, and farmland close by, so insects have a good deal of choice. Ground nests are more likely on grassy banks and field edges, while terraces offer lofts and gaps beside chimneys. If a nest is on land you do not own, such as a neighbour's yard or a verge, tell the owner, because it is their decision and their responsibility. For anyone in a Wisbech terrace where the loft is shared or the roof void runs along several houses, it is worth knowing that a colony can use gaps between properties, so keep a note of which wall the insects seem to be heading for.

What we do

A wasp nest in Wisbech is £90 fixed, with no call-out fee. You can read more on the Wisbech wasp nest page and the cost guide. A pest inspection and survey costs £120.

Ring 01223 902388 or WhatsApp us what the insects are doing and where.