What Should You Do If You Find an Active Wasp Nest in Duxford?

Plenty of people find an active nest by accident: the mower goes past a bank, a strimmer clips a hedge bottom, a shed door gets opened for the first time since spring. If that has just happened in Duxford, move away from the spot at once, and do not go back for the mower yet.

If You Have Just Disturbed One

1. Walk away, do not run in a panic and do not swat. Wasps are drawn to movement near the nest, and swatting tends to make it worse.
2. Get indoors and close the door behind you if you can. A few wasps may follow, but they will settle.
3. Check for stings, and for the rest of the household and pets.
4. Leave tools and machinery where they are. The sound and vibration of an engine will set wasps off again.

If anyone develops swelling of the face or throat, trouble breathing or feels faint after a sting, call 999.

Ground Nests and Outbuildings

Duxford has older cottages with sheds and brick outbuildings, and newer houses with big lawns, and both give wasps options. Nests in the ground are the ones most often walked into, because they look like nothing more than a small hole in a bank or lawn edge with wasps coming and going. Other typical places are:

• old rodent burrows under hedges and in banks
• garages, lean-tos and sheds with a gap under the door
• under roof tiles and in the eaves of older houses
• hanging in dense shrubs and trees

Why Not Just Pour Something Down the Hole?

Petrol, boiling water and similar home remedies are unreliable and hazardous. They rarely reach the whole colony, they can contaminate soil, and the wasps that survive come out angry. Blocking or flooding a ground nest also pushes them to dig a new way out.

What We Do About It

We attend, confirm where the entrance is and apply an insecticidal dust there. Wasps carry it into the nest on their bodies. Expect a burst of activity soon after, then quiet over a day or two. For Duxford the price is £90 fixed with no call-out fee, whether the nest is in the lawn or in a roof, and it is confirmed before booking. Our Duxford service page has the details, and the cost guide explains the price.

Before the Visit

If the nest is in the field-edge or hedge line behind a Duxford house, say so when you ring, and describe how to get to it. Technicians prefer to reach the entrance without crossing the part of the garden the wasps are flying over, and a short description of the route saves time.

If you are not sure that it is wasps rather than bees, tell us what you can see, or send a photograph. Call 01223 902388 or use WhatsApp, and we will sort out the next step.