Wasp Control in Tulsa: The Complete Guide

To get rid of wasps, find the nest, figure out which wasp built it, and then decide whether it is safe to handle yourself. A small paper wasp nest under an eave can usually be sprayed at night with a wasp and hornet aerosol and knocked down the next day. Yellowjacket nests in the ground, nests inside walls or attics, and big hornet nests are a different job: the colonies are large, the nest is hidden, and a mistake can mean dozens of stings. Those are best left to a professional. After that, prevention comes down to checking for new nests each spring, sealing gaps and keeping food and trash covered.

Step 1: Find the nest

If you are seeing a lot of wasps, there is probably a nest within a short flight. Signs of a nest include:

• Wasps flying in and out of the same spot again and again: a hole in the lawn, a gap in siding, a soffit vent, a crack in brick.
• A gray paper comb or ball under eaves, porch ceilings, deck rails, shutters, light fixtures, playsets, sheds or tree branches.
• Wasps crawling at a window or light fixture inside, or a buzzing or scratching sound in a wall or ceiling.
• A damp spot or soft patch in drywall, which can mean yellowjackets chewing through from a wall nest.
• Lots of wasps at trash cans, grills or fallen fruit in late summer. Yellowjackets forage widely, so the nest may be on a neighbor's property.

To track a nest, watch where the wasps fly from a safe distance in the morning or late afternoon, when traffic is heaviest. Do not go poking at shrubs, holes or wood piles. OSU Extension warns that mowing or trimming near a yellowjacket nest will almost certainly lead to stings.

Step 2: Identify the wasp

Each kind of wasp calls for a different approach. Our Oklahoma wasp and bee ID guide has photos. In short:

Step 3: Decide whether the nest has to go

Wasps are useful. OSU Extension calls them beneficial because many hunt caterpillars and other pests. A paper wasp nest in a far corner of the yard, or a yellowjacket nest well away from where anyone walks or mows, can be left until frost kills the colony. Remove a nest when:

• It is near a door, window, deck, patio, walkway, play area or garage.
• It is a yellowjacket or hornet nest anywhere people or pets go.
• Wasps are nesting inside a wall, attic, soffit or crawlspace.
• Anyone in the home is allergic to stings, or has had a bad reaction before.

How to remove a paper wasp nest

If the nest is small, open and within reach of a spray from the ground, and no one helping is allergic, OSU Extension describes this method:

1. Wait for dark. All the wasps are home at night and are less active. Use a flashlight covered with red cellophane; wasps do not react to red light the way they do to white light.
2. Dress for it. Long sleeves, long pants, gloves, closed shoes, eye protection and a hat. UC IPM points out that wasps can still fly out and sting at night, even with freeze-type sprays.
3. Use a wasp and hornet aerosol that sprays from a distance. Read and follow the label.
4. Stand back and soak the whole nest, then leave the area.
5. Check the next day. When there is no activity, knock the nest down with a long pole and bag it. Spray again if wasps are still moving.

Early in spring, a nest the size of a golf ball with one wasp on it is only the queen. UC IPM notes that knocking down a new nest early can make her leave. See how to spot a queen wasp.

Never use gasoline, fire or a ladder to reach a nest. A fall from a ladder while wasps attack is a real way to get badly hurt.

Yellowjackets in the ground

Ground nests cause more stings than any other wasp problem in Oklahoma. OSU puts southern and eastern yellowjacket colonies at 1,000 to 5,000 adults, and fall, when the colonies are biggest, is when most people find them with a mower. Treating one is risky:

• The hole you see may be well away from the nest, so spray may never reach the colony (UC IPM).
• Vibration near the entrance sets off the guards.
• Dusting only around the outside of the hole just angers the colony (Penn State).

OSU Extension and Penn State describe treating the entrance after dark with an insecticide dust labeled for yellowjackets, using full protective gear and a red light. If you are not comfortable with that, or anyone in the home is allergic, call a professional. Until then, flag the hole, keep kids and pets away, and do not mow over it.

Wasps in walls, soffits and attics

A steady line of wasps going into siding, a soffit, a vent or a gap in brick means a nest inside the structure. Do not plug or caulk the hole. Penn State Extension warns that yellowjackets and hornets trapped in a wall can chew through drywall into your home. OSU Extension recommends professional help for nests in walls and attics. A professional treats the nest through the entrance, watches for activity over the next few days, and seals the opening once the colony is dead.

Paper wasps inside in winter

Wasps crawling around windows and lights on warm winter days are usually mated paper wasp queens that came in through roofline gaps, attic vents or around windows to hibernate. They are sluggish and rarely sting. Vacuum them up or catch them under a cup. Then seal the gaps around the roofline, vents, windows and siding so more cannot get in. If you keep finding them, there may have been a nest in the attic or a wall last summer.

Hornets

Bald-faced hornets build gray paper nests in trees, shrubs and on buildings, with 200 to 700 wasps, and defend them hard. OSU advises treating an aerial nest only if it directly threatens people, with protective gear, at night, spraying into the entrance at the bottom. In practice, call a professional for any nest bigger than a softball.

European hornets, which live in northeastern Oklahoma, nest in hollow trees and wall voids and fly at night. Penn State suggests turning off porch lights in fall, picking up fallen fruit, and never blocking a wall entrance.

What about bees?

• Honey bees: a swarm on a branch or a colony in a wall needs a beekeeper or bee removal specialist. Honey bees are valuable pollinators and protected by state law. Africanized honey bees are confirmed in 43 Oklahoma counties, according to OSU, so never try to remove a colony yourself.
• Carpenter bees: they bore round holes in unpainted wood. The University of Kentucky recommends treating the holes, waiting a few days, then plugging them, and painting bare wood to prevent new damage.
• Bumble bees: a nest away from traffic can be left alone. They are gentle unless the nest is disturbed.

What does not work well

• Traps and baits: OSU Extension reports that commercial traps and baited lures have had limited success against Oklahoma yellowjackets and does not recommend them, especially sugar-water traps, which also catch honey bees.
• Fake paper nests: we have seen no good evidence they keep wasps away.
• Spraying in daylight or up close: this is how most DIY stings happen.
• Knocking down an active nest without treating it: the colony survives, and the wasps rebuild and defend the area.
• Plants and home remedies: some herbs may make a patio less inviting, but they will not move a nest. See plants that repel wasps.

How to keep wasps from coming back

1. Check in spring. Walk the eaves, porch ceiling, deck rails, shutters, playset and shed from March through May and knock down new nests while they are small.
2. Seal entry points in fall and winter, before queens look for nest sites: gaps at the roofline, soffits, siding edges, around pipes and wires, and torn vent screens.
3. Keep trash and recycling closed with tight lids, rinse the bins, and empty them often, especially in late summer and fall.
4. Cover food and drinks outdoors, clean grills and pick up pet food.
5. Pick up fallen fruit and fix leaky faucets and hoses.
6. Fill old rodent burrows and holes in the lawn where yellowjackets like to nest.
7. Paint or seal bare wood to discourage carpenter bees.

Wasps are drawn to bright colors, sweet scents and sugary drinks. See what attracts wasps for more.

Wasp season in Oklahoma

How Emtec handles wasps

Wasp nests are not always where you can see them. A colony can be inside a soffit, an attic, a wall or a neighbor's tree. So our technicians do not stop at the nest you point out. On a wasp call, we inspect and treat the soffits and porches where wasps build, inspect the shrubs and trees around the house, and treat the attic with an insecticide dust. Any nest we find is treated and removed. That way, a nest hidden in the attic still gets treated even if no one can see it.

Sometimes the nest is on a neighbor's property, or has not been started yet when we visit, and wasps keep showing up afterward. If that happens, let us know.

Wasp exterminator in Tulsa and Oklahoma City

When a nest is in the ground, a wall, an attic or too high to reach, or when anyone in the house is allergic, call an exterminator instead of a can of spray. Emtec Pest Control has been Oklahoma's wasp and hornet exterminator since 1979. If you have already been stung, see what to do after a wasp sting. We serve Tulsa, Broken Arrow, Owasso, Jenks, Bixby, Sand Springs, Sapulpa, Stillwater, Oklahoma City, Edmond and nearby towns. Learn about our preventative pest control, which covers wasps around the home, or contact us.