Add the restaurants on Kloof Street, old Victorian semis and a lot of flats, and you get a busy mix of pest work.
Wasp nests in Gardens
Paper wasps nest under the eaves of Gardens' older homes, under stoep roofs and broekie lace, and in garden trees. They're most active from late spring to late summer.
We treat and remove nests and check the stoep and eaves for others. Corrugated iron roofs, timber fretwork and the gaps in old window frames give them many sheltered spots, and nests are often discovered when a house is being painted or a gutter cleaned. Nests grow quickly in summer, and a nest by a front door on a busy street is a real sting risk for passers-by. We check the eaves, stoep and garden while we're there, and calling early in spring keeps the job small.
A note from the field
Many people think wasps only nest in trees. In Cape Town the invasive paper wasp much prefers buildings, especially eaves, window frames and hollow steel poles.
What gives them away
Tick every sign you have noticed. It takes ten seconds.
Why it matters: Paper wasps sting when their nest is disturbed, and they can sting more than once, which is a real danger for anyone with a sting allergy and a misery for children playing outside. Nests in letterboxes, gate motors and garden furniture lead to stings because people touch them without seeing the nest. On farms and in the Winelands, Polistes damages soft fruit and grapes and gets in the way of harvest work. Because the species is invasive, every nest left alone produces new queens that start more nests nearby the following spring.
Our process, step by step
For ongoing wasp control we combine nest treatment with prevention rather than coming out once a year to remove whatever has grown. Active nests are treated with an insecticidal dust or spray applied directly into the comb, usually early in the morning or late in the day when the wasps are on the nest, and the comb is taken down once the colony is dead. On properties with repeat problems we do a sweep in early spring to find and remove young founding nests while they are small, and we can apply a residual treatment to favourite nesting spots such as eaves and pergolas. We also look at what is drawing wasps in, like water points, fallen fruit and open bins, and give practical advice on fixing it. For farms, estates and complexes, scheduled visits through the wasp season keep numbers under control instead of letting them build up.
Want the full step-by-step? See how our wasp control service works.
Stopping a repeat visit
- Keep outdoor bins closed and clean up after a braai, as wasps scavenge meat and sweet drinks.
- Walk around the house once a week from September and knock down any nest smaller than a coin with a long pole, at dusk, wearing long sleeves.
- Pick up fallen fruit and grapes promptly, because ripe fruit draws foraging wasps in late summer.
- Fix dripping taps and irrigation leaks, since wasps need a steady water source to build nests.
- Check garden furniture, umbrellas and the inside of letterboxes before using them in summer.
Pricing, honestly
Wasp control is priced on how many nests there are, how high and hard to reach they are, and whether you want a once-off treatment or ongoing visits through the season. A house with one or two nests at ladder height is a straightforward job, while farms, estates and complexes with nests spread over many buildings take longer. For properties that get wasps every year, a seasonal plan usually saves money compared to repeated call-outs, and the quote is free.
Queens come out of hiding as the weather warms in late August and September and start small nests on their own, which is the cheapest and safest time to deal with them. Colonies grow quickly through the hot, dry summer and reach their biggest and most defensive in February and March. With the first winter rains and cold fronts the colonies die off, and only the new queens survive to start again next spring.
Questions we get asked in Gardens
Can you look after a whole estate or farm?
Yes. We do scheduled wasp checks for estates, complexes and farms through the season, with a report after each visit.
Can you remove a wasp nest from my Gardens stoep?
Yes. Send a photo on WhatsApp and we'll tell you how urgent it is.
Why do wasps keep coming back to my house every year?
Paper wasps like the same sheltered spots, and new queens often start nests close to where they were born. Removing nests early in spring and making those spots less attractive breaks the cycle.
Is it safe to spray a nest myself?
It is risky with a large nest, because a can of spray rarely kills the whole colony and the survivors get very defensive. Small nests at dusk are another story.
Do wasp traps work?
They catch some foraging wasps, but they rarely reduce the number of nests and can attract more wasps to your garden. Finding and treating the nests works much better.
What if the nest is inside a wall?
We treat it through the entrance hole with a dust, wait for activity to stop and only then seal the hole, so the wasps are not forced inside the house.
Office 021 012 5825 · WhatsApp us
