How to Get Rid of Wasps and Hornets Safely

The short answer

Do not spray an active nest until you know what built it and where the rest of the colony is. An open paper nest under an eave is a different job from a yellowjacket colony behind siding or underground. The first may be manageable when it is newly started. The hidden colony is a job for a pest professional.

If a nest is away from doors, walkways, play areas, and other regular activity, leaving it alone is often the safest choice. Social wasps prey on nuisance insects, and most colonies in cold-winter regions die after the first hard frost. If removal is necessary, do it at the lowest-risk stage: remove an empty nest after the colony is gone, knock down only a newly started paper wasp nest you can reach safely, and hire a professional for an established or concealed nest.

Identify the nest before you act

Watch from a safe distance. The nest and its location tell you more than color alone.

• Paper wasps: The nest looks like an open umbrella with exposed cells underneath. It often hangs under an eave, porch roof, branch, or vine. Paper wasps are slender, with long legs and a narrow waist. UC IPM says they are less defensive than yellowjackets and usually do not require treatment unless the nest is near people.
• Yellowjackets: A ground opening with steady wasp traffic is a common sign. Yellowjackets also nest inside wall and ceiling voids, where the visible gap may be far from the paper nest. They have bright yellow-and-black markings, and their waist is less obvious than a paper wasp’s. Yellowjackets are also the social wasps most likely to scavenge around trash, meat, sweets, and outdoor drinks.
• Bald-faced hornets: These black-and-white social wasps make an enclosed gray paper nest that can resemble a swollen football. It usually hangs from a tree, shrub, eave, or building. The opening is near the bottom. Treat it like an established yellowjacket nest, not like an exposed paper wasp comb.
• Mud daubers and other solitary wasps: Hard mud tubes or lumps on a wall or ceiling usually belong to mud daubers. UC IPM notes that they do not defend their nests and rarely sting. They are normally a leave-alone pest.
• Honey bees: Bees are hairier and less brightly striped than yellowjackets. If you see a hanging swarm or bees entering a structure, do not assume they are wasps and spray them. Cornell IPM recommends contacting a beekeeper about a swarm or accessible colony.

Do not plug an active hole in siding or a wall. University of Kentucky Extension warns that sealing the entrance can drive yellowjackets into the building instead of eliminating the nest.

Decide whether removal is necessary

Leave an out-of-the-way nest alone if the insects are not threatening people, pets, or the structure. Penn State Extension notes that wasp colonies in cold-winter areas last for one summer, with only mated queens surviving the cold season. UC IPM adds an important regional exception: colonies can persist where winters are very mild.

If you are only dealing with wasps around a patio, remove what attracts them before looking for a nest. Cover food and drinks, keep pet food indoors, seal garbage cans, clean spills, and pick up fallen ripe fruit. A lure trap may reduce nearby foragers, but UC IPM says traps do not eliminate large populations. Put traps away from the area you want to use so the lure does not draw wasps toward people.

The safest way to remove a nest

Wait out a low-risk nest when you can. If hard frost is close and the nest is not beside an occupied area, waiting avoids a direct encounter. Once the colony is dead and there is no activity, the abandoned paper nest can be taken down. University of Kentucky Extension says abandoned yellowjacket nests are not reused in cold-winter regions.

Limit DIY removal to a newly started paper wasp nest. UC IPM says knocking down a newly started paper wasp nest early in its development will cause the founding female to go elsewhere. This is the narrow DIY case: an open-cell nest, early in development, reachable from stable ground, with no one nearby who has a sting allergy. If wasps are defending it, the nest is established, or you cannot approach without climbing, stop and call a professional.

Treat an active social nest as a pesticide job, not a demolition job. The safest option is professional treatment. If you choose to treat a small, exposed nest yourself, use only a product whose label lists the target pest and the place where you intend to use it. EPA says to follow the label’s instructions and safety warnings, keep children and pets away from treated areas, and never use an outdoor pesticide indoors.

UC IPM advises treating when wasps are most likely to be in the nest at night and wearing protection over the entire body, including gloves, face protection, and protective eyewear. Keep a clear retreat route. A product that projects from a distance does not guarantee that every wasp will be stopped. If you cannot meet those conditions, do not attempt the treatment.

The mistakes that turn one nest into an emergency

• Climbing a ladder with a spray can. An out-of-reach nest needs a professional. A sting or sudden swarm can cause a fall before the pesticide matters.
• Breaking open an enclosed hornet nest. University of Kentucky Extension warns that rupturing the paper envelope during treatment scatters the defending wasps.
• Pouring gasoline into a ground nest. It is unsafe, it is not a labeled pesticide use, and the university specifically warns that gasoline and garden-hose attempts can fail and lead to multiple stings.
• Assuming the visible hole is the nest. Underground and wall-void colonies may sit well beyond the entrance. UC IPM warns that a surface spray might not reach an underground colony, while agitated wasps can remain around the area afterward.
• Spraying individual foragers. Killing wasps at the trash can does not remove the colony. Fix the food and garbage source, then locate the nest only if activity continues.

Keep them from nesting in the same place

After the colony is gone, repair the site. Seal gaps around trim, siding, soffits, vents, and utility penetrations that gave wasps access to a void. Penn State Extension recommends repairing the nesting site after removal to prevent another colony from moving in.

Check sheltered spots early in the warm season, including eaves, porch lights, shutters, sheds, and grills. A newly started open paper nest is much easier to address than an established colony later. Keep outdoor garbage tightly closed and clean up food after meals so yellowjacket workers have no reason to patrol the area.

If someone is stung

Leave the nest area promptly instead of swatting at the insects. UC IPM notes that wasps can sting repeatedly. For a minor sting, University of Kentucky Extension recommends cleaning the area with soap and water and using a cold pack.

Seek emergency medical care immediately for trouble breathing or swallowing, swelling of the face, throat, or mouth, widespread hives or itching, dizziness, or a rapid pulse. Anyone with a known serious sting allergy should follow their prescribed emergency plan and should not participate in nest treatment.

When to call a pro

Call a qualified pest-management professional for any nest inside a wall or ceiling, underground, high in a tree or on a roofline, or large enough that many wasps are coming and going. Make the same call if the nest is beside an entrance or busy play area, treatment would require a ladder, anyone in the household has a serious sting allergy, or you are not certain whether the insects are wasps or bees.

A professional can identify the species, reach the colony rather than just the entrance, use the correct labeled treatment, and confirm when it is safe to seal the access point. For an established yellowjacket or hornet colony, that lower exposure is the real value of hiring the job out.