Wasp nests
Why Edgware Garages and Sheds Suit Wasps
A queen coming out of hibernation in spring looks for somewhere dry, sheltered and quiet, close to wood she can chew for nest paper. Timber garage roofs, shed rafters and old fence panels provide the wood, and a storage garage or shed that stays shut provides the quiet. The way stored clutter helps pests in general is on Pest Control Edgware; this page is about the nests.
Inside the garage roof
Detached and side garages on interwar houses often have exposed rafters or a boarded ceiling with a void above. A nest hanging from a rafter over the stored boxes can grow unseen all summer, and one built in the ceiling void may only show as wasps crawling through a gap in the boards. Our guide to a wasp nest in a roof space applies here too.
Flat garage roofs
Where a side garage has a flat felt roof, the edge usually has a timber fascia and a strip of trim. As the felt ages and the timber shrinks, gaps open behind the trim and wasps use them to reach the space under the roof deck. Nests there sit just below the height of a first-floor window, so wasps can drift into a bedroom when the window is open.
Sheds at the end of the garden
In a garden shed, nests turn up under the roof felt, in the corner above the door, inside stacked plant pots and among folded garden furniture. A shed full of cushions and tools that nobody moves is an easy choice. Wasps nesting in the ground at the edge of a lawn are another possibility, covered in what to do about a ground nest.
Checking Before You Open the Door
If wasps have been seen going in and out of a gap in the garage roof edge, the top of the garage door or the shed, assume the nest is behind it. Watch from a distance on a warm afternoon: a steady stream using one gap means a nest, while wasps drifting round the bins are only feeding. The signs of an active nest and how to tell wasps from bees help if you are unsure. Scratching and chewed wood over the garage at dawn is more likely a squirrel on the garage roof.
What not to do in the meantime
- Do not swing the garage door up or rummage in the shed if the nest is inside; keep the door shut and use another way round
- Do not block the gap in the roof edge or door frame while wasps are using it
- Do not climb onto a flat garage roof to look for the entrance
- Keep children and pets away from the flight line, and keep nearby windows closed
Booking a Wasp Visit in Edgware
When you book, say whether the nest is inside the garage or shed, on the garage roof edge or on the house, and roughly how high the entrance is. Tell us how the garage opens and whether it can be reached from the drive or only through the garden. Anyone who has reacted badly to a sting in the past should stay well away from the nest; signs of a severe allergic reaction after a sting mean calling 999.
After the visit
Wasps may keep flying round the entrance for a while, so keep the garage or shed door shut and leave the gap alone. There is no need to pull an old nest out of the rafters, because wasps do not reuse one. Should the nest still be active within 30 days, we come back at no extra cost. Will wasps come back after treatment? explains what to expect.
Fewer Nests in Next Year's Garage and Shed
- Open the garage and shed every couple of weeks in April and May and look up at the rafters for a small grey paper ball
- Once the season is over, have split fascia boards and lifted trim on a flat garage roof repaired
- Keep stored furniture covered, and look through it before summer
- Treat or replace weathered fence panels and shed timber that wasps scrape for nest material
- Keep bin lids shut and clear fallen fruit in late summer
For nests on the house itself or elsewhere in the borough, see Wasp Nest Removal Barnet. Stored boxes in the same garage can also harbour spiders once the wasps are gone.
