Wasp nests
Wasp Nests at Height in Friern Barnet
Wasps build where it is dry, sheltered and undisturbed, and on a large old building that often means the top: behind a gap where a gutter meets the wall, in a joint of the parapet, under a lifted slate or tile at the roof edge, or behind a timber board in the eaves. From the ground these spots are hard to see, and from inside they may be out of reach altogether, because the roof space is closed to residents.
Parapets and gutters
A parapet is the low wall that rises above the roof edge on some larger buildings. Its joints, its coping and the gutter behind it can open up with age, leaving cavities that suit a nest. Wasps flying to and from a parapet can look as if they are coming straight out of the wall of the top-floor apartment.
Top-floor windows
The apartments under the roof are the ones most likely to have wasps drifting in. A steady stream of wasps near one window, or wasps found on the inside of the glass each morning, is worth reporting. Can wasps nest inside walls? explains why a nest can sit in a cavity beside a room without being seen.
Houses on the streets around
The houses along Friern Barnet Lane and Colney Hatch Lane get nests in the familiar places as well: soffits, lofts, sheds, hedges and garden trees near Friary Park. For those, where wasps build nests around houses lists what to check.
Finding the Entrance From the Ground
Pick a warm afternoon and stand well back, across the grounds or the street, where you can see the upper floors. A nest shows itself as a steady line of wasps using one point. Note which side of the building it is on, roughly how high, and whether it is at a window, in the wall, at the gutter or at the roof edge. How to know you have a wasp nest and telling a wasp nest from a bee nest help if you are unsure.
In the meantime
- Keep windows on that side of the apartment shut, bedroom windows especially
- Do not lean out of a window to look at the nest or spray it
- Do not try to reach a high nest from a ladder or a balcony
- Tell the managing agent if the nest is on the building's outside wall or roof
- Keep anyone who has reacted badly to a sting before well away from that side
If someone is stung and shows signs of a severe allergic reaction, such as swelling of the face or difficulty breathing, call 999. For a painful sting without those signs, a pharmacist can advise.
Booking a Wasp Visit for a Tall Building
When you book a wasp treatment, give us your best guess at the height of the nest, which floor it sits beside, and how we reach that side of the building. In a converted building, say whether the managing agent knows and whether roof or loft access is possible, because access decides what can be reached. Where a nest is in an unusual spot, such as inside a parapet reachable only from the roof, you will hear that before anything is booked.
After the visit
Wasps can keep circling the entrance for a while after treatment, so keep nearby windows shut and leave the gap alone. The old nest can stay where it is, since wasps do not reuse one. Should it still be active within 30 days, we come back at no extra cost, and how long wasp nest treatment takes to work explains what to expect in the meantime.
Next Spring on a Big Building
Once the nest is dead, gaps in parapet joints, gutters and eaves can be repaired as part of the building's upkeep, which the managing agent usually arranges. In April and May it is worth a look from the ground for early wasp traffic along the roof line. Old nests of any kind left in a roof can feed carpet beetles, and scrabbling overhead at dawn is more likely squirrels than wasps. Nests elsewhere in the borough are covered on Wasp Nest Removal Barnet.
