Wasp Nests on the Canal Side of an Alperton Block
A new block has little of the split timber that suits a queen on a hundred-year-old roof, but it is not short of small dry voids. Panels are hung with joints between them, window frames sit in reveals with trims and seals around them, and each balcony leaves a covered ceiling over the one below. The side facing the water warms early in the day and is rarely walked past, so a nest started there in April can go unremarked until the traffic in and out becomes obvious in July.
Cladding joints and window reveals
Wasps disappearing into the edge of a panel or the seal beside a window are going into the wall build-up itself, not sitting on the face of it, which is why there is often no paper to see at all. Leave the opening exactly as it is, keep that window shut, and report the gap to whoever manages the building so it can be looked at once the season is over. Can wasps nest inside walls? explains what is happening behind the surface.
Balcony storage, planters and covers
The things that live outdoors all year are worth a look in spring: a folded parasol, a stack of chairs, the underside of a barbecue cover, a planter that has not been turned out since last summer. A nest begun in one of them in April is the size of a golf ball and easy to deal with; the same nest in August is not. Wasps that only turn up when there is food or a sweet drink on the balcony table are foragers passing through, and that is a different thing entirely.
Ground Nests in the Banks and Planting by the Towpath
Some wasps nest below ground, enlarging an old burrow or a hollow in a bank rather than hanging paper in a cavity. A sloping bank, a grassy verge above the towpath and the loose soil of a planted bed all drain freely and hold their shape, which is exactly what that needs. The giveaway is a steady two-way stream at ankle height going into a hole the size of a coin, with no nest visible anywhere. What to do about a nest in the ground covers the first steps, and a ground nest is treated at the same £90 fixed price as one on the building.
Mowers, strimmers and a dog nosing about are what usually set a ground nest off, so fix the spot in your mind and keep children and animals well away from it. Where the nest is in the bank or verge beside the towpath rather than on your building or in your own garden, that ground is not part of the block: tell the managing agent what you have seen, and say so when you call us so we can talk it through before anything is booked. How responsibility tends to divide around the water is set out on the Pest Control Alperton page.
Eaves, Air Bricks and Sheds Off Ealing Road
Away from the canal the picture is the older one. Queens get in under lifted tiles and behind shrunken soffit boards, through air bricks into a wall cavity, and into lofts that nobody opens between one Christmas and the next. Out in the garden it is the shed roof, a thick hedge, stored pots and the compost bin. A nest above a bedroom ceiling often announces itself only when wasps start appearing on the landing; a nest in the loft says what to do until the visit. Neighbouring Preston has much the same rooflines.
Telling a Nest From Wasps Just Passing Through
By late summer the colony has stopped raising young, the workers switch to sugary food and they will travel a long way for it, which is why bins, dropped food along the towpath and windfalls in the back gardens draw so many. That is foraging, not nesting. A nest shows as an unbroken line of insects using a single opening on a warm afternoon, in both directions, for minutes on end. The signs of an active nest sets out the difference, why wasps turn short-tempered in late summer explains the change in behaviour, and if the insects look furry and rounded rather than sharply marked, see wasp nest or bee nest. Winged insects boiling out of one crack in the courtyard paving on a single humid afternoon are flying ants; heavy scrabbling over a top-floor ceiling before dawn is more likely a squirrel.
What not to do while you wait
- Do not fill the opening: wasps shut out of their doorway look for another route, and in a block that can be through a service void into the next flat
- Do not spray into a cladding joint, a window reveal or a hole in a bank from close range
- Do not lean over a balcony rail or set a ladder on a sloping bank to get a better look
- Keep the balcony door and the nearest windows closed, and keep children and dogs off the line the wasps are flying
Booking a Wasp Visit in Alperton
- Your floor, and whether the opening is on your own balcony, beside your window or elsewhere on the building
- Whether it is cladding, a window reveal, the eaves, a shed, a hedge or a hole in the ground
- For a ground nest, how close it is to the towpath and whether it is in a communal courtyard or your own garden
- Who manages the building, if the nest sits on a part of it you cannot reach
Anyone at home who has reacted badly to a sting in the past should stay well away from the spot until the visit is over, and signs of a severe allergic reaction after a sting mean calling 999. It is not worth dealing with a nest yourself on a balcony or a bank, and is it safe to remove a wasp nest yourself? sets out why.
After the Nest Has Been Treated
Foragers that were out when the visit happened carry on arriving at the entrance for a while, so leave the opening clear, keep the nearest window or balcony door shut and give it a few days. Nothing has to be cut out afterwards, because next spring's queens start somewhere new rather than moving into an old nest. Should it still be active within 30 days of the visit, we come back at no extra cost. Will wasps return after treatment? describes what is normal, and how long treatment takes to work covers the first day or two.
Fewer Nests by the Canal Next Spring
No building on this stretch can be made wasp-proof, but the checks below cut down the number of openings on offer. Nests elsewhere in the borough are covered on Wasp Nest Removal Brent, and our Brent wasp advice goes wider still.
- In April and May, turn out balcony planters, furniture covers and stacked chairs and look for a small grey paper ball before it grows
- Once the season is over, report open cladding joints and perished window seals to the managing agent rather than filling them yourself
- Keep courtyard and balcony bins lidded, and rinse cans and bottles before they go out in summer
- In the older streets, have lifted tiles and split soffit boards seen to by a roofer once the nest is dead, and keep the shed door shut
- Walk the edge of a communal lawn or bank in early summer before anyone strims it, watching for traffic at ground level
