Find the flight line first
It's the repeated traffic in and out that usually reveals a nest before you ever spot it directly, just as near Catford, where victorian terraces and postwar estates spreading out from the town centre and shopping area. From a safe distance, on a calm afternoon, watch for wasps repeatedly heading back to one spot on the house or garden, as anyone near Deptford will recognise, where converted dockland warehouses and new-build flats close to Deptford Creek.
Hillside terrace eaves near Forest Hill and Sydenham
The Victorian terraces climbing the hillside around Forest Hill and Sydenham give a queen plenty of gaps at the fascia to choose from, and a nest built high up here is not one to tackle from a ladder yourself.
Gardens backing onto the railway
Where a garden backs directly onto a railway embankment, as many do across the borough, the undisturbed scrub and fencing along the line give a young colony exactly the quiet spot it needs to establish through the spring.
What to do today
- Keep children and pets away from the flight line
- Keep windows shut on the side of the house where the nest is
- Leave the entrance open and the nest untouched
- Clear sweet drinks and fallen fruit from the garden, which draw wasps in late summer
Why late summer feels worse
By late summer the colony's at its biggest, yet egg-laying has slowed right down, leaving fewer larvae to produce the secretion workers rely on, whether that's near Deptford, where converted dockland warehouses and new-build flats close to Deptford Creek, or elsewhere in the borough. They go looking for sugar themselves instead, which is why bins and drinks suddenly attract far more attention.
Booking wasp nest removal in Lewisham
A standard wasp nest removal in Lewisham is a £90 fixed price, guaranteed: if the nest is still active within 30 days we come back at no extra cost, and that applies equally whether the nest turns up near Ladywell - where terraced housing and low-rise blocks near Ladywell Fields and the River Ravensbourne - or anywhere else nearby, so book wasp nest removal and tell us roughly where the entrance is, with the full terms on the Lewisham wasp nest removal page.
