Find the flight line first
A nest tends to be given away by the coming and going around it, well before it's spotted directly, much as it does near Cheam, where comfortable 1930s suburban semis on quiet streets close to the old village. From a safe distance on a mild afternoon, watch for wasps returning repeatedly to the same spot on the house, a shed or a fence.
Soffits on the borough's 1930s semis
Under the soffits and eaves of the 1930s semis across Cheam, Carshalton and Belmont, a gap where a soffit board has warped or lifted gives a queen a way into the roof space in spring, and these low rooflines make the flight line easy to watch from the garden.
Sheds and fence lines bordering open ground
Wallington and Worcester Park both have streets backing onto allotments, playing fields or other open ground, and the fence lines along those boundaries, along with sheds opened only now and then, give a queen plenty of quiet spots to start a nest undisturbed.
What to do today
- Keep children and pets away from the flight line
- Keep windows shut on the side of the house or shed where the nest is
- Leave the entrance open and the nest untouched
- Clear fallen fruit and sweet drinks from the garden, which draw wasps late in summer
Why late summer feels worse
Come August and September the colony has reached full size, yet with egg-laying largely over, there are fewer larvae supplying the sugary secretion workers need - the same pattern holds near Cheam, where comfortable 1930s suburban semis on quiet streets close to the old village. Without that supply, workers turn to bins and drinks, which is exactly why this time of year is the worst point to disturb a nest, as anyone near Carshalton will recognise, where a mix of Victorian houses near the ponds and interwar semis further out.
Booking wasp nest removal in Sutton
A standard wasp nest removal in Sutton 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 Sutton - where the town centre mixes Victorian villas with newer housing close to the high street - or anywhere else nearby, so book wasp nest removal and tell us roughly where the entrance is, with the full terms on the Sutton wasp nest removal page.
