Wasp nest removal in Auckland, and what we do about bees

An accessible nest between ground and first floor level is $130 to $185. Paper wasp nests under eaves are $120 to $160 for up to three. Nests inside a wall cavity, roof space or subfloor are $210 to $340 because the nest has to be located before it can be treated. Work above first floor level or needing elevated access is quoted after we have seen it.

We hold capacity each day for wasp work and can usually attend the same day or the next morning, and a nest beside a doorway, over a path or near where children play goes to the front of the list. Tell us when you call where it is relative to how the property is used.

No, and we would ask you not to have anyone destroy one. A swarm hanging in a tree is temporary and will be collected free by a beekeeper who wants it. An established colony inside a wall needs a bee removal specialist who will take out the comb as well, because a colony killed in place leaves honey behind that ferments, leaks through the lining and attracts other pests for months. Send us a photo and we will tell you what you have and who to call.

Usually not, provided we can safely reach the nest and there is no locked gate or dog in the way. For dusk treatments most people prefer to be inside with the windows shut anyway. We leave the treatment record and follow up by phone the next day.

Activity normally drops within a few hours and the nest is dead within about twenty-four hours. Expect a small number of returning foragers at the entrance for a day or two afterwards. Those are wasps that were out foraging when the nest died, they have no colony to return to, and they do not re-establish it.

Not before the nest is treated. Sealing the outside entrance of a cavity nest does not kill the colony, it forces it to chew an alternative route out, and that route frequently opens into the room rather than the garden. Treat first, then seal once activity has fully stopped.

Generally no. Most Vespula colonies die over winter and new queens found fresh nests each spring, so an old nest is not reoccupied. A minority of nests do survive the winter and grow unusually large in their second year, so if you have seen traffic at the same point across two summers, mention it.

Sometimes. A small paper wasp nest hanging under an eave can be dealt with at dusk, in long sleeves, with a retail wasp product used exactly to its label. A German or common wasp nest in a bank, wall or roof is different: thousands of wasps, repeated stings, a real risk of a severe allergic reaction, and a nest that is usually not where the entrance is. Never use petrol or fire on a nest.

Insecticidal dust applied at the nest entrance after dark, which returning wasps carry inside: activity stops within hours and the nest is usually dead within a day. It is also the method the Department of Conservation describes for single nests. Instant fixes such as a lubricant spray, petrol or boiling water kill the wasps they hit, miss the queen in an enclosed nest, and set the rest of the colony on you.

Peppermint oil, clove and fake paper nests are all sold as wasp deterrents, and none has good evidence behind it. What actually reduces wasps around the house in late summer is denying them food: keep plates and glasses covered when you eat outside, close the wheelie bin properly, clear windfall fruit from under the trees, and check sheds and banks in spring, while any nest is still small and far easier to deal with.

Move away from the nest first. A honey bee leaves its sting and venom sac behind, so scrape it out sideways with the edge of a bank card rather than pinching it; a wasp does not leave its sting and can sting again. Hold an ice pack on the sting for up to ten minutes at a time. Call 111 if there is swelling of the lips or eyes, tightness in the throat, wheezing, trouble breathing or severe dizziness, which are signs of anaphylaxis.