How To Avoid Attracting Wasps To Your Lewisville Home

Wasps are frustrating and painful pests. But they can also be a benefit. What? Seriously? Yes. Bees aren't the only insects that help with pollination. Wasps do it too. If you have flowers or flowering plants in your yard, it is nice to have an occasional visit from a friendly, neighborhood wasp. Wasps can also benefit you by carrying away plant-damaging insects. They carry those insects away to feed their offspring. And they do it free of charge. Thanks, wasps!

It is good to have wasps around. What isn't good is when they decide to stay around. A nest on your property can create a threat for you, your family, and your pets. Social wasps have a nest-protection instinct. If you get too close, they're going to let you know you've crossed the line. Within seconds, you're going to find yourself surrounded by some very unhappy insects with stingers—stingers that don't have a barb on the end. Unlike honeybees, which have a barbed stinger and only sting once, wasps can sting you over and over again without dying. So, it is never good to have a wasps' nests on your property. Today, we're going to talk about how you can avoid attracting wasps to your Lewisville home and focus on attractants that can lead to nest development.

Wasps will come into your yard no matter what you do. And, as we said above, that isn't a bad thing. But, the fewer attractants you have, the less of a chance you'll have of a nest forming. Here are some conditions you have some control over.

• Sweet smells. There isn't a lot you can do about the flowers in your landscaping inviting wasps in but you have control over other things that can create a sweet smell wasps will be drawn to.
• Open trash. Many wasps eat sweets and meats. Your trash has a variety of both. Make sure to keep exterior trash in clean, sealed containers if you want to keep wasps away.
• Grill foods. If you have an outdoor kitchen or a grill area, be sure to keep things cleaned up. Leaving meaty morsels around can attract wasps.
• Drinks. Wasps can suck sugary liquids out of a cup-like they suck nectar out of a flower. Never leave drinks outside unattended. It is also a good idea to keep drinks in cups with a cover. This could keep you from getting a painful welt on your lip.
• Bugs. The more bugs you have on your property, the more interesting it will be to wasps. A good residential pest control plan can help you reduce wasps directly and also indirectly, by reducing the bugs they eat.

When wasps establish themselves, it is like having a minefield in your yard. At any moment, you can find yourself in a painful situation. You could be tending to the plants in your landscaping and disturb a hornets' nest under your deck. You could be mowing your lawn and get a ground nest of yellow jackets stirred up. You may go to put your weed wacker in the shed and have several paper wasps come right in behind you because there is a nest right underneath the roofline. There are many ways it can happen. The secret to avoiding stings is finding nests before they get established and removing them. This is best done by a pest control professional.