Understand wasp life cycles to educate customer

Tommy Powell, Technical Services, MGK

Be conscious of the season or time of year when a customer notifies you they have a wasp in their home. Many species of social Hymenoptera, including paper wasps and yellowjackets, spend the winter as mated queens.

If it is a cool time of the year, like winter or early spring, you may only need to remove that individual (vs. finding a nest to treat or remove). This is because in late fall, the foundress is looking for a place to overwinter. In the spring, she emerges from her overwintering site and looks for a place to start a nest. During this time, there aren’t any other colony members to treat. This is something you’ll want to communicate to your customer. Show off your knowledge of wasp life cycles, and help calm a concerned customer at the same time.