PEST CONTROL
Wasp and hornet nest removal, and help telling wasps from bees
Wasp nest removal across Toronto, Oakville, Mississauga, Burlington and the GTA, for yellowjackets in walls and lawns, hornet nests in trees and paper wasps under the eaves. We identify what built the nest before anything is treated, treat from dusk onward when the colony is home, and try to have honey bee colonies relocated rather than destroyed.
Wasp or bee nest on your property? We offer same-day removal across Toronto & the GTA when the schedule allows.
Open 7 days until 9pm. Most calls are returned within 1 hour during business hours. After hours, leave a message and we’ll call back as soon as we can.
Ontario-licensed exterminators, insured
AT A GLANCE
Yellowjackets, the stinging wasps people run into most
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
If you’ve noticed any of these, call and a licensed technician will tell you what it points to.
Call (905) 739-7888Leave Bees Alone
If you have a honey bee swarm on your property, don't call an exterminator. Contact the Ontario Beekeepers' Association: a local beekeeper may collect a swarm they can reach easily for free. Bees living inside a wall or roof need a removal service, which will likely charge a fee.
Found a swarm? Ontario Beekeepers' AssociationIDENTIFICATION
Most wasps have a narrow waist and a smooth, shiny body; most bees are hairy. Yellowjackets, the wasps most people get stung by, are 1 to 2.5 cm long, banded black and yellow, and fold their wings lengthwise when they land. A honey bee is fuzzy, with flat, hairy back legs for carrying pollen. Often the nest is the easiest clue: what it is made of, where it is, and whether you can see the comb.
TYPES
Vespula spp.
Black and yellow, 1 to 2.5 cm, shiny and nearly hairless. Eastern and German yellowjackets both occur in Ontario; the German yellowjacket often builds inside walls.
Where found: Old burrows in lawns and gardens, thick mulch, rotted stumps, wall voids, ceilings and sheds.
Colonies can reach thousands of workers by late summer.
Dolichovespula maculata
Black and white with a white face, 1.2 to 2 cm. Despite the name it is a yellowjacket, not a true hornet, and it is common throughout Ontario.
Where found: Grey, egg-shaped paper nests in trees and hedges or on an overhang, wall or pole.
Nests are easy to miss until the leaves drop.
Vespa crabro
A very large wasp, 2.5 to 3.5 cm, with a reddish-brown head and thorax and a mostly yellow abdomen marked with dark teardrops. Often mistaken for the northern giant hornet, which is not in Ontario.
Where found: Hollow trees and sometimes wall voids, mostly near woodland. Drawn to porch lights at night.
The only true hornet established in Canada.
Polistes spp.
Slimmer than a yellowjacket, with less yellow and long legs that dangle in flight. The European paper wasp has mostly orange antennae.
Where found: Open, umbrella-shaped combs under eaves, on door frames, in sheds and in shrubs.
Colonies of about 20 to 75, and less defensive than yellowjackets.
Sceliphron caementarium and others
Long, slender wasps with a thread-thin waist. Each female works alone, stocking her mud cells with paralyzed spiders.
Where found: Mud tubes or lumps on siding, under eaves and on the rafters of open buildings.
Rarely sting and don't defend the nest.
Xylocopa virginica
Looks like a bumble bee, but the top of the abdomen is bare and shiny black. Males hover near people but can't sting; females seldom do.
Where found: Round holes in unpainted wood: fascia, eaves, decks, railings, doors and window sills.
The only one on this list that tunnels into wood.
Bombus spp.
Large, fuzzy bees with a hairy abdomen, much of it yellow.
Where found: Nests underground.
We recommend leaving a bumble bee nest alone if it is out of the way. The rusty-patched bumble bee is listed as Endangered on Ontario's protected species list.
Apis mellifera
Fuzzy, with flat, hairy back legs for carrying pollen. Its hooked stinger stays in the skin and the bee dies.
Where found: Wax comb in hollow trees and inside walls. Swarms hang on a branch or fence and usually move on within a day or two.
Call a beekeeper first: see the box above.
Two big look-alikes that don't build colony nests: the eastern cicada killer, a wasp of parts of southwestern Ontario that digs burrows in bare, packed soil and stings only in self-defence, and the pigeon horntail, which can't sting.
OUR APPROACH
Step 1
We find the nest and identify what built it before anything is treated. Paper wasps, yellowjackets, hornets and honey bees nest in different places and need different handling. If it turns out to be a honey bee colony, we try to have it relocated by a beekeeper rather than destroyed.
Step 2
Most wasps stop foraging by sundown, so the nest is treated from dusk onward, when the colony is inside. A daytime treatment misses the foragers that are out, and they come back to a disturbed nest. The product carries a PCP number and is applied as its label directs. Activity then dies down over a few days as returning wasps pick up the treatment.
Step 3
Once the colony is dead, the nest is removed where it can be reached, since a dead nest in a wall can draw flesh flies and rodents. Only then is the entrance sealed: if a live nest is blocked, the wasps may find their way into the house instead. Next spring's queens look for the same kind of gap, so a sealed entry makes a repeat there less likely.
BITES AND STINGS
Yes. Only females sting, and a yellowjacket, hornet or paper wasp can sting again and again, most of all near its nest. A honey bee usually stings once: its hooked stinger stays in the skin and the bee dies. Most wasp stings leave a red, raised, itchy bump that settles in a few hours to a few days. Only a small share of people are severely allergic, but for them a sting is an emergency, and bees, wasps and hornets are the most common cause of anaphylaxis in children at risk.
RISKS AND DAMAGE
Wasps rarely damage a house themselves; the trouble is where they build. A yellowjacket colony in a wall or attic can reach 4,000 to 5,000 workers by late summer, and if its entrance is blocked, the wasps may find their way into the house. A ground nest gets set off by the vibration of a mower or trimmer. Carpenter bees do real damage: each year's brood lengthens the tunnels and stains the wood below. European hornets strip bark from lilacs, which can kill the twigs.
A nest away from doors and paths can often be left until the first hard frost; a nest in a wall, under a deck, along a path or near someone with a sting allergy is the point to call.
CAUSES
Social wasps don't dig their own nest sites. In spring a queen takes shelter that already exists, such as a gap in the siding, an old rodent burrow or a hollow tree. In late summer the workers switch from hunting insects to looking for sugar, which is when they find your garbage, drinks and fallen fruit.
HABITS
Yellowjackets use cavities: old burrows, thick mulch, rotted stumps, wall voids and ceilings. Bald-faced hornets hang their nests in the open from branches and overhangs. European hornets pick hollow trees and wall voids, and paper wasps a sheltered ledge such as an eave. Over winter, young queens hide alone in leaf litter, under bark, in soil and in wall voids.
Adult wasps live mostly on sugar: nectar, fruit juice and tree sap. They hunt insects and spiders and scavenge dead animals to feed their young. Bees feed on nectar and pollen, and carpenter bees don't eat the wood they tunnel through.
A wasp colony lasts one season. In spring a queen that survived the winter starts a small nest on her own and raises the first workers, who then build, hunt and defend while she lays eggs. The colony peaks in late summer or early fall and raises new queens and males, which leave to mate. Cold kills the workers, the males and the old queen. An old nest is seldom used again, so removing this year's nest won't stop a new one next year.
The first wasps of spring are queens looking for nest sites. Colonies grow all summer, and late summer and early fall are when people notice them: colonies are at their biggest, workers are after sweets, and a disturbed nest is defended harder. The first hard frost ends it. Carpenter bees differ: new adults come out in late summer and spend the winter in their tunnels.
PREVENTION
If a nest is out of the way, you can leave it: the colony dies at the first hard frost. A small paper wasp nest can be treated after dark with a wasp spray that has a PCP number on the label, used exactly as the label directs. Don't flood, burn or block a nest, and don't shine a flashlight at it, since wasps fly toward the light. Traps often fail to shrink a yellowjacket colony.
WHY CHOOSE US
Cancel anytime, with no lock-in and no pressure. If you keep us on, it should be because the work is getting results.
Inspection first, then targeted treatment with registered products used as the label directs. Your technician will advise on any precautions.
Treatments are applied by technicians licensed under Ontario pesticide rules.
Read what GTA homeowners and businesses say about us on Google Maps.
Reviews
Wasps had made a home in my front brick facade but thanks to Sting Out Pest Control, they were eliminated quickly and easily the first time. Very pleased with their services and would recommend.
Review 1 of 7
COMMON QUESTIONS
Not if it can be avoided. Honey bees are important pollinators, and a true honey bee colony is worth relocating rather than destroying. We identify the insect before treating and will tell you if it is actually a wasp nest, which is common in walls and under eaves.
Leave Bees Alone
If you have a honey bee swarm on your property, don't call an exterminator. Contact the Ontario Beekeepers' Association: a local beekeeper may collect a swarm they can reach easily for free. Bees living inside a wall or roof need a removal service, which will likely charge a fee.
Found a swarm? Ontario Beekeepers' AssociationNo. The colony dies at the first hard frost and an old nest is seldom used again. But next spring's queens look for the same kind of sheltered gap, so sealing the entry once the colony is dead makes a repeat there less likely.
Call or send the quote form for a price; the quote is free. It depends on what built the nest and where it is. A paper wasp nest under an eave is a quicker job than a yellowjacket colony inside a wall, a hornet nest high in a tree, or carpenter bee tunnels along a roofline.
Not to people, as a rule. The males that hover at you can't sting, and females seldom sting unless handled. The risk is to the wood: females drill round holes about 1.3 cm wide in bare wood, and each year's brood extends the tunnels. Painting or varnishing the wood is the long-term fix, because stain alone doesn't usually protect it.
Rarely. Mud daubers live alone, don't defend their nests and very seldom sting unless handled. They fill their mud cells with paralyzed spiders for their young. A nest away from where people sit or work can be left; one by a door or window can be treated and scraped off with a putty knife.
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SERVICE AREAS
We treat bees & wasps in homes and businesses throughout Toronto and Southern Ontario.
See our residential pest control and commercial pest control services, or go back to the Sting Out home page.
