Charlottesville, Virginia is home to many stinging insects, including bees, wasps, and hornets. Alongside ants, stinging insects are members of the Hymenoptera order. Stinging insect infestations must be eliminated as quickly as possible, but these pests are beneficial pollinators. When you find them away from your home, it is best to leave them alone. When they’re not posing any risks to you or your loved ones, leave them alone. They’re likely helping the environment by pollinating plants. Before you can address and fix this problem, you need to learn more about the species you’re dealing with. In Charlottesville, the most common stinging insects are yellowjackets, paper wasps, honeybees, and bald-faced hornets.

Once you’ve learned how to identify the species, you’ll be able to fix the problem much sooner.

Identifying The Species

You have to work diligently to identify the species before you can do anything about the infestation. The best way to figure out what you’re dealing with is by looking at the pest and the nest. Use the appearances of both to identify the species.

Paper Wasps

You’re going to encounter paper wasps at some point. In general, paper wasps aren’t overly aggressive. They usually don’t attack people unless someone gets too close to their nest. Don’t try to reach toward a paper wasp nest because you will get a painful sting. Their nests are small and round. They’re gray with a clearly visible honeycomb pattern. It is common for honeybees to construct nests on fences and overhangs.

When it comes to paper wasps, you have to remember that there are several species in our area. For instance, you may encounter one paper wasp that has black and yellow stripes on its body. It will have orange antennas too. If this is what you’re seeing, you’re dealing with a European Paper Wasp. They’re larger than yellowjackets. The other common species in our area are Northern Paper Wasps. They have brown bodies with a few areas of dark orange. Its abdomen will be covered by thin white or yellow lines.

Yellowjackets

Yellowjackets are highly aggressive so you’ll want to avoid getting too close. They will sting you multiple times. Yellowjacket colonies are going to grow larger in late summer and fall. As this happens, the stinging insect will become more aggressive. A yellowjacket nest can house thousands of yellowjackets simultaneously. It is often covered by a dark material that looks like paper. These pests establish nests around attics and porches. Unfortunately, they sometimes build ground nests, and avoiding them will prove to be very difficult.

Yellowjackets have abdomens that are covered by yellow and black stripes. Their antennas are black.

Bald-Faced Hornets

Charlottesville is home to bald-faced hornets that are very aggressive. They’re similar to yellowjackets since they become more aggressive as the colony grows. Their nests look like balls and can be found on trees and bushes. They’ll also build nests on the sides of buildings. A bald-faced hornet nest can easily house thousands of hornets. These stinging insects have large heads and bodies. Their smooth body is white and black.

Honeybees

As the name implies, honeybees produce honey. Many people collect and raise honeybees so they can collect the honey and eat it. These stinging insects are bred to make them gentle. Nevertheless, even wild honeybees are less aggressive than other stinging insects. When they build hives, they’ll do so using wax. These stinging insects build hives on rock crevices and wall cavities. They can also be found on hollow trees. They’re round and look like a honeycomb. Honeybees tend to live in the same colonies for multiple years.

To complete this feat, they have to store honey to ensure they have plenty of food for the cold winter months. Honeybees are fuzzy with brown bodies. They’re orange or yellow.

Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees are less aggressive than most other stinging insects. Consumers can approach carpenter bee nests without getting stung. When they develop colonies, they bore small holes in wood surfaces and use the hole to care for their offspring. In general, their small 3/8 inch holes are built in wood decks, siding, and fascia. Carpenter bees are large and similar to bumblebees. Male members of the species are easy to spot since they have a small yellow spot on their faces.

Stinging Insect Risks

Most people understand that stinging insects can be dangerous because they sting. However, there are many misconceptions surrounding the dangers of stinging insects. In general, they’re not as dangerous as most people believe. The danger depends on several factors including the species and the size of the colony. Another thing to note is that male stinging insects cannot sting. They will work hard to defend their nests but they cannot sting. Female stinging insects are the exact opposite. They can sting but they’re timid and usually don’t. Again, the stinging insects become more aggressive as the colony gets bigger.

Some stinging insects will leave you alone unless you get too close. Unfortunately, some build underground nests. Since they’re very difficult to avoid, there is a good chance that you’re going to get stung. Yellowjackets are likely the most dangerous since they can sting people multiple times. They can sometimes cause an allergic reaction and anaphylactic shock.

Why You Have Stinging Insects

Stinging insects are going to invade properties where they can build nests. If they find suitable nesting conditions on your property, they will come and build nests there.

Getting Rid Of Stinging Insects

Charlottesville residents must tackle stinging insect infestations as quickly as possible. Don’t delay because doing so will give the pests time to grow and expand. You’ve likely thought about fixing the problem using DIY sprays. Although these sprays will kill bees and wasps, using them could be dangerous. When you spray the pest’s nest, the stinging insects are going to defend themselves by stinging you. There is a high risk that you’re going to get stung multiple times. If you wait until the sun goes down, the pests will be less aggressive. Nevertheless, the risks are still high.

Another thing to worry about is the danger linked to chemical sprays. Some of them contain dangerous chemicals so they’re best avoided. Let us fix the problem for you so we can keep you safe.

Our Solutions Are Safe

We hope you’ll pick us as our exterminator because we can keep you safe. Our technicians use the latest techniques to ensure that our clients are going to be safe throughout the treatment process. We’ve trained our technicians to keep everyone out of harm’s way. In addition to this, we rely solely on products approved by the Environmental Protection Agency. With us, you can maintain your peace of mind knowing you’re going to be protected to the fullest. We protect our clients as if they’re members of our family.

Cost Of Our Treatment

We can’t tell you the price of our treatment until we find out what is going on. We’ll send a technician to your home so they can find out which species you have, the size of your home, and the size of the nest. Our technician will use this information to give you a bid price. Once you’ve accepted our price, we can begin working to eliminate the pests.

When Can We Start?

We’re ready to begin helping you. Don’t let stinging insects hurt someone in your family. Contact us so we can take care of the problem swiftly. After your initial call, we’ll contact you within 24 hours.

Stopping Future Stinging Insect Invasions

Take steps to make it harder for stinging insects to invade your property. Properly stain and paint softwoods around your home to avoid problems. Also, be sure to sign up for our home service program. With this program, you’ll receive three visits from us each year and treatments when necessary.

If you have any other pest control issues please check out other services.