What’s the buzz?: Expert says wasps are looking for protein

It’s not only grasshoppers that are taking over the province — wasps are certainly gaining ground.

Like grasshoppers, wasps thrive in warm, dry weather conditions.

Shawn Sherwood, the owner of Poulin’s Pest Control, told the Greg Morgan Morning Show on Wednesday that wasps are on the hunt for food.

Sherwood added they typically look for sugar at the start of the season before going after protein later in the season.

“If you’re sitting out on your patio in May or June and you got yourself an Orange Crush or an adult wobbly pop going, you might take a drink and get a surprise,” Sherwood said. “Now … they’re trying to take the steak off my barbecue.”

Sherwood added his business deals with wasps about every second phone call.

“We’ve got people calling to find out what they can do. We’ve got people calling saying, ‘Get out here. The kids are getting whacked on a regular basis,’ ” he said, adding it seems that kids don’t know how to stay away from wasps.

When it comes to getting rid of wasps, Sherwood said the tried and true methods are still being used.

If someone can see the wasp nest, he recommended using a spray or a foam to get rid of it. If the nest isn’t in plain sight, a powder should be used, he said.

“We’ll come out and do the work for you if you really don’t feel like going out there and testing whether you’re a hero or not,” Sherwood added.

Those looking to hire help should scope out the nest before pest control professionals arrive, he said.

“Do it in the dark; (wasps) don’t see in the dark,” Sherwood said. “Don’t be the guy holding the flashlight when you go to do it.”

Fortunately, there are ways to make yards less attractive to wasps.

Sherwood said people could hang up artificial nests, which he added must be up in the spring.

“When a juvenile wasp comes out of hibernation in early April and she’s looking for a place to build a nest, if she’s buzzing around your house and she sees one of those artificial nests hanging up there, she’s looking at that going, ‘Wow, they’ve got like 300 and I’m just one and I’m not going to win this fight’ and so she’ll go look somewhere else,” he said, noting that wasps are incredibly territorial.