Seeing wasps anywhere may cause you to sound the alarm. And that’s understandable: these pests are notorious for being aggressive creatures. This is unfortunate because most wasps don’t actually sting. Out of nearly 30,000 species of wasps, only a handful occasionally sting when provoked. Having these pests in your garden may feel like a burden, but they’re more likely to help out than they are to harm you. Here are a couple benefits and a couple risks of having wasps around your garden.

Acting as Pollinators

Bees pollinate by collecting pollen and transferring it between flowers through their hair. Wasps pollinate differently, as they are attracted to nectar, which they spread between plants in the garden. One particular wasp, the fig wasp, is the only pollinator of fig trees. Even if their role in pollination is different from that of bees, it can be just as important for keeping your garden lively.

Offering Pest Control

Wasps aren’t just attracted to nectar. They also like to feed their larvae with some of the most notorious garden pests, like aphids, flies and caterpillars. These pests can wreak havoc on your beautiful garden, so wasps are providing an essential service — for free! It doesn’t get much better than that. 

May Defend Ground Nests

While it’s unlikely that a wasp will sting you in most situations, they may feel threatened if you get too close to their nests while weeding. Their ground nests are hard to see, so you may miss them until you’re encountered by a wasp. Once you find a wasp or its ground nest, just leave the nest alone. The wasps won’t bother you unless they believe their nest is under attack. 

Can Build Nests in Doorways

Nests in your garden, you can work around. However, when you have a nest in your door jamb, a favorite area for paper wasps to build nests, you should get it taken care of. This requires a level of risk that you may not be comfortable with handling on your own. The number one reason wasps sting is because their nests are threatened. If you need nests removed, call your local pest control company. They’ll remove the nests and take steps to help you keep wasps away from your door. 

Having wasps in your garden can be a great way to keep it healthy, as long as you don’t bother them in their nests. If wasps have taken over spaces beyond your garden, Pro-Staff, the pest control experts in Des Moines, can help. Call us at 515-279-7378 or contact us online.