Wasp & hornet nest removal in Winnipeg
Ground nests, aerial nests and wall-void colonies. Same-day service is available, which matters when a nest is near a door or a play area.
- Size
- 12–25 mm depending on species
- Look for
- Yellow-and-black banding, or black-and-white on bald-faced hornets
- Active
- Daylight; colonies peak late July to September
- Found in
- Soffits, wall voids, ground holes, shrubs, sheds
- Health risk
- Repeated stings; serious for anyone with an allergy
- Price
- $200–$400
- Follow-up
- On request
- Category
- Stinging insects
- Availability
- Same-day
What you're dealing with
Manitoba's common problem species are yellowjackets, bald-faced hornets and paper wasps. Colonies are founded by a single overwintered queen in spring and build through the season, reaching maximum size and aggression in late summer.
Wall-void and soffit colonies are the ones that need professional handling. Sealing the entrance without treating the nest drives the colony inward, and they will chew through drywall into the living space.
Confirm itSigns to look for
- Steady traffic in and out of one point in a soffit, siding gap or ground hole
- A visible paper nest under an eave, in a shrub or in a shed
- Wasps at a window from the inside, which suggests a colony in the wall
- Sharp increase in activity around food and drink outdoors from August onward
How we treat it
- 01Locate the actual nest, not just the entry point
- 02Direct treatment of the nest with an appropriate registered product
- 03Aerial nests removed where safe to do so; wall-void nests treated in place and left to die off
- 04Entry points identified and exclusion advice provided once the colony is dead
- 05Return visit if activity continues, on request
How to prepare
- Keep people and pets away from the nest area until treated
- Do not seal the entry hole — it forces them inward
- Close nearby windows on the treatment side
- Leave outdoor food and sugary drinks indoors on the day
What to expect
- Visit oneInspection, then treatment of every harbourage area we find. You get a written record of what was applied and where.
- The days afterActivity typically drops sharply within hours and stops within 24–48 hours as returning foragers contact the treated nest.
- Follow-upOn request — we return whenever the situation calls for it.
Why we treat it this way
Why the nest has to be treated, not the wasps
Killing foraging workers around a deck accomplishes nothing — the colony replaces them daily. Treatment has to reach the nest itself so the brood and queen are affected, which is what actually ends the colony.
Why timing within the season matters so much
In May a nest is one queen and a golf-ball structure. By August the same nest is thousands of workers. The treatment is the same; the risk, the difficulty and the aggression are not.
Why we do not remove every nest
A nest found after the first hard frost is already dead — every worker and male has died and only dispersed queens survive. Paying to remove a dead nest is a genuinely common and avoidable cost, and we will tell you when that is what you have.
What makes it worse
These are the things we most often arrive to find already done. None of them are unreasonable instincts — they just backfire for reasons that are not obvious.
Spraying a ground nest at dusk from close range
Ground-nesting yellowjackets defend aggressively and the entrance is rarely where it appears. This is the scenario behind most serious multiple-sting incidents in this province.
Blocking the entrance hole
Wasps chew through drywall and siding to find another way out — frequently into the interior of the building rather than back outside.
Knocking down an active nest with a hose or a bat
Exactly what it sounds like. Also disperses a colony that then rebuilds nearby rather than leaving.
What's different here
Manitoba's climate kills every colony annually — there is no perennial nest here, and next spring's nest is built from scratch in a new place by a different queen. That makes the May-to-June window unusually valuable: treating one founding queen removes a colony of thousands before it exists.
What actually happens, week by week
Not certain it's wasps & hornets? Send a photo to info@apcexterminators.com and we'll identify it. If it doesn't need treating, we'll tell you that instead of selling you a visit.
Common questions
Can you come today?
Same-day service is available. Call rather than email if the nest is near an entrance or somebody in the household reacts to stings.
Should I try a store-bought spray first?
Not for a nest in a wall, soffit or in the ground. Those attempts usually agitate the colony without reaching the nest.
Will they come back to the same spot?
The colony dies with the season. Old nests are not reused, but the same location often attracts a new queen the following spring — which is what exclusion work prevents.
Often found alongside this
Dealing with this right now?
Licensed technicians, fixed pricing quoted up front, same-day availability across Winnipeg.