Mexican Honey Wasp Control in Boerne, TX
What usually catches a Boerne homeowner's eye is a rounded gray paper nest, somewhere between a football and a basketball in size, tucked high in a tree or shrub, with small dark wasps crawling over it. Many people take it for a beehive. If it is up out of the way, the right move is usually to leave it; if you need to prune, build or let children play right beside it, have it identified and handled by someone with proper protective gear. Call or text (210) 281-1064, or book online.
Paper ball or beehive? #
The nest material tells you. Honey bees build sheets of wax comb, while social wasps build with paper, and Texas A&M AgriLife uses exactly that difference to separate a honey wasp nest from a bee colony. Other clues:
- Size of the insect: smaller than a honey bee. AgriLife's Wizzie Brown puts them at about 1/4 to 1/3 inch.
- Color: the Texas Apiary Inspection Service describes them as mostly black and not very hairy (TAIS); Brown adds a teardrop-shaped abdomen striped yellow and black, with rusty wings.
- Nest: paper, rounded, often around 18 inches, usually placed high where it will not be bumped.
- Honey: yes, really. AgriLife calls it the only wasp that stores honey, which it uses to carry the colony through winter.
A baldfaced hornet also builds a gray paper nest in trees, but the wasps are much larger, about 3/4 inch, and black with white face marks. A swarm or colony of honey bees on a branch is a different matter; see honey bee control in Boerne.
Are they found around here? #
AgriLife says Mexican honey wasps range from Texas to Nicaragua, and Brown notes that in North America they occur in Arizona and Texas. None of the AgriLife or TAIS material we rely on names specific Texas counties or maps where they are spreading, so we will not tell you how common they are in Kendall County.
Cedar clearing and new construction #
Two kinds of work bring people face to face with these nests. The first is brush work. Texas Parks and Wildlife points to the spread of Ashe juniper, or cedar, across Hill Country land with shallow, rocky soils (TPWD). Anyone thinning cedar or trimming the shrubs around it is working right where a canopy nest could hide, and such a nest is easy to miss until a branch moves.
The second is building. The city says its utilities have the capacity to serve all approved neighborhoods currently under construction (City of Boerne planning), and new lots mean trees and shrubs being trimmed, fenced around or removed. Brown's advice fits both cases: when these wasps have to be managed, use a professional who has protective equipment such as a bee suit.
Do they sting? #
TAIS calls them not very aggressive, saying they often ignore people, and an older AgriLife bulletin describes them as very docile. Brown adds the caveat that matters: females can sting and will do so to defend the colony or when provoked. Colonies are large by wasp standards. Brown gives 3,000 to 18,000 wasps per nest, with several queens, and says a nest typically lasts about three years before it is abandoned. So a nest can be active in any month.
Leave it, or have it removed? #
Leave it if:
- it is high in a tree and nobody needs to work under it;
- you value the help. Brown notes the wasps pollinate and hunt other insects, especially Asian citrus psyllids when those are around.
Have it handled if:
- you must prune, clear or build within reach of it;
- it hangs over a play area, gate or walkway;
- someone at home has a sting allergy.
Don't knock it down, spray it from below or call a beekeeper expecting a bee removal. The state's beekeeper exemption and the TAIS bee removal list are written for honey bees, not for this wasp.
How Pest Trappers handles Mexican honey wasps in Boerne #
A technician confirms what built the nest first, since a honey wasp nest, a hornet nest and a honey bee colony call for very different plans. They look at height, what is underneath and the work you have planned, then lay out the options, including leaving it. Any product used is applied by its label, and you are quoted after the inspection. Pest Trappers LLC (TPCL #0887549) is family-owned; the office confirms the appointment time. More on the species is in the Mexican honey wasp guide, and other local pests are on the Boerne page.