Mexican Honey Wasp Control in New Braunfels, TX
The thing New Braunfels homeowners notice is a gray paper ball, roughly football to basketball size, wedged among the branches of a tree or a thick shrub, with small dark wasps crawling over it. If it could be a Mexican honey wasp nest, put the loppers down: leave it alone if it isn't in the way, and if it has to go, call or text (210) 281-1064 or book online so a technician in protective gear can handle it.
Are they really around New Braunfels? #
Honest answer: the sources don't say at the county level. Texas A&M AgriLife describes the range as Texas to Nicaragua (AgriLife Extension), and AgriLife program specialist Wizzie Brown writes that, within North America, it lives in Arizona and Texas. Neither source names Comal County, Guadalupe County or any other Texas county, and neither describes the range shifting.
New Braunfels spans both of those counties, with about 90,221 residents on the Comal side and 26,256 on the Guadalupe side in the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate. We can't tell you how often the wasp shows up in either. What we can do is help you recognize the nest, because the right response depends on telling it apart from a honey bee colony.
Paper ball or bee hive? #
- Mexican honey wasp nest: gray paper, closed, round or oval, hanging in a tree canopy or shrub. Brown puts a typical nest around 18 inches, often high where it won't be bothered.
- Honey bee colony: wax comb, either open sheets on a branch or hidden inside a cavity such as a wall or hollow tree. AgriLife's ENTO-080 bulletin notes that honey bees build wax comb while social wasps build paper nests.
- The wasps themselves: smaller than a honey bee, about 1/4 to 1/3 inch by Brown's measure. TAIS calls them almost all black and not very hairy; Brown describes a dark head and thorax with a yellow-and-black striped, teardrop-shaped abdomen and rusty wings.
If you have wax comb instead, see our page on European honey bees in New Braunfels.
Shade trees, pruning season and where nests hide #
These wasps build in the canopies of trees and shrubs, according to AgriLife. Big trees are easy to find here; the city describes Landa Park as 51 acres beneath giant oak trees (City of New Braunfels). At home, the risk point is not the tree but the moment someone climbs into it with a pole saw or trims a hedge without looking first.
Brown reports colonies of 3,000 to 18,000 wasps, often with several queens, and nests that last about three years before they are abandoned. Because the colony stores honey to get through winter, a nest can be active in any month.
A calm wasp that still defends its home #
TAIS says Mexican honey wasps are not very aggressive and often ignore people, and AgriLife's E-346 bulletin calls them very docile (TAIS). Brown adds the catch: females can sting and will do so to protect the colony or when provoked. Shaking the branch, cutting into the canopy or hitting the nest is exactly that kind of provocation.
None of our sources describes the sting itself in detail. Treat it like any wasp sting: wash it, ice it and don't scratch. Trouble breathing, dizziness or a spreading rash calls for emergency care.
Leave it, or remove it? #
E-346 says there is usually no need to remove the nest, and E-346 also calls this the only wasp that stores honey. Brown notes the wasps help pollinate as they gather nectar and pollen, and the adults eat other insects, especially Asian citrus psyllids when available. A nest high in a back-corner tree can usually stay.
It is time to act when:
- The tree or hedge needs pruning, or construction is planned nearby
- The nest hangs over a play area, patio or walkway
- Someone in the household has a venom allergy
Brown's advice for those cases is to hire a professional with proper protective gear, such as a bee suit.
How Pest Trappers handles Mexican honey wasps in New Braunfels #
A technician in protective gear confirms the nest is paper rather than wax, checks how high and how close to people it is, and talks through whether it can stay. If it needs to go, you hear the options and how the product label governs the work, and pricing follows the inspection. Pest Trappers LLC (TPCL #0887549) is a family-owned company licensed by the Texas Department of Agriculture; the office confirms your appointment. See our Mexican honey wasp guide and the New Braunfels service page.