Urgent warning to Brits over an influx of WASPS: Pest control expert dubs 2025 the 'year of the insects' - and warns monster nests have already reached the size of space hoppers

Daily Mail​

16-07-2025

Britain faces a surge of monster wasps' nests as big as space hoppers, an expert has warned, after scorching temperatures sparked 'the year of the insects'.
Andrew Dellbridge of Ace Pest Control in Norfolk said the spring sunshine had lured wasps out of hibernation early, giving them more time to grow.
And though they'll die off come winter, the head start means this year's nests are already surpassing last year's in size, with months still to go.
Now wasps are experiencing a 'population explosion', Mr Dellbridge said, and Britain faces a wave of jumbo nests before winter.
He said: 'What I would expect to do in September–October as far as size of nest and multiple wasps within a nest, we're getting now.
'By September–October, the right back end of the season before they all die off, we should be in massive nest territory.'
Worryingly, Mr Dellbridge also predicts a spike in aggressible wasp behaviour.
And, unlike bees, wasps can go on to sting victims multiple times.
Andrew Dellbridge of Ace Pest Control in Norfolk said the spring sunshine had lured wasps out of hibernation early, giving them more time to grow
In terms of scale, the wasps' nests could grow as big as a space hopper.
'Some people get really upset by tiny little wasps nests,' Andrew said.
'I'm not so upset about them, I worry about the big ones.
'I always try to use a comparison – and the space hopper is as big as it can get.
'And that hums and it's quite a foe.'
What's more, the spike in aggressive wasp behaviour usually associated with late summer could be brought forward.
The pest controller said: 'When we get into peak production, early autumn time, they ramp up.
'It's all ramped up and their aggression does as well.
'What I would imagine we're going to find shortly is that will ramp up again, so we'll get that mad activity earlier.'
He added: 'This year, 2025, will be the year of the insects because, like now, the weather is continuing in a really suitable vein.'
In order to make more room for their nests, wasps have been known to chew through plasterboard, wood, insulation, and other building materials
In order to make more room for their nests, wasps have been known to chew through plasterboard, wood, insulation, and other building materials.
According to Mr Dellbridge, this phenomenon usually occurs late in the season.
But it's already happening this year, he added.
'I had one yesterday,' he said.
'Hundreds of wasps piling into someone's house because they literally chewed through already.'
He recalled how one previous customer was rudely awaken by a stretch of wattle and daub wall gnawed open by wasps.
He said: 'They were chewing through, and the old–fashioned wattle and daub gave way.
'And a six foot circle of wall fell on him in the middle of the night onto his bed, followed by the wasps.'
Andrew added: 'I am doing, for July, masses more jobs a day.
'This year, whereas you'd possibly have hundreds, or a thousand or so in there, I'm predicting that we'll have thousands in each nest.
'So you're not going to miss them.
'We are up for a bit of a challenge I think.'
Wasps tend to sting when they become angry or scared.
As anyone who has experienced one will know, their stings can be painful - but thankfully most people recover quickly and without complications.
The sting is designed as a self-defence mechanism but, unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times.
WHY DO WASPS STING AND WHY DO THEY HURT SO MUCH?
Wasp stings are common, especially during the warmer months when people are outside for longer periods of time.
They tend to occur in the later summer months when the social structure of the colony is breaking down.
At this time, the group mindset is changing from raising worker wasps to raising fertile queens, which will hibernate over the winter to start new colonies the following spring.
Once the wasp has laid eggs, she stops producing a specific hormone which keeps the colony organised.
This leads to the wasps becoming confused and disorientated and they tend to stray towards sweet smelling human foods, such as ice cream and jam.
This puts them in the firing line of scared and frenzied people which aggravate the animals with wafting hands and swatting magazines.
When the critters become angry and scared they are prone to stinging.
Wasp stings can be uncomfortable, but most people recover quickly and without complications.
It is designed as a self-defence mechanism but, unlike bees, wasps can sting multiple times.
The stingers remain in tact and are often primed with venom which enters the bloodstream.
Peptides and enzymes in the venom break down cell membranes, spilling cellular contents into the blood stream
This can happen to nerve cells and these are connected to the central nervous system.
This breach causes the injured cell to send signals back to the brain. We experience these signals in the form of pain.
There are chemicals in the wasp sting which slows the flow of blood, which elongates the period of pain.