Local wasp information

Wasp control in Colorado

Learn what to look for around your property, explore your city, and ask about an inspection or a quote.

Wasps in Colorado: what to know

Around Colorado

Conditions vary across the state. Choose your city below, then describe what’s happening around your home or business.

What to note

Where you see wasps, how long it has been going on, and anything you’ve already tried are the most useful details to mention.

A useful next step

Ask about an inspection, what treatment would involve, and whether follow-up visits are included. You don’t need to identify the problem yourself before getting in touch.

Local research

Wasps in Colorado: what the public record shows

Before you compare quotes, it helps to know which wasps actually live in Colorado, when they are busiest, and what the state figures look like. Everything below links to the agency or university page it came from.

August 2001 from Larimer County

First Colorado record of the European paper wasp (CSU)

This introduced wasp is now the most common eave-nesting wasp along the Front Range.

Colorado State University Extension

Wasp species recorded in Colorado

Western yellowjacket (Vespula pensylvanica) — UC IPM: 'the most commonly encountered species and is sometimes called the "meat bee"' in California and the Western states; ground and wall-void nester and aggressive scavenger…
Bald-faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) — Penn State: 'found in most of the 48 contiguous states and D.C., throughout Canada and in Alaska'; actually an aerial yellowjacket that builds the football-shaped gray paper nes…
European paper wasp (Polistes dominula) — Penn State: 'first reported in 1978 around Boston', now 'coast to coast ... although they are apparently less common in the Southeast and Great Plains'; nests in 'eaves of struc…
Native paper wasps (Polistes spp. (e.g., P. fuscatus, P. apachus, P. exclamans)) — Open umbrella-shaped nests under eaves, porch ceilings and railings. UC IPM: paper wasp colonies 'vary between 15 to 200 individuals'; Penn State: queens 'establish nests in May…

When wasps are busiest in Colorado

CSU: European paper wasp 'earliest activity is sometimes seen in the first half of March'; 'Individual colonies are established anew each spring' and 'may contain several dozen individuals by the end of summer'. Western yellowjacket colonies die each fall (USU).

CSU: European paper wasp is 'very abundant in every urbanized county in eastern Colorado and the three western Colorado counties of Mesa, Montrose, and Delta'; nests in 'outdoor grills, large bells, pipes, rock cavities, and hollow spaces behind walls'.

Rules that apply in Colorado

For context, nationally

788 — Deaths from hornet, wasp, and bee stings, 2011–2021 (US). CDC MMWR
72 deaths per year — Average annual sting deaths, 2011–2021 (US). CDC MMWR

Sources: Colorado State University Extension; CDC MMWR; Yellowjackets and Other Social Wasps (Pest Notes); Baldfaced Hornet; European Paper Wasp. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore Colorado cities

Arvada

Semi-Arid · suburban setting

Wasp control in Colorado

Wasps in Colorado: what to know

Around Colorado

What to note

A useful next step

Wasps in Colorado: what the public record shows

Wasp species recorded in Colorado

When wasps are busiest in Colorado

Rules that apply in Colorado

For context, nationally

Explore Colorado cities

Arvada

Aurora

Boulder

Broomfield

Castle Rock

Centennial

Colorado Springs

Denver

Fort Collins

Grand Junction

Greeley

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Longmont

Loveland

Parker

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Westminster

Commerce City

Ask about wasp control in Colorado