Local wasp information

Wasp control in Ohio

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

Wasps in Ohio: what to know

Around Ohio

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 Ohio: what the public record shows

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

approximately 4,000 to 5,000 workers with 10,000 to 15,000 cells by August and late September

Yellowjacket nest population by late summer in Ohio (OSU)

Late-season wall-void nests are at full strength when homeowners notice them.

Ohio State University Extension (Ohioline)

Wasp species recorded in Ohio

German yellowjacket (Vespula germanica) — UC IPM: 'becoming more common in many urban areas of California, where it frequently nests in houses.' Named among Ohio's three main species (German, Eastern, Common yellowjacke…
Eastern yellowjacket (Vespula maculifrons) — UF/IFAS lists it with the southern yellowjacket as Florida's two yellowjackets; OSU lists it for Ohio; Texas A&M notes it is 'generally found in eastern Texas'. Ground nests 9.5…
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 hornet (Vespa crabro) — Penn State: 'first detected in the 1840s', 'well established in the eastern United States', 'first reported from Arkansas in 1999'; workers 'up to an inch (25 mm) long', nests '…

When wasps are busiest in Ohio

OSU: fertilized queens 'emerge during the warm days of April and early May'; 'In the late summer (August–October), their food preferences change from proteins to sweets'; workers and old queen die at the onset of cold temperatures.

OSU Extension names the German (Vespula germanica), Eastern (V. maculifrons) and Common (V. vulgaris) yellowjackets as Ohio's main species.

Rules that apply in Ohio

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: Ohio State University Extension (Ohioline); CDC MMWR; Yellowjackets and Other Social Wasps (Pest Notes); Yellowjackets and Hornets, Vespula and Dolichovespula spp. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae); Baldfaced Hornet; European Hornet. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore Ohio cities

Akron

Humid Continental · urban setting

Wasp control in Ohio

Wasps in Ohio: what to know

Around Ohio

What to note

A useful next step

Wasps in Ohio: what the public record shows

Wasp species recorded in Ohio

When wasps are busiest in Ohio

Rules that apply in Ohio

For context, nationally

Explore Ohio cities

Akron

Canton

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Columbus

Cuyahoga Falls

Dayton

Elyria

Hamilton

Kettering

Lakewood

Lorain

Mansfield

Mentor

Newark

Parma

Springfield

Toledo

Warren

Youngstown

Delaware

Ask about wasp control in Ohio