Local wasp information

Wasp control in South Carolina

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

Wasps in South Carolina: what to know

Around South Carolina

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 South Carolina: what the public record shows

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

an estimated 250,000 workers

Largest southern yellowjacket colony recorded in SC (Charleston County, August 1991)

Perennial coastal nests can reach extraordinary size.

Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC

nearly 200 nests were removed

Yellow-legged hornet nests removed in the GA/SC coastal area (most recent year)

An invasive hornet is spreading into SC; report sightings rather than treat.

Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC

Wasp species recorded in South Carolina

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…
Southern yellowjacket (Vespula squamosa) — Texas A&M: 'Colonies can contain up to 4,000 workers', 'In Texas, some colonies can survive for several years and continue to grow', and southern colonies '6 ft across' have bee…
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 South Carolina

Clemson: 'In South Carolina, yellowjacket colonies begin in April or May when the overwintered queen emerges' and 'may reach several hundred workers by August'; colonies decline in fall and 'Newly fertilized queens are the only members of the colony that overwinter'.

Yellow-legged hornet activity has been seen 'as far north as Seabrook Island, SC' and a York County beekeeper report came 'more than 150 miles north of the closest previous observation' (Clemson).

Rules that apply in South Carolina

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: Clemson Cooperative Extension HGIC; CDC MMWR; Yellowjackets and Hornets, Vespula and Dolichovespula spp. (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae); Southern Yellowjackets - Field Guide to Common Texas Insects; Baldfaced Hornet; European Hornet. Figures are quoted as the source prints them. How we check our sources

Explore South Carolina cities

Aiken

Humid Subtropical · rural setting

Wasp control in South Carolina

Wasps in South Carolina: what to know

Around South Carolina

What to note

A useful next step

Wasps in South Carolina: what the public record shows

Wasp species recorded in South Carolina

When wasps are busiest in South Carolina

Rules that apply in South Carolina

For context, nationally

Explore South Carolina cities

Aiken

Anderson

Charleston

Columbia

Florence

Goose Creek

Greenville

Greer

Hilton Head Island

Mount Pleasant

Myrtle Beach

North Charleston

Rock Hill

Spartanburg

Summerville

Sumter

Taylors

Greenwood

Ask about wasp control in South Carolina