Wasps in Hinsdale, IL? Same Nest, Same Eave

• WHAT YOU SEE IN HINSDALE

Hinsdale has the heaviest, most mature tree canopy in the territory, over older frame houses on lots that gave those trees a century to grow instead of forty years. That canopy means more shaded eaves and soffits, which is exactly what wasps and hornets look for. You see them working the eave line at the porch or garage, or notice a paper nest tucked into a soffit corner you cannot see from the ground.

• WHAT WE SEE

Paper wasps do not reuse last year's nest, but next year's queen tends to pick the same sheltered spot, so a Hinsdale property with an established nest site often sees activity return to the same corner of the eave year after year. The heavier canopy here means more shade over more of the house exterior for more of the day, which is part of why the eaves work runs heavier on this route than almost anywhere else.

• HOW WE FIX IT

We knock the nests down and treat where they anchor; the paper itself is the easy part, treating the spot is the job that keeps it from coming back. The whole eave and soffit line gets de-webbed and treated on every quarterly visit, not just the spot with a nest, since a returning queen will use whatever sheltered corner is available. Carpenter bee galleries, common on the older wood fascia here, get treated and plugged the same visit.

• WHEN THEY SHOW UP

Spring through early fall, with nest-building peaking in early summer as the colony grows. The mature tree canopy that shades so much of Hinsdale’s older housing stock tends to stretch the active season slightly longer than it runs in a newer, more exposed subdivision.